How to find it

Head up into the Ridgemont trail system, heading for Branch B Road. This heads up from the intersection of R Trail and Kids Stuff, and is signposted. Head up here, past the upper drop-ins to Kids Stuff and Splitting Bears on your right, until the road goes into a hairpin and starts heading down again (about 600m from Branch B/Ridgemont Road junction). Bisecting the hairpin, and heading North is a steep disused jeep track, commonly-known as Bear Chutes.

Alternatively, you can get onto the lower section of Bear Chutes by heading out Coal Creek Road, turning left after the dump, up Ridgemont Road, first right onto a jeep track which is the lower start of Bear Chutes. The Ridgemont / Branch B option is a lot more fun.

Head up here. This is a steep, steep climb, with very few pauses. Only a handful of people can truthfully say they have made it without stopping or putting a foot down, but it is doable. It climbs 500m of vertical in a little over 2km, reaching an elevation of around 1750m. You’re at the top when the Jeep track turns a very sharp and unrideable left up to a weather station. A wooden Big Money sign is just across the trail at the bottom of this section.

The Trail

Both the up and the down are a pretty serious ride, and you will want to allow 2-3 hours for an out and back from town. The views are killer from the top, and a 5min hike up to the weather station site is well worth it. The down itself has suffered some erosion, and the top sections have significant exposure and challenging loose, steep downs. There are “easier” way signs near the top, but it’s still challenging terrain. The trail mellows out as it descends the ridgeline in the direction of Hosmer. It’s a great ride, with over 600m of vertical drop, all singletrack, looping through trees and S-bends, but take it easy the first time.

The trail spits you out on the Ridegemont Road, and if you turn left and keep riding for around 3km, you will end up back at the start of the Branch B spur. This is all on a gravel road, and mostly uphill. Much more fun is to head in the same direction along Ridgemont Road for around 1km, keeping an eye on the right for flagging that takes you onto Loose Change (Big Money/ Loose Change geddit?). This rolling singletrack connects onto Coal Discovery Trail and heads back into town.