The Colorado Trail is a 486-mile mostly non-motorized route crossing Colorado’s mountain spine from near Denver to north of Durango, open to hikers, horse riders, and most mountain bikers. Conceived in 1973 by the Roundup Riders of the Rockies and completed in 1987 through cooperation among the United States Forest Service, trail organizations, and volunteers, it links eight mountain ranges, six national forests, and six wilderness areas. Rising from about 5,500 feet to 13,271 feet, with much of the route above 10,000 feet, it traverses alpine and forested country, historic corridors, mining towns, and remote western landscapes, and remains a major backcountry route maintained through nonprofit and Forest Service partnership.