A Tour of Vail Pass Bike Path

Happy September!

I thought it might be fun to share a little tour of Vail Pass bike path this month on the blog. We enjoy going to the mountains as much as possible, particularly Summit County. (This is where most of the big ski resorts are located.) We love to bike and hike and enjoy the gorgeous Colorado weather in the summer. 

We’ve always wanted to bike Vail Pass. Not up it—just down it. Lol 

It’s a common thing for people to rent bikes and then get shuttled up and dropped off at the top of the summit. Since we have our own bikes, I searched high and low for a company that would just shuttle us up with our own bikes. I could not find anyone. I did finally find a car that would take one of us back up after coasting down to get our vehicle from the top, and it was surprisingly pricey for such a small thing.

So, I looked into renting electric bikes—another thing we’ve always wanted to try! We often see people riding these on the bike trail around Lake Dillon, and they’re usually passing us. Well—everyone is usually passing me. 😊 

We decided to combine the two things we wanted to do and ended up renting electric bikes in Frisco. (Though you could also rent from Copper, which would shave off some ride time.) We biked from Frisco all the way to the top of Vail Pass. Fave son headed to Leadville for a while on the bike path before my husband caught up to him and got him turned back around. Whoops! So if you’re doing this, make sure you turn toward Copper. 😊

I feel like I say this all the time, but the views were some of the most gorgeous I’ve seen in Colorado. I took lots of pics along the way so that I could share with y’all!

Riding up the pass was a bit of work on electric bikes, but nothing like it would have been on regular bikes. Our whole family agreed that we would never try going up the pass on our bikes. I was amazed at the intense bikers who were doing exactly that!

The electric bikes do require effort, but when you peddle, it assists you, and it makes the whole experience much more enjoyable.

Right before we got to the top, I thought: I want to make it all the way, but I’m not sure how much further I can go. And that was when we reached the summit!

We coasted back down the mountain at that point, which was incredibly fun. It only took us about 20 minutes to get back down to Copper. I think people usually take their time, but we really enjoyed flying down the trail.

10 out of 10 would recommend this experience – we would definitely do E-bikes again, and we absolutely found Vail Pass well worth the ride. If you’re not from altitude, renting regular bikes and coasting down from the top of Vail Pass would probably be a great fit. If you’re acclimated to altitude, I would definitely recommend riding electric bikes up! 

Hope you enjoyed this summery tour of Vail Pass bike path! Tell me one of the most beautiful places you’ve ever been…Inquiring minds want to know!

Oh – and in very exciting book news: Choosing His Family—which was a finalist in the ACFW Carol awards this year—won its category. I am incredibly grateful for such a huge blessing! Thank you to all of you who’ve read Choosing His Family and left reviews. I would not be where I am without you, nor would this book!

Jill Lynn