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Crosier Mountain - Piper Meadows Mountain Unicycle Trail Description:

Start in the tiny town of Glen Haven on Devil's Gulch Road about 15 minutes drive down from Estes Park. Park next to the road between the post office and the horse rental (in front of ruins of an old building).  Awesome views, some trials opportunities, whooping 1:10 downhill if you include the long push to the summit of Crosier Mtn.

Piper Meadows Loop (3 miles):

    * Ride up the dirt road next to the horses for 100 meters and hop onto the Crosier Mtn Trail riding and pushing hard for 10 minutes up a moderate-steep trail. About 3/4 mile. Think about how excellent this part will be on the descent.
    * At the meadows there is a sign for Crosier Mtn straight ahead and H-Bar-G Ranch to the right. Take the trail toward the ranch. It loops counter-clockwise around beautiful Piper meadow for about 2 miles. Go through 2 cattle gates remembering to close them. The description follows this loop and ends back to this sign:
    * Go easy uphill to a 3/4 mile stretch of level with lots of off-trail trials opportunities.
    * At the western end turn downhill (don't exit through the second gate, which can be used to access the meadows from the Eagle Rock side). Drop down over a little drainage and back up over a shoulder through some rocky sections in the woods. Head up the long traverse across the top of the meadow, which is marked by the sign to Crosier Mtn. (Crosier Mtn variation discribed below). 3/4 mile.
    * Bounce down the trail 1/2 mile enjoying the challenging rocks, cross the creek and push 100 meters up the hill to complete the loop.
    * Note: Reversing this loop clockwise yields a fun downhill right away, and then a strenuous ride/push for 20 hard minutes up to the fork off to Crosier Mtn. If your cardio-level is not quite up to 8000 ft. elevation, I recommend this clockwise way since the rest of the loop  is predominately downhill from the fork. 

Crosier Mountain Segment - Strenuous Up and Wild Down (1.5 miles to top of Crosier Mtn, 9250 ft.):

    * Head strenuously uphill from the sign at the top of Piper Meadows for 1+ long mile of often rocky uphill. Pass by the 2 mile trail down to Devil's Gulch Road. Push/ride for about 45 minutes. Some nice small granite domes for trials on the way.
    * Push 1/2 mile up the fork to the summit of Crosier Mtn. getting the beta for the wild ride down. A sign marks this intersection and says 4 miles down to the Drake trailhead on Devils Gulch (a challenging ride down, but a 2 hour uphill back to this point if you don't have a 2nd vehicle parked there -- which would also make you miss the great stuff you just pushed up).
    * Turn around and head down this steep rocky trail whooping all the way. About 1 hour 10 minutes to descend from the summit to the car. You can take the loop clockwise around Piper Meadows to add mileage.