Hall Ranch is located in Lyons, Colorado. Primary activities include mountain biking, horseback riding, and hiking. Dogs, camping, and motorized vehicles are not allowed in the park. There are three free parking lots, restrooms, and enough space for horse trailers but no water fountains. Cell phone service was intermittent while in the park. We parked in the southern set of parking lots which was reached by taking US-36 west to Lyons, turning left onto CO-7 heading south for one mile, and taking a right into the trail head area. Of the three parking lots, we started from the southern most parking lot that accesses Bitterbrush trail. The parking just north is larger and includes space for horse trailers.
Of the 14 miles of total trails, all are accessible for hiking and 6.9 miles are accessible for mountain biking. Bitterbrush trail is 3.7 miles long, starts just above 5,400 feet in elevation, and finishes at the beginning of the Nelson Loop at 6,400 feet.
The first 1.25 miles of trail is fast, rolling trail with some climbing mixed in. Bitterbrush intersects with a couple of old dirt roads which are in the process of being revegetated and assimilated into the park’s natural habitat and, thus, it is important to stay off these dirt roads (seen at the bottom-right of the following picture).
We found the next 0.5 miles of trail to be very challenging because all at once the trail becomes steeper, rockier, and curvier.
We had to dismount in several places because the rocks narrowed beyond our skill level. In fact, when we returned through this section my riding partner wiped out face-first attempting a very technical downhill, 90 degree left turn. Without hesitation, I walked through the section so the fact he gave it whirl showed his courage.
After the boulder field, the next 0.3 miles is a long steady climb with some switchbacks to ease the incline. Thank you to Matt for taking some pictures which allows me to be seen chugging along at a slow, steady pace.
The trail continues to the top of a ridge and is designed to protect three wildlife habitats: one to the east, one to the north, and one to the west. At this point in the ride, the trail has climbed 600 feet; from 5,400 to 6,000 feet.
After crossing the top of the ridge, the trail dips down for a fast descent. Not seen in the subsequent picture is a park bench conveniently located for taking a breather and eating a snack after a long climb.
The following picture is backwards looking and shows the intersection between Bitterbrush trail and Antelope trail. We did not ride on the Antelope trail but several bikers who did said the 1.0 mile trail was significantly easier than the 2.5 miles of Bitterbrush trail that leads up to this intersection. Instead of starting on the Bitterbrush trail, the Antelope trail can make for a much easier ride because it is less rocky and only requires a climb of 400 feet (5,600 to 6,000 feet) versus 600 feet of rocky climbing on Bitterbrush. Notably, the Antelope trail head parking lot is really small so parking can be tough to find on a busy day.
Continuing on Bitterbrush
From the intersection with Antelope, Bitterbrush continues another 1.2 miles to the Nelson Loop trail and includes another 400 feet of elevation gain to an altitude of 6,400 feet.
We were exhausted by the time we reached the Nelson Loop trail but were holding out hope that we must be due for some fast downhill trail after all of our climbing. We rode clockwise around the 2.2 mile Nelson Loop trail and experienced another 300 foot gain in elevation. The protruding rocks seen in the distance of the western half the park are igneous (e.g., Longs Peak) whereas the rocks in the eastern half are sandstone.
After passing the intersection with the hiking-only Nighthawk trail, the northwestern half of the Nelson Loop transitions into a very fast downhill (i.e., 300 feet of decline) as can be seen in the following video.
The Nelson Loop reminds me of the Indian Summer Loop (via Blue Sky) because of its switchback climbs, smooth trail, and fast descents. The following picture captures the view to the north as we sped downhill. 
Our return on Bitterbrush trail was less exhausting because it was primarily downhill. However, we walked some of the boulder fields seen earlier in this post because they were too technical for us to safely maneuver. The last picture was taken riding east on Bitterbrush and before reaching the intersection with Antelope. The total distance from the beginning of Bitterbrush, around the Nelson Loop, and back is almost 10 miles.
In sum, the latter half of Bitterbrush and the entire Nelson Loop are fast, fun, and challenging single track trails. On the other hand, the beginning of the Bitterbrush trail includes extremely challenging rocky terrain that may not be fun for everyone. The rest of trails can be experienced without the challenging rocky terrain by starting on the Antelope trail. For more fun, view our list of other mountain bike trails along the Front Range.
