Outside Mag FEATURES FCG BIKEPACKING TOUR!
Outside Magazine’s featured, hidden gem trip with Four Corners Guides is the ONLY way to bikepack in the stunning canyon lands of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park. Located in the Four Corners region of southwest Colorado, this park features 125,000 acres dotted with Ancient Puebloan cliff dwellings and other structures.
NAT GEO WORLD TRAVEL DESTINATION
National Geographic Traveler named the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal park one of the “80 World Destinations for Travel in the 21st Century.” It’s one of only nine places in the United States to receive this special designation.
The Radavist Feature
Read about our unique bike adventure on The Radavist!
Calling All Cycling Groups: Uncover Ancient Mysteries In a place no one else can ride
Gather your cycling crew for an epic adventure into the heart of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park, adjacent to Mesa Verde NP. Four Corners Guides is your key to unlocking the secrets of this landscape. Only we have permits to bike explore the Park. Group Expedition Highlights:
✔️Bike to Basecamp for Brews + Dinner
✔️Ride through Time & Explore Ancient Ruins Exploration
✔️Cultural Immersion With Tribal Park Guides
✔️Spectacular Camping Under Dark Skies
✔️10% Discount for Groups of 6+
The Only Way to Bikepack (or packraft) the ute mountain ute tribal park
- Beginner 2-day, 22-mile Out-and-Back Tour: Start at Scullbinder Ranch, explore Ancient Puebloan ruins for a half day, spend one night under the stars. Return to the Ranch the 2nd day, exploring roadside ruins along the way.
- Beginner/Intermediate 3-day, 60-Mile Loop Tour: Spend 2 big days riding through the Tribal Park and one full day exploring ruins with a Tribal Park guide. Explore roadside ruins.
- Intermediate 2- to 3-day Packrafting Tour: Spend 2 to 3 days packrafting rowdy rapids in a tight, fast river channel. Must be a solid Class III boater. Add a day to explore ruins.
UNTOUCHED, UNDISCOVERED: THE Last BLANK SPOT ON THE MAP IN COLORADO
Be one of just a few dozen cyclists or packrafters each year to pedal or paddle the undiscovered and untouched landscape of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park!
While the Tribal Park lies adjacent to its more famous neighbor, Mesa Verde National Park, and though it preserves similar antiquities, these two parks differ vastly. On our bike ride on barely maintained dirt roads along the Mancos River (or our packrafting descent of the river), we’ll visit road-side ruins only we have permission to explore. We’ll also check out spots with hundreds of pottery sherds spanning the millennia Ancestral Puebloans lived in the area. Please note the Ute Mountain Ute’s invite us to look at and photograph the artifacts, but not to touch or take them.
Not only have most artifacts in Mesa Verde NP been looted or removed long ago, but Mesa Verde’s cliff dwellings have been shored up, fenced it and barred off with heavy metal doors. Their ruins are only accessible via busy tours with dozens of tourists. On our tours, you’ll visit minimally stabilized ruins with just our small group and a Ute Mountain Ute guide.
And, instead of a scientific account of Ancient Puebloans, we’ll enjoy our Ute Mountain Ute guides integrating their tribe’s history with that of the ancient lands they caretake through story telling. There’s a place for both interpretations of the past, but each time we do a Tribal Park tour, we discover something extraordinary, new and different.
Want to read more about this remote locale? Check out Mike Adamski’s story, “There Are Still Blank Spots on the Map.” You can also view a full gallery of Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Park bikepacking and packrafting photos on the Four Corners Guides Packrafting & Bikerafting Facebook Page.
2024 ute mountain ute tribal park bikepacking tours
We have no packrafting tours schedule yet, as we don’t know if we will have sufficient flows for 2024. Packrafting tours are generally two days, but you may schedule a third day of exploring cliff dwellings. Email us April 2024 for updates.