The top section of the three sections that will make the full Crown Royale trail is now complete and ready to ride. The new section connects the top of Crown Mountain to the uppermost point of Vasten near the road/cattle guard crossing.
The new upper section of Crown Royale has a similar difficulty to Deadline on Sky Mountain Park. Filled with berms and jumps, this section is pretty straight forward with no deep gullies, wall rides or crossover loops that are prominent features in the lowest section of the Crown Royale trail which opened earlier this spring connecting Buckhorn Traverse to the Rio Grande Trail.
Note: The berms and jumps in the lower half-mile of the new upper section are still soft and loose. Ride with caution and as always we recommend following the Pre-Ride, Re-Ride, Freeride protocol.
The middle section of Crown Royale, which connects the Vasten crossing and Vasten/Buckhorn Traverse intersection, is still under construction and expected to open next summer.
In the mean time, if you want to get a taste of what is to come, you can still descend from the top of the Crown to the Rio Grande by riding Upper Crown Royale to Vasten, descend the west side of Vasten, then enter lower Crown Royale at the Buckhorn Traverse intersection.
Note: While the upper section and lower section of Crown Royale is downhill only, Vasten remains a two-way trail. So please be aware that it is possible to encounter uphill traffic on Vasten. And as with all the valley’s two-way trails, uphill traffic has the right of way.
To get there: The uppermost drop in of Crown Royale is at the top of Crown Mountain. To get there, ride either Overie or Undie from the Prince Creek side or Glassier -> East Vasten -> Imperial Gardens from Rio Grande/Hooks Spur.
– The lower portion of the Imperial Gardens trail which connects Vasten to the top of the Crown is ridable but still in a relatively unfinished rough state. A huge thank you goes out to all the volunteers who have helped get this awesome access trail on the map! We still have plenty more to do. Look for more improvements by future trail dig parties and the RFMBA Trail Crew.
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