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Rampart Reservoir Bike Overnight
One loaded lap around Rampart Reservoir, one night at Thunder Ridge, and just enough climbing to make a single speed interesting.
Rampart Reservoir Bike Overnight
September 26–27, 2026
I have been wanting to organize a bike overnight for a while, but I don't want the first one to require three days off work, ultralight camping equipment purchased with a second mortgage, or the ability to casually pedal a loaded bicycle over several mountain passes.
So we're going to Rampart Reservoir.
The plan is pretty simple. Load camping gear onto mountain bikes, start at Rainbow Gulch, ride the long way around Rampart Reservoir, camp Saturday night at Thunder Ridge, wake up Sunday, make coffee, question a few packing decisions, and ride the remaining couple of miles back to the cars.
Single speeds are encouraged.
Gears are absolutely welcome.
We're trying to get people to enjoy this.
The Basic Plan
Right now, the route looks like this:
Rainbow Gulch Trailhead → Rainbow Gulch Trail #714 → Rampart Reservoir Trail #700 clockwise → Thunder Ridge Campground → sleep → finish the short ride back to Rainbow Gulch Sunday morning.
The current GPX is about 14 miles total with roughly 1,000 feet of climbing, depending on which mapping service gets to argue about elevation that day.
Most of that happens Saturday.
Sunday is intentionally short.
Bikepacking does not require two equally difficult days. There is no rule saying you have to wake up after sleeping badly on the ground and immediately ride another thirty miles to prove the previous evening counted.
Sunday morning is for coffee, breakfast, packing everything back onto the bike in a configuration that is somehow different from the one that worked perfectly the day before, and riding back to the trailhead.
For somebody's first bike overnight, I consider that a feature.
Want In?
We're keeping this one small.
The Rampart Reservoir Bike Overnight is free, single-speed friendly, gear friendly, and intentionally limited so it still feels like a group of people going camping instead of an event requiring traffic control.
September 26–27, 2026
Rampart Reservoir, Colorado
About 14 loaded miles
One night at Thunder Ridge
Signing up helps me keep the group manageable, sort out campground logistics, and make sure you get the final GPX, weather notes, water status, fire restrictions, and meeting details before the ride.
No timing chip. No entry fee. No podium.
Just bring a bike and enough stuff to sleep outside.
This Is Not the Tour Divide
This is intended to be an approachable bike overnight, but I don't really want to call it a beginner ride.
"Beginner" can mean too many things.
You should be comfortable riding a mountain bike on real trail. There will be rocks. There will be loose sections. There will probably be a few spots where getting off the bike is easier than trying to demonstrate your technical superiority while carrying a sleeping bag.
That is fine.
The Forest Service describes Rampart Reservoir Trail #700 as an easy, nonmotorized trail around the reservoir. Trailforks rates it green and describes the familiar Pikes Peak "kitty litter" surface along with a handful of short sections most riders will walk. MTB Project's full route from Rainbow Gulch comes out around fourteen miles and notes that the trail is approachable for newer riders while still containing enough scattered technical features to keep experienced riders awake.
That combination is pretty much what I was looking for.
The trail isn't flat, but it also isn't a sustained mountain climb. It rolls around the fingers of the reservoir with lots of little ups and downs.
On a geared bike, that should be pleasant.
On a loaded single speed, it should be pleasant with occasional consequences.
Perfect.
Why Rampart?
Rampart Reservoir sits around 9,000 feet in the Pike National Forest, between Denver and Colorado Springs and just outside Woodland Park.
It is close enough that getting there does not require turning the bike overnight into a road trip. It also feels far enough into the mountains that sleeping there should actually feel like we went somewhere.
The Rampart Reservoir Trail follows the shoreline for roughly eleven and a half miles. We will add Rainbow Gulch Trail #714 on each end, which gives us a free place to leave the cars and adds a little more dirt before reaching the reservoir.
The whole thing should land somewhere around fourteen to fifteen miles once I finish the campground connection in the final GPX.
This is not huge mileage.
That is intentional.
A loaded mountain bike is different from a mountain bike on an ordinary Saturday ride. Handling changes. Climbing changes. Descending changes. Suddenly a completely reasonable rock becomes an opportunity to remember that your tent is attached to the handlebars.
The goal is to have enough riding to make the overnight feel earned without making somebody's first experience with bikepacking end with them listing all of their camping equipment on Facebook Marketplace Sunday evening.
Saturday
We'll meet at the Rainbow Gulch trailhead Saturday morning.
The exact start time will come later, but there is no reason for this to require a 5:00 a.m. alarm. We have roughly fourteen miles available for the entire weekend, so there is no reason to treat Saturday morning like the start of an endurance race.
We'll descend Rainbow Gulch, join Trail #700, and take the long way around the reservoir.
The current plan follows the loop clockwise.
That gives us most of the reservoir Saturday before peeling off toward Thunder Ridge. The route works its way around a ridiculous number of little coves and drainages, which is also where most of the climbing comes from. There isn't one giant climb. There are just many small reminders that putting camping equipment on a bicycle adds weight.
We'll stop when people want to stop.
This isn't a race.
There are no segment prizes.
Nobody gets bonus points for cleaning a rocky section with a tent strapped to the bike.
Eventually we'll reach Thunder Ridge, unload the bikes, and spend the night.
Thunder Ridge
We're planning to camp at Thunder Ridge Campground, overlooking Rampart Reservoir at about 9,200 feet.
It is a real Forest Service campground rather than a patch of dirt I found on satellite imagery and declared adequate.
That means campsites, picnic tables, vault toilets, and normally potable water.
Normally is doing some work there.
September 26 falls during the campground's extended season. The Forest Service says Thunder Ridge is generally open from mid-May through mid-October, weather permitting, but services such as water, trash collection, and a campground host may be reduced outside the peak summer season.
So we're going to plan as though there is no water at camp.
If the water is still running, great. Everyone gets to celebrate the unexpected luxury of a functioning faucet.
If it isn't, nobody discovers this while holding an empty bottle.
You can also look at the Thunder Ridge Recreation.gov page for current campground information.
Camping around Rampart Reservoir is restricted to the developed campgrounds, so this isn't a dispersed-camping trip where we're going to hunt for a suitable patch of ground at the end of the ride. We'll know where we're sleeping before we start.
That feels appropriate for this one.
September at 9,200 Feet
September 26 sounds like fall.
At 9,200 feet, it can also sound like winter.
That does not mean we're planning a snow ride.
It means everyone should bring a real sleeping setup.
This probably isn't the trip for the mystery sleeping bag that has lived in the basement since college or a Costco blanket rolled under the handlebars because it seemed warm in the parking lot.
Bring enough insulation for a legitimately cold night.
We'll watch the forecast as the date gets closer. If the weather turns into something that makes the entire exercise stupid, we'll change the plan.
Sleeping outside is already optional recreation. We do not need to make it adversarial.
Fire, Water, and Other Things We Don't Control
As I write this, Pike National Forest is under fire restrictions.
That may have absolutely nothing to do with conditions on September 26.
We will check the current Pike-San Isabel National Forest alerts immediately before the trip and follow whatever restrictions are actually in place at that time.
Do not plan your entire emotional experience around a campfire.
A small gas stove is probably a better thing to build your dinner around anyway.
We will also confirm campground water, trail conditions, closures, and the final weather forecast before the ride. Everyone who signs up will get an update shortly before the weekend with anything that has changed.
What Kind of Bike?
A mountain bike.
Beyond that, I am not interested in establishing many rules.
I'll almost certainly ride a single speed because apparently I have committed to this particular administrative burden.
Single speeds are encouraged because this is 404 Gears Not Found and we should at least attempt to maintain some thematic consistency.
But bring gears if you want them.
Seriously.
A geared hardtail is fine. Full suspension is fine. A rigid bike is fine if you and your wrists have reached an agreement.
The goal isn't to prove that one drivetrain is more legitimate than another.
The goal is to strap sleeping equipment to bicycles and go somewhere.
What You'll Need
This is a self-supported bike overnight. You are responsible for carrying the equipment you need to ride, eat, sleep, and deal with normal mechanical problems.
At minimum, think about:
- A mountain bike in working order
- Helmet
- Tent, bivy, hammock, or another actual sleeping shelter
- Sleeping bag or quilt appropriate for a cold night around 9,200 feet
- Sleeping pad
- Enough water capacity for the ride and overnight
- Food for Saturday plus breakfast Sunday
- Basic bike repair tools and flat-repair supplies
- Warm layers
- Rain protection
- Lights
- Whatever small luxuries make sleeping on the ground seem like a reasonable recreational decision
You do not need ultralight bikepacking equipment.
Use straps. Use an old dry bag. Use a backpack. Borrow stuff.
Half the point of a trip like this is figuring out what works before attempting something much larger.
There will undoubtedly be expensive bikepacking equipment present because cyclists cannot help themselves.
It is not a requirement.
About the Route
The GPX attached to this page shows the route we're currently planning for the overnight.
The mapped loop is about 13.9 miles and returns to the Rainbow Gulch trailhead. For the overnight, we'll split that ride across two days and use the connection into Thunder Ridge Campground for Saturday night.
The route may change slightly before September as I confirm the campground access, trail conditions, and logistics. Anyone who registers will receive the final GPX and trip details before the ride.
Once we've ridden it, I'll publish the completed route here on 404 Gears Not Found with the final GPX, map, elevation profile, photos, and whatever we learned along the way.
For independent research, these are useful:
- Rainbow Gulch Trail #714 — U.S. Forest Service
- Rampart Reservoir Trail #700 — U.S. Forest Service
- Rampart Reservoir — Trailforks
- Rampart Reservoir — MTB Project
- Thunder Ridge Campground — U.S. Forest Service
- Thunder Ridge — Recreation.gov
Those pages will also be more useful than this one if you are reading it six months from now and trying to determine whether a gate is open.
Signing Up
The group is intentionally limited, so please register if you're planning to come.
Registration is mostly there so I know who's actually showing up and can send everyone the final route, meeting details, campground information, weather forecast, and anything else that changes before September 26.
This is a free recreational group ride.
Nobody is receiving a timing chip.
One Gear, One Night
That's really the whole idea.
Ride mountain bikes around Rampart Reservoir.
Eat something.
Sleep.
Wake up.
Drink coffee.
Ride back to the cars.
If you've wanted to try a bike overnight but haven't wanted your first attempt to become an expedition, this should be a good place to start.
If you've bikepacked plenty and simply want to spend a September night beside a reservoir with a bunch of people carrying too much stuff on bicycles, that works too.
Bring one gear.
Bring twelve.
Just bring a bike.
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