Coming Soon: Smith Mountain Singletrack Trails In Delta County

In the 2018 Delta County Recreation and Trails Master Plan, Delta County residents identified a shared need for non-motorized recreational trails in the area. Now, after a decade of planning, that dream is well on its way to becoming reality. Thanks to the efforts of Peter Brown, chairman of the Delta Area Mountain Bikers (DAMB), a nonprofit dedicated to building and maintaining mountain bike trails in Delta, construction is slated to begin on the Smith Mountain Singletrack Trails in the summer of 2027, with some trails becoming available for public use as early as 2029.

Photos courtesy of Delta Area Mountain Bikers

10 years ago, Sven Edstrom, former chairman of DAMB, traveled 6 miles east of downtown Delta, near Austin, to the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation area. From there, he began his trek around the Smith Mountain area, equipped with a GPS and a mission: to map out potential non-motorized recreational trails. On this expedition, he mapped out over 100 miles of potential trails, yet it would be Brown, years later, who would turn this dream into a reality. Meeting with Edstrom, Brown analyzed the trails that his predecessor mapped out and selected roughly 26 miles of trails that he calls “the core nugget of awesome trails that would give the flavor of what the whole area could be and serve a lot of different rider types.”

“Just the area of where it sits is really unique in what it would offer mountain biking on the Western Slope,” says Brown. “These kinds of trails are not really represented well in our area. Once I got out there and looked around the area, I thought ‘oh, this could be world-class awesome.’”

This 26-mile stretch will be open year-round, even in the heart of winter, and offers a unique mixture of difficulty that lends itself well to beginner and experienced bikers alike. This stretch will consist of four different trails woven throughout the Smith Mountains “that allow for that gravity-fueled downhill flow experience” and a “big incline that slopes toward the Gunnison River,” says Brown. Additionally, while the trail was designed with mountain bikers in mind, they will be open to all types of trail-goers: walkers, hikers, trail runners and horseback riders.

Once the locations of the trails were decided on, Brown enlisted the help of the Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Trail Association, COPMOBA, to work with DAMB on getting the permissions needed to begin construction on the trails. With the tireless work of COPMOBA, the Bureau of Land Management and environmentally conscious groups in the area, DAMB is well on its way to getting the green light to begin construction on the trails.

“One of our goals is to be respectful of everything that lives in that area, from cactus to golden eagles,” explains Brown.

This environmental assessment is pricey, however, but is completely necessary to ensure that the trails take everyone into account, both mountain bikers and wildlife alike.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of Brown and DAMB, what Edstrom dreamed all those years ago and what Delta County residents identified as a gap in outdoor recreation is now becoming a reality that will be game-changing for mountain biking in Western Colorado. 

To learn more about these groundbreaking trails and the creative forces behind them, or to donate to this program, visit copmoba.org.

Originally published in the fall 2025 issue of Spoke+Blossom.