Sargents Colorado is hardly a town at all and you’d miss it if you blinked while driving by but you be making a big mistake if you didn’t make a plan to bring your DIRTBIKE and spend a few days in what is becoming a DIRTBIKE mecca!
Sargents boasts a permanent population of 21 hearty souls and is the smallest town in the country with more than one thing on the national historic register. Both the schoolhouse and water tank made the list. It is situated at the Western base of Monarch pass and 32 miles East of Gunnison, which isn’t a very big town itself. Despite being in “the middle of nowhere,” the Tomichi Creek Trading Post has all of the amenities you really need.
The Trading post is owned by Yon Iaccio who is a hardcore moto enthusiast and he and his staff have done an amazing job renovating and updating the Trading Post. The restaurant is great (try the western burger, it's awesome) and the bar is well stocked. They offer 91 octane Ethanol FREE gas at the pump so you don’t have to transport your's long distances if you don’t want to. The trading post also offers camping and cabins out back. While being super close to the Highway isn’t a woodsy getaway, it is incredibly convenient and well equipped. We recently spent 2 nights in a simple pull-through RV spot with our pop up and it was great.
The single best reason to visit Sargents Colorado with your DIRTBIKE is the riding! The trails near Sargents are world class and there are tons of them. You can ride right from town (definitely no police checking for license plates in town) into some of the most beautiful terrain on the planet. Imagine Taylor Park (which isn’t far away) but before all of the bikes tore it up. That’s right, there is still dirt in the trails and it is amazing! You can access the Continental Divide Trail via numerous routes and you can tie into all of the area classics like Taylor and Crested Butte if you have the skill and a credit card to refuel.
I wouldn’t say that the trails near Sargents are for everyone. There really isn’t anything easy or beginner level. It is the deep end of the single track pool and there are some of the gnarliest routes around out there. If you like a challenge that is set in the most scenic place in the country, you will LOVE Sargents. Even the most traveled of the trails have some really tough sections. There is almost always some Erzberg-esque giant rock garden separating you from the next intersection and that is exactly why we LOVE the area. On my most recent trip I brought my boys who are 9 and 11 and ride a KX65 and CR85 respectively and we managed to get a solid 20 miles of riding done so its not all super hard. There are lots of roads in the area too if you just want to cruise around and do some sight seeing. The Dual Sport opportunities are endless too.
As with most of the best riding areas, having a local guide is the best way to see the area but there really aren’t any commercial guides in the area so you’ll need to befriend someone or beg Yon to take you out. Latitude 40 makes a great map of the area and there are quite a few options on Avenza Maps too. We love to just get out there and get lost, then find our way back when we get to a new area. That is part of the adventure right?
If you have any more questions about a Sargents Adventure, give us a call or shoot us an email and we can get you pointed in the right direction! Below are some helpful links for you to plan your own adventure! No matter what you do, make sure you have fun and get out and ride your DIRTBIKES!!!
