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1.START-END EAST:jct US40 Bear Valley Ranch Rd 2.TOP: 7200ft, Mantle Ranch Rd s(u) 3.profile turns right, staying on Mantle Ranch Rd 4.START-END WEST: Mantle Ranch area, next to Yampa River

Approaches

From East. On this side the profile uses Bear Valley Ranch Rd to approach the summit from US40. There are two other possibilities for the lower approach, described as nearby shoulder summits. There are two short sandy stretches before the road approaches the first canyon rim. After that the surface is great for biking all the way through. After the route merges onto CR14N Mantle Ranch Road. one of the next three successive bumps in the road is the highest point. If one stays left at the last junction before the summit, ie. stay on Bear Valley Road you cross a higher point on the plateau, but miss all of the great scenery.

From West. (described downwards) And that comes during the first part of the descent. The views are much more compelling during the morning, when the direction of the sun lights up the distant canyon walls below. All the good views are towards the west. In spring the Uinta mountains are a wedge of white ice, seen in the distance, framed by a V shaped cliff.

The road descends between a matchstick forest of small, dead trees to a green bench between the Yampa river and Blue Mountain. The river is still left to the imagination, somewhere beyond the end of the green plain. Even if climbing back out on this side, by far the most energy is spent on the ups and downs, that this bench road needs to negotiate around the sidecanyons. The course of the flowing water that made this landscape maze is often a mystery. Climbing out of the canyon to this summit is just an afterthought, in terms of the workout.