Front Side, Tenderfoot, Little Rattler and Spiral Trail is a 8.1 mile moderately trafficked loop trail located near Salida, Colorado that features a river and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail.
The Arkansas Hills Trail System is a collection of eleven hiking/biking trails north of Salida, Colorado that each range from 0.4 to 3.2 miles in length. There are several points of access and multiple trail possibilities. All trails are well maintained and well-marked.
There is a parking lot with a well maintained trail board that gives you trail and distance information.
More information is available at http://salidamountaintrails.org
From Hwy 291, turn north on CR 175. After 0.2 miles, turn right to stay on CR 175. After another 0.2 miles, follow the road to the left to stay on CR 175. After a final 0.2 miles, turn right onto CR 176 (Spiral Drive). Drive 1 mile until you reach the parking area on the right.
What a great trail system, and so accessible from downtown! We connected the Sand Dunes, Backbone, Lil Rattler, and Frontside trails and ended up hiking somewhere around 4 1/2 miles. Lots of mountain bikers out, but they were unfailingly courteous, and our counterclockwise loop must not be the most common route as most of them were heading in the opposite direction. Wish the trails were a bit wider, as they were busy, but the chance to gawk at the views made up for the inconvenience of constantly stepping off trail to let others pass. If you like this one, you'll probably also love the Whipple trail system in Buena Vista.
We took the Lil Rattler trail with two 6 year olds over Memorial Day weekend. The trail was fine, great views and pretty easy BUT we ended up cutting the bike short because there were SO many bikers we had to stop nearly every 3-5 minutes to let people pass. It was just way too crowded. Frankly, this trail should be designated for just one use. It's single track to there's no shoulder and it's cumbersome to pass. It's just too popular and not big enough for bikers AND hikers AND horses.
Great trail for all types. A kinda choose your own hike thanks to the many trails in this system. Pathways are visible and easy to hike. I would suggest for beginners to start at the Rivers Edge parking lot and take the frontside trail from here, so you do not have to ascend the mountain to get back to your vehicle. We made a loop and started on the frontside trail to lil rattler and then the lower sand dunes trail back to rivers edge parking lot. Total of about 4 miles.
The Arkansas Hills trails are fabulous for bikers, hikers, and dogs. Living in the area, I've been on them many times and I always see others enjoying them as well. The trails are well-maintained and you have many options depending on how much time and energy you have. Some trails stay low between the hills, some run along the edges, and some are up top on the ridges. The trail head (by Tenderfoot Hill/S-Mountain) has a good sign with tons of trail info.