Passes & Canyons Blog

V-Strom on Kebler Pass.

It’s not a challenge in any way but I’ve now ridden Kebler Pass on the V-Strom.

After spending the night at Powderhorn, at a ski condo, we ran over Grand Mesa and down to Cedaredge and turned east. At Hotchkiss all the other guys headed south through Crawford, to the north rim of the Black Canyon, over to Gunnison and up to Crested Butte. Me, I kept going at Hotchkiss, through Paonia, and turned off to ride Kebler Pass to CB.

I told these guys Kebler is a great gravel road but I had no idea just how great it would be at this time. My friend Kevin, in Gunnison, who I called once I got here, said they went hog wild with the mag chloride on Kebler this year and it’s practically paved. I would agree. Heck, there was even a guy on a bicycle. You don’t ride bicycles on really bad gravel roads.

Of course I’ve been on Kebler before, too, so the only thing noteworthy about this whole thing is that once again I’m getting out on unpaved roads–the reason I bought this dual-sport bike.

I did have a little trepidation heading for Kebler, however. Talking with a guy at a gas station at Cedaredge, he told me they had had a lot of rain lately and there had been mud slides and roads had been blocked. He thought Kebler Pass might be bad. He told me to take it easy because I might come around a curve to find a boulder lying in the road.

Then I pulled off at a station in Paonia and spoke to some guys there who were on dual-sports and they said they had just been over Kebler recently and it was the best they’d ever seen it. That was reassuring. And they were right.

So it wasn’t an adventure, but it was fun nevertheless. And of course it was gorgeous. Kebler Pass runs through some terrific country and if you haven’t been up there you owe yourself that treat. And if you’re on a Harley, do it anyway. You won’t find a gravel road in better condition.

Biker Quote for Today

You’re a biker wannabe if you won’t ride down a gravel road.

I have to admit I was feeling a bit peeved with myself with my failure to have ever made it to Kebler Pass, especially with all these out-of-state riders coming through and doing that route. That shortcoming got rectified this past weekend, and I have to say, it was long overdue.

  Kebler Pass is gorgeous

Kebler Pass is the extremely well-maintained, hard-packed gravel road that run from Crested Butte down to CO 133 over McClure Pass between Hotchkiss and Carbondale. This road may not be paved but even the biggest bagger can take this route with no problem whatsoever. That’s especially great because otherwise, when you go to Crested Butte, you have no choice but to go back the way you came in.

An additional benefit to doing Kebler Pass is that you can take a short side-trip and hit Ohio Pass as well. Just a short distance downhill from the sign marking the Kebler summit, Gunnison County Road 730 heads off southwest to Gunnison. Ohio Pass is just a short distance away and then it’s a rough road heading on down, good primarily for a dual-sport bike. Don’t take your Road King on this one. Extremely scenic, however.

So I want to thank Steve Smith, a rider from North Carolina who used this site to help plan his trip and then sent me his report. I didn’t even know where Ohio Pass was until he described his ride. And now I don’t feel so bad that he has been to Kebler Pass and I haven’t, because now I have.

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Biker Quote for Today

Enjoying life one ride at a time.

One thing I really love about running this website and publishing this blog is the way I learn about new places to ride from the folks who visit the site. I’m not always able to go check them out right away but they definitely go on my list to get to as soon as I can.

The most recent road to add to my list is the Kebler Pass road coming over from Crested Butte to CO 133 coming down off McClure Pass toward Hotchkiss. I’ve mentioned Andy Simons several times recently and Andy gets credit for this one, too. He sent me some photos from the road and described it as “dirt road but suitable for all bikes (well graded and packed).” Here’s one of his photos that confirms his description.

Now, I have never taken this road, not even in a car. In fact, I didn’t know it was there and that you could go anywhere on a good road from Crested Butte other than back down the road you came in on. So I did some checking to find out more about this road. I found one site with a lot of photos where they had this to say:

This is a beautiful drive, forest road 12, that connects Crested Butte highway 135 with Paonia Reservoir and highway 133. Suitable for any vehicles. If you like aspens, mountains, and many photos ops this is the road for you.

Then there is this site where people can post their comments on various roads and such, where one person says:

i lived in colorado for about five years, traveled as many back roads as i could in that time, and Kebler Pass was by far my favorite…for one, it’s a little out of the way so it tends to not be crowded…it is also breathtakingly beautiful…the aspens in this area are huge, and the aspen stand is enormous, mile after mile of aspens…

I will note that another person on this same site had this cautionary remark:

The road is heavily washboarded in places and was very muddy after several days of rain, but was easily passable with our Subaru and wouldn’t present much of a problem to any vehicles if the driver is paying attention. I wouldn’t recommend towing over this pass however. Big snows at high elevation would be a problem – something to consider if weather is severe. Take your time as some of the curves are tight and the road drops a lot of elevation on the west side of the pass. We saw plenty of deer, but no other large mammals this trip.

So it sounds like it should be no problem as long as it’s dry. If it has rained recently don’t even try it. Fair enough. You probably won’t want to try it in May or June but by July or August it sounds like a go. I know I’m going.

Biker Quote for Today

The only good view of a thunderstorm is in your rearview mirror.