Frisco → Buena Vista on the Colorado Trail
Bustang up, two days on the trail, Bustang home. Ridden September 2026 by four of us — no car.
A few of us have been using the Bustang to do bikepacking trips in Colorado. It solves the shuttle problem on a through-ride — you don't need a second car at the far end — and it works as an out-and-back from the Front Range too. This is the most recent one: Bustang from Denver to Frisco, the Colorado Trail to Leadville, a night in Leadville, the Colorado Trail to Buena Vista, and the Bustang home. Credit-card style: a hotel, a roadhouse, burritos, bar bags — not a loaded rig.
Back The 4:20 PM Outrider from Buena Vista to Union Station. The stop is a block from the end of the ride, with time for food and a beer first.
Day 1 — Frisco to Leadville
Coffee and breakfast at Rocky Mountain Coffee Roasters, then the Ten Mile Rec Path over to Copper and onto the Colorado Trail: up through the trees to Searle Pass, the high traverse across to Kokomo Pass at 12,022 ft, and the long descent into Camp Hale. Over Tennessee Pass and into Leadville around dinner time. A big day. We did a hotel to keep the bikes light — next time we'd camp. The best alpine singletrack we know of that you can reach by public bus.
Day 2 — Leadville to Buena Vista
Technically the easier day, but the day before and a night at 10,000 ft were noticeable. South out of Leadville through the aspens to Twin Lakes, where the Roadhouse at 9,222 ft does coffee, burritos and second breakfast right on the route. The owner looked at the plan and said “that’s going to be brutal.” We continued on. Down the Arkansas valley on dirt county roads with the Collegiate Peaks on your right and Mount Princeton in front of you, into Buena Vista with time to spare. The phrase that kept the group moving all day: “we have a bus to catch.”
