Bookcliffs trail area, Mike the headless chicken and the spectacular Colorado National Monument. Pictures by Bancoora.com.

Fruita was once famous for Mike the headless chicken but is now famed for its mountain bike trails and the adjacent Colorado National Monument.

Fruita is on the way when driving from Denver to Moab so it's well worth a stop off if you've got the time. On my latest trip to the Moab area, I was lucky enough to be able to spend some time in the Fruita and Grand Junction area.

Unfortunately, the April weather didn’t cooperate with only one good day for riding and the other two days copping a heavy snow dump and subsequent rain from a deep low but I was able to get some hiking in in the spectacular Colorado National Monument when the weather "cleared" in the afternoons so all was not lost.

There are a number of distinct trail areas in this region which range from fast flowing trails below the mesa rim areas to gut busting climbs up the mesa rims and technical sections. These trail areas are listed below with links to them. I rode the Bookcliffs (aka 18 Road) Trail Network and have provided some pictures and video of these trails in the link at the top of the page.

I went to the Over The Edge store in Fruita (they’re associated with the Over The Edge store in Melrose in South Australia as well as a number of other shops in other areas of the USA) and they were extremely helpful in providing information on the area. They had a number of trail maps for each of the regions (about US$5) each as well as a book called “Fruita-Grand Junction Fat Tire Guidebook” (about US$15). A few of the maps had had trails added to the areas and the Other The Edge manager added these to the book and gave his time to give a good overview of the area.

When I hired the bike the next day, the process was quick and I was on the road in about 15 minutes with the bike set all set up. Over The Edge also offers a US$5 per day coverage for damage which covers minor damage up to US$150 and then partial protection above this which is something a lot of other shops don’t provide from my experience. There are a number of other bike rental options in the area which I haven’t tried and these are listed below. There are probably others as well.

For accommodation, there is some accommodation in Fruita but Grand Junction is only 12 miles away and provides a much larger offering of accommodation and facilities. Exit number 31 on highway I-70 has quite a number of accommodation options in the one area with petrol stations, restaurants and a supermarket all within a short distance of each other. This readily allows access to trails in the Fruita, Grand Junction and Palisade areas.

Bookcliffs Trails (Bancoora)	An assortment of fast flowing desert trails that are predominantly single track around the base of the mesa. A further option is to ride up the mesa and follow the rim for quite a distance before descending.
Fruita MTB Magazine	Scanned copy of a local magazine which had some pretty good information on the area.
Go Fruita	Fruita Tourism's web page with trail information. Look under the biking section for a good map showing the trail areas in the district. This is a good place to start.
COPMOBA website	Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Trail Associations website which has an interactive trail map.
Over The Edge	Fruita based bike shop including rentals
Colorado Backcountry Biker	Fruita based bike shop including rentals
CBB Backpacking	Backpacking option from Colorado Backcountry Biker. Supported trips with cabins and food.
Brown Cycles	Grand Junction bike shop including limited rentals
Bicycle Outfitters	Grand Junction bike shop including rentals
Bookcliffs Trail Network	Trail network located on 18 Road to the north of town (gjmountainbiking.com)
Tabaguache Trail Network	Trail network located on located just south of Grand Junction (gjmountainbiking.com)
Kokopelli Trail Network	Trail network located to west of Fruita (gjmountainbiking.com)
Palisade Trail Network	Trail network located at Palisade (gjmountainbiking.com)

Fruita	Click on link for map showing how to get there.
Grand Junction Accommodation Strip	Click on link for map showing how to get there.
Tabaguache Trailhead	Click on link for map showing how to get there.
Bookcliffs Trailhead	Click on link for map showing how to get there.
Kokopelli Trailhead	Click on link for map showing how to get there.

	Local area information can be obtained at the Go Fruita webpage.