The Lost lake mountain bike trail is one of the top mountain bike trails in Vail Colorado. It is quite a long loop depending on how many “add ons” you do. It is a 3-4 hour 25 mile ride. So bring food and water. You start at the Antlers at Vail condominiums and conference center. Head up the road, across the pedestrian bridge and take a left down the bike path for about a 1/4 of a mile. Take a right up Red Sandstone road and continue up a couple of switch backs until you get to the rock/gravel road of Red Sandstone going to Piney lake. You then travel up this road about 3 miles? until you get to a fork. Take the right fork to Lost Lake. Continue for another 30 minutes or more until you get to Lost lake. If you hit any forks, just stay on the most traveled path. If you get off, virtually all the roads end up at the hiking trail head to Lost Lake anyhow. From here on it is single track around the lake and back down to a parking lot off of Red Sandstone. You might be 2-3 hours into your ride at this point. Take a left on Red Sandstone but only go a block before taking a right onto another forest service road. You are now heading south back to Vail on top of a big ridge. When you top out at a camp site, take a left off the main road to a faint double track. Follow the trail/road down until you pick up a crazy single track called Buffehr creek. You’ll be taking a number of switch backs before intersecting the Vail North Trail on your left. Follow this back for even more vertical downhill until you exit onto Red Sandstone road again near Vail village.
View Lost Lake Trail to North Trail Vail in a larger map
Map of the trail
An elk we saw along the trail almost at Lost Lake (perhaps it was sleeping?)
They should call this trail “one elk”
All smiles
Nice single track section
Big hairpin turns coming down into Vail
