Chinaman Gulch

Chinaman Gulch is better understood as a trailhead and a rocky 4WD loop than as a dirt bike riding area in its own right. The BLM now signs it as Yansing Gulch, but riders, guidebooks, and most maps still say Chinaman Gulch, so expect to see both names. The loop is roughly 7 miles of BLM road (routes 6043 and 6044) through dry, rocky pinyon hills between Johnson Village and the Arkansas River, and 4x4 guides rate it difficult, with named rock ledges and boulder obstacles. It is a rock-crawling proving ground first, and the guides written for it are aimed at modified trucks and Jeeps, not motorcycles.

For dirt bikes the value is the staging area. The same trailhead serves Dudbobs, a roughly 6-mile intermediate motorized singletrack that opened in 2020 in the BLM's Fourmile Travel Management Area, and Dudbobs links to the Triad Ridge singletracks on Forest Service land to the east. The 2018 BLM proposal that led to the trail listed it as Chinaman Gulch Single Track, designed for motorcycles at the more difficult level, and its allowed uses included bikes, horses, and hikers. Riders park here, ride the singletrack, and can add other Fourmile routes. Carnage Canyon, an extreme rock-crawling trail, also starts from the same lot and is not a bike trail to plan a day around. This page covers the trailhead and the gulch; see Dudbobs for the singletrack itself.

Whether motorcycles may ride the Chinaman Gulch 4WD loop itself is not spelled out in the sources found. Check the BLM Royal Gorge Field Office before assuming it is open to bikes.

Getting there

From Buena Vista, take US 24/285 south toward Johnson Village. One 4x4 guide has you turn onto Chaffee County Road 301 about a mile past the junction, then follow it roughly a mile and a half before turning left onto a gravel road for about a third of a mile to the large trailhead. Other directions come in from County Road 300 near Ruby Mountain. The lot has room for trailers to turn around and a portable toilet. Two gates on the approach must be closed behind you, because the access crosses grazing leases. Confirm current access with the BLM before you go.

Fees, permits, and rules

The 4x4 guide we found says there is no fee or permit for the Chinaman Gulch trail. Colorado still requires an OHV registration (Colorado residents) or a non-resident OHV permit for motorcycles on designated OHV trails; out-of-state registrations are not recognized. Stay on designated routes, use existing bypasses rather than making new lines, and pack out everything. The managing office is the BLM Royal Gorge Field Office in Cañon City, 719-269-8500.

When to ride

The gulch sits low and dry and is described as runnable most of the year, with April through November the classic season. The wider Fourmile area is different: the Forest Service says its seasonal gates close December 1 and open April 30. Which gates affect this trailhead is not clear from the sources, so call before a winter trip.