Self-Guided Bikepacking Tours: Overview and Highlights

Lizard Head Cycling Guides is excited to offer everything adventurous cyclists need to put together their next bikepacking adventure! Bikepacking may be the ultimate form of bike-based adventure  –there is nothing like the freedom of being self-supported on a multi-day bike trip, and a capable bikepacking bike allows you to explore wild, remote terrain that would not be accessible on a traditional bike tour.

While guests our welcome to transport our rental bikepacking bikes to any riding destination they choose, Lizard Head Cycling Guides’ location in beautiful Telluride, CO means you don’t have to go far from to start your bikepacking journey (in fact, many guests start their trips right from Telluride!). The local riding options are spectacular, from the high-alpine passes of the San Juan Mountains (including a stunning, long section of the world-famous Colorado Trail) to the high desert landscapes and Red Canyon Country of southwest Colorado.

For folks interested in venturing further afield, Lizard Head Cycling Guides is excited to offer self-guided bikepacking trips from Telluride to Moab. The ride from Telluride, high in the San Jauns, to the red-sand desert of Moab is widely considered the ride of a lifetime, and we are eager to share it with you!

Here’s a quick peak of some of the stunning cycling landscapes within a two-day ride of our office!

Self-Guided Bikepacking Tours: Rental Bikes & Bags

Lizard Head Cycling Guides offers fully-equipped ready-to-ride bikepacking rental bikes! We are offering the Scott Scale 710 for rental and we have two (2) size small,  two(2) size medium, and one (1) size large bikes available for rent at this time. All bike bikes have 2.8″ tires.

The Scott Scale 710 features: Scale 27.5″ Alloy 6061 frame, RockShox 30 Silver TK 100mm front fork, SRAM SX Eagle 12 Speed system, Shimano Disc Brakes, Syncros Rims, Maxxis Ikon Tires, and Syncros Parts. Appox. Weight: 25.79 lbs / 11.70 (without pedals or any gear).

Included with Bikepacking Bike Rental

• Full bikepacking kit: one handlebar bag, one frame bag, one saddle bag, two fork mounted water bottle cages, and two feed bags
• Saddle Bag with pump, tube, and tire iron

Customize Your Ride

• Bring your own Pedals: Lizard Head guides will help you install them! Note: Our bikepacking bikes do not come with pedals. If you need flat pedals, please be sure to let us know.
• Bring your own Saddle: While these bikes do come with stock saddles, we are happy to help you install your own saddle if you prefer. Note: Due to varying designs, not all carbon rail saddles will not work with our seat posts, so please bring a steel or titanium rail saddle.
• Set up your Suspension: Lizard Head guides will dial in your front suspension to make you one with your machine.
• Install your Bike Computer: Cycling computers are not included withe these bikes, but you can bring your own if you would like.

Bikepacking Bike Rental Cost

• $95 per day
• $550 for 1 week (7 days)
• Camping gear rentals are available for bikepacking clients – learn more here.

Self-Guided Bikepacking Tours: Logistics & FAQs

• Start/End: All self-guided bikepacking trips and bikepacking bike rentals start and end with bike pick up/drop off at Lizard Head Cycling Guide’s HQ in Telluride, CO. Guests can fly to Telluride Regional Airport (TEX), or shuttle to Telluride from Grand Junction (GJT), Montrose (MTJ), or Durango (DRO).
• Additional Rental Equipment: In addition to bikes and bikepacking bags, Lizard Head Cycling offers a wide range of camping gear for rental. Learn more here.
• Gravel and Road Bike Rentals: Liazrd Head Cycling Guides maintains a full fleet of gravel and road bikes for use on our guided bike tours (more information available here). If you’re interested in a self-guided, bikepacking-style adventure using a gravel or road bike, please contact us to discuss bike availability, and compatibility with our bikepacking bags.
• Bikepacking Routes: We are happy to help guests by building custom bikepacking routes that suit their desires and needs! However, the pre-planned tours below feature some of the very best riding here in Lizard Head Cycling’s backyard; guests are certainly welcome to pick one of these stunning routes! Most of the custom routes we plan end up pulling heavily from these routes, with modifications made to suit guests’ desires.
• Telluride to Moab Bikepacking: The ride from Telluride to Moab is the adventure of a lifetime and Lizard Head Cycling is excited to equip your for your own dream trip. In addition to providing a Telluride to Moab route perfectly tailored to your group’s needs and desired, we’re happy to provide logistical support and local knowledge to get you on your way to Moab! Reach out today to start planning your dream trip from Telluride to Moab (email us at info@lizardheadcyclingguides.com or call us at 970.728.5891).
• Shuttle Services: Group and equipment shuttles are available! Please contact for availability and pricing (email us at info@lizardheadcyclingguides.com or call us at 970.728.5891).

Self-Guided Bikepacking Tours: Sample Routes

Route 1: Norwood, Naturita, and the High Desert
109 miles, 7,300′ gain – generally ridden in 3 days

Colorado’s “West End” is an amazing, off-the-beaten-path destination for adventurous cyclists. The area offers miles of single track riding, and an even larger amount of riding on quiet dirt roads through BLM and Forest Service land. Pairing the area’s amazing riding with the down-to-earth western towns of Nucla and Naturita (ideal stops for groceries, a cold beer, and a well-earned rest) is the perfect recipe for an ideal bikepacking trip for cyclists of all experience levels.

Route 2: Lizard Head Pass and the Western San Juans
159 miles, 15,900′ gain – generally ridden in 4 or 5 days

At Lizard Head Cycling Guides, we love riding in the high peaks of the central San Juan Mountains as much as anyone else, but we’ve found that some of the best bikepacking adventures in our region actually lie to our west, at slightly lower elevations (“low” by Colorado standards, that is – between 7,000 and 11,000 feet above sea-level!). The areas surrounding Lizard Head Pass, the Lizard Head Wilderness, and Hamilton Mesa offer remote camping options, miles and miles of quiet roads and trails, and the chance to enjoy snow-free riding in the spring and fall, when temperatures are more mild. 

Route 3: Telluride to Durango via the Colorado Trail
88 miles, 11,190′ gain – generally ridden in 3 or 4 days

A single track bonanza! The Colorado Trail, running from Denver to Durango, is one of the most famous bikepacking routes in the world, featuring miles of high-alpine riding and challenging (but epic!) single track. Our Telluride to Durango self-guided bikepacking route highlights our local portion of the trail – one of the very best sections of the trail, in our opinion! After a challenging climb from Telluride, you’ll enjoy miles of single track (and a big net-downhill!) as you wind through the Hermosa Creek Wilderness to Durango.

Route 4: The Kokopelli Trail
161 miles, 15,396′ gain – generally ridden in 5 days

The Kokopelli Trail (aka “Kokopelli’s Trail”) is a classic bikepacking route – folks have been adventuring (and racing!) on this route since before the term “bikepacking” existed! Even though the route has been around for a while, there is no shortage of adventure along the way. From wilderness camp spots to quiet roads (and miles upon miles of singletrack!), this route has everything a bikepacking route should have. Plus, it ends with a ripping descent into the famous mountain biking destination of Moab, UT – talk about a grand finale!

 

Route 5: Telluride to Moab, the LHCG Way
175 miles, 16,650′ gain – generally ridden in 6 days
NOTE: This route is infinitely customizable, based on time of year, client-preference, etc. Often, riders start in Norwood, CO to shorten the route slightly, and to enable riding in the spring, when snow remains in the San Juan Mountains.

Are you ready for the adventure of a lifetime? The ride from Telluride, high in the San Jauns, to the red-sand desert of Moab should be on every cyclist’s bucket list. From the first pedal stroke to the last, this ride will challenge and awe you. As you cross countless landscapes and wind through miles of remote wilderness, the solitude and grandeur of southern Colorado and Utah will fill you with an appreciation for everything the Southwest has to offer. As you reach Moab, tired and proud of yourself, you’ll wish the adventure could continue, and you’ll already be dreaming of your next bikepacking adventure.