STANDALONE TRAIL MAP
TRAIL INFORMATION
Psycho Ridge Trail
// track pieces: 1608, // elevation pieces: 1608
Details
| Status: | Closed |
| Difficulty: | Intermediate |
| Uses: | Mt Biking & Hiking & Equestrian |
| Length: | 1.93 miles |
| Start: | 7,705' |
| End: | 7,338' |
| Min: | 7,333' |
| Max: | 7,705' |
| Gain: | 120' |
| Loss: | -489' |
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Trail Info
REMARKS:
Galena Lodge reopens for the summer season on June 7th.
Trailhead Forecast
Snowfall
New Snow last 12 hours: 0". New Snow last 24 hours: 0".Description / Access Information
Psycho Ridge Trail: A great intermediate trek through the woods along Psycho Ridge with views of the Boulder Mountains.
Psycho Ridge has been a favorite playground for Galena's guests and staff for generations. The summertime routes up there have undergone a number of iterations and improvements over the years, with many volunteer work nights and weekends devoted to making the trail better. Galena's proprietors, Don and Erin, and their staff, have put in a lot of sweat equity on it too. Most recently the BCRD Galena Summer Trails Project has brought a complete singletrack package to the ridge. Its flowy and fun.
The ridge descends slowly from north to south, so traveling along it is a pleasure, especially in that direction. The trail is open to two-way traffic, but climbing up it from near the lodge, in a clockwise fashion, is not recommended. This is because the route is a favorite for bicyclists who enjoy descending on the trail; railing the turns and hopping around where the trail's lips and dips provide that option. The trail is like this on its steeper, south end.
Getting to Psycho Ridge Trail from the Lodge:
You can ride singletrack to get to the trail, or two-track roads. The two-tracks get you there in about 1.7-miles of riding. Using the trails is not so direct, but using the singletrack is a more gradually graded experience.
Getting to Psycho on roads (Direct, but steeper):
To ride to it on two-tracks, grab a map from Bike Mike at the Galena Lodge bike shop, and buy a Don Bar in the restaurant. Pack up and head around the back side of the lodge and up toward the kiosk that is near the north end of the parking lot.
Head up the wide two-track that passes by the kiosk and that goes north. You are on Gladiator Creek Road/FS Road #189. Stay on the main two-track road, crossing Gladiator Creek twice. At the first crossing you won't get your feet wet, but at the second you might. That is because the first crossing uses a culvert, to let the stream pass under the roadway. The second crossing has no bridge or culvert., but the water is not deep. Use caution as the crossing can be slippery.
Just after the wetter crossing you will come to an intersection of roads that is 0.7 miles from the lodge. The two-track to the right is Gladiator Creek Road. It continues up the Gladiator drainage toward its end and its intersection with the Grinder Trail. The road to the left is FS Road #192, which climbs into the Westernholm drainage and up toward Psycho Ridge. Take a left and climb up the two-track. After another 0.8 miles the road crosses a log bridge over trickling Westernholm Creek, and shortly goes past a spot where the Outhouse Trail crosses the road. Stay straight and on the road to continue climbing for about 0.2 miles to reach another intersection of two-track roads.
You have gained the ridge, but you need to follow the road a little further to the west/straight. The road to the left goes down Psycho Ridge and parallels the Psycho Ridge Trail. Don't go right, instead, stay straight for a short distance on the two-track that continues west and starts to drop. In about about 100 yards you will come to a place where the road meets a crossing trail. Turn left onto Psycho Ridge Trail.
Follow Psycho Ridge Trail down the ridge. Near the south end, when the trail pops out of the woods and into a sunny and grassy meadow, stay left where Psycho Ridge Trail meets the Grinder Trail. Staying on Psycho, drop down through the berms and when you reach the bottom jump on the Lodge Loop Trail to return down to the lodge.
Getting to Psycho on singletrack trails:
There are a number of ways to get to Psycho Ridge on trails. Pull out your map as you sip your coffee and check out the possibilities. Here is the most popular singletrack approach:
From the north end of the lodge parking lot, get on the Lodge Loop Trail. It starts to the right of the kiosk as you are facing up the drainage. Head north up the Lodge Loop and shortly take the first right onto Gladiator Trail. Stay on Gladiator where Rip and Tear goes right. The trail soon crosses Gladiator Creek at a footbridge and then crosses Gladiator Creek Road/FS Road 189. Stay on Gladiator as it drops and climbs, then drops again to meet the trail's first intersection with the Outhouse Loop Trail.
Turn hard to the right to climb up the east side of the Outhouse Loop Trail. The aforementioned turn can be easy to miss, as it is on a downhill and kind of in a turn. If you miss it you can take the other side of Outhouse up, but that leg is more direct and more steeply graded.
Head up Outhouse Loop Trail and near the top get on the Psycho-Outhouse-Grinder Connector Trail. This short spur trail forms a link between its namesakes. At the next intersection of trails stay left and south to get onto a portion of the Grinder Trail (the trail to the right is also a section of the Grinder Trail - it heads off in a more westerly direction). You want to head south. Soon the trail crosses a two-track road and its designation changes to the Psycho Ridge Trail. Follow the trail, staying left where the trail breaks out of the woods into a sunny grassy meadow and another meeting with yet another section of the Grinder Trail. Follow Psycho down through the berms and at the bottom take the Lodge Loop Trail back to the lodge.
