The Four Mile recreational area next to Buena Vista, Colorado is not like most Colorado trail rides as the complete system is below the tree line and there are no passes to cross or high elevations for sight seeing. What it does offer is some nice trails and some very technical areas to challenge your skills.

Highway 24/285 cuts right through the area spitting it into two half's. With plenty of dispersed areas for ATV camping, this makes for a great weekend ride with one night of camping. I prefer to ride the difficult areas on the first day and the more leisurely rides on the second day.

As stated earlier there are two half's to this area the northern half and the southern half. The southern end is where the most difficult areas are at. Start off the ride early in the morning to avoid the weekend crowds and it's off to Chinaman Gulch. This tail is basically a loop you travel in a counter clockwise direction. There is a lot of sand and a nice rock garden to test your technical riding ability.

If you found Chinaman Gulch less challenging than expected then there is Carnage Canyon. Carnage canyon is probably in the top 5 most difficult rides in the state. You must have a winch and help with some of the obstacles.

If Chinaman Gulch was challenging enough then on the east end of the loop there is an ATV trail (#1423) that takes you to the rest of the southern area. The rest of the trails are moderate to intermediate as far as skill level goes. Follow your map south to the Bald Mountain Gulch ATV trail and then head back to camp.

On the next day, pack up camp, load up the ATVs and head to Buena Vista for breakfast and park the vehicles off of CR371 to ride the northern half. Most of the northern half trails are easy to moderate in skill level. There are still some challenging areas but nothing difficult. This area offers some nice view of the Collegiate Peaks.

The Four Mile recreation area can be ridden in one day if you ride fast and avoid the challenging areas, and you can easily spend a day just riding the challenging areas. Chinaman Gulch is about 7 miles long and depending on how many are in your group can take several hours to complete. Carnage Canyon is less than a mile and can also take several hours to complete.