4 1/10 Road Out and Back-Gateway Gravel

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Mesa County, CO, US

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We Ride 4

Nonprofit addressing child obesity and healthy lifestyles by getting more kids riding bikes

42 km

332 m

Beautiful scenic ride through one of Gateway Colorado’s gorgeous red rock canyons along the Dolores River

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Routedetails

If you like smooth gravel, great scenery and the feeling of being alone in a gorgeous canyon, you’re going to love this route.

I've mapped several hundred routes in Colorado and I would put this one in my top 5 most scenic gravel routes.

There's nowhere to refill water bottles on this route so bring as much as you need. We rode it on a hot July day with 2 bottles. My 2nd bottle was almost empty when we finished.

This route starts from the trailhead parking area at the Gateway Canyon Resort & Spa. Follow the main road through the resort until you reach the intersection with 4 1/10 Road. Turn left and stay on this road all the way to the end at just over 13.5 miles. This is a very easy route to follow. There really aren’t any other roads in the area so you can’t get lost.  When you get to the end of the road (at a small circular roundabout at @poi[Fisher Creek](127523865), turn around and follow the road back to the start.

For the entire route, you will be following the Dolores River through a breathtaking redrock canyon. No matter which direction you look anywhere on the route, the scenery is amazing.

On your way out of the resort just as you turn onto 4 1/10 Road, look to your right for an straight on view of @photo[The Palisade](15765604). At just over 7,000 feet, this red rock formation rises more than 2,000 above the small community of Gateway, CO.

At just over 7 miles you will cross the state line into @poi[Utah](127523862). Look down to your right at the section of the Dolores River commonly referred to by the locals as Stateline Rapids.

@poi[At mile 8.3](127523864), stop at the top of this short rise, turn around and look back down the canyon. This is a perfect spot for a few photos.

After you drop down on the other side of this rise, ride for another 2.2 miles and you will come to the site of an @photo[old historic homestead](15765596). You will reach the site of the homestead approc 500 feet after crossing Beaver Creek.

After the homestead, you have just under 3 miles to the end of the road at @poi[Fisher Creek](127523865). Before turning around, be sure to take a great @photo[panoramic photo](15765597) of the canyon. This is a very scenic spot.

When you are done taking photos, turn back and ride the same road back to the parking area at the Gateway Canyons Resort.

**The town of Gateway** - The first known homesteaders came to Gateway in 1884. Gateway has played host to gangs of cattle rustlers who used these canyon walls as hideouts from the law, gold miners who tunneled deep into the earth with the hope of finding their fortunes, and ranchers who have grazed thousands of head of cattle across Unaweep Canyon’s windswept grasslands. In 1903, homesteading families built a small, dirt-floored cabin to be used as a schoolhouse. The next year, the post office was established and the name “Gateway” was given to the town, as it is a gateway to Colorado from nearby Utah.

Gateway quickly became a strong community based around cattle ranching, farming and lumber milling. Later, uranium mining was the economic driver for the community. Today Gateway is becoming revitalized as it has opened its doors to the tourist community.

**The Gateway Canyons Resort and Spa** - Built by John Hendricks, former Discovery Channel founder/ CEO, Gateway Canyons is located in Unaweep Canyon, one of the most unique red rock canyons in the world. This is believed to be the only canyon in the world that is drained by two creeks. This area has special recognition in Colorado geology. Ancient rivers eroded the rock away, exposing more than a hundred million years of the geologic record and fossils of dinosaurs and early amphibians.

4 1/10 Road Out and Back-Gateway Gravel

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