The best gravel rides around St. Ann Highlands

A very unexpected tall brick/stone tower in the middle of the forest.

The Assay Office Museum contains many tools and implements used in the assaying process, as well as furniture and artwork owned by the Bailey family. The museum is open the third Saturday of the month May through October. https://bouldercounty.gov/open-space/education/museums/assay-office/

Country Road 126 is a dirt-packed road that serves as a roadway for cars, a double track for bikers, and a trail for walkers. The road goes through pine trees, birch trees, and under power lines.

Tolland is a small, almost deserted settlement on this rural road. It was named after the Toll family who lived here and ran the post office and hotel in the early 1900s. Today it's mainly holiday cabins, but it's interesting to ride through.

There is a sizeable parking lot here with restrooms. From here you can access the network of nontechnical wooded trails and roads in Mud Lake Open Space.

There is a large packed gravel lot here with restrooms and access to numerous dirt roads and singletrack trails.

Sunshine Canyon is a popular ride that that takes you straight from downtown Boulder up into the foothills past popular hikes like Mount Sanitas and Lions Lair. This upper section of Sunshine Canyon is gravel, but it is generally well-graded, and hard packed; it is frequently completed by local cyclists on road bikes. The only place where the gravel can be a little looser and chunkier is toward the top of the canyon by Gold Hill, so be aware when ascending or descending.

The Switzerland Trail follows the remains of a narrow gauge railroad, that ran from the 1890's until 1919. The scenery is stunning and the trail is smooth and fast for the most part.