Cottonwood
Salida's classic shuttle descent: 7.5 miles of singletrack through pine forest with a notorious technical canyon section called 'the Waterfall.'
Trail beta
Park at the large unpaved pullout on the south side of CR 175. Trail starts as Beasway Trail with gradual climbing, then hits the 'Waterfall': a technical canyon section with large rock features. Walk it first if you're not sure. The actual Cottonwood Gulch descent after the Waterfall is the payoff. Total ~10 miles point-to-point including connectors.
When to go
Accessible May through October depending on snowpack. CR 175 may be muddy in early spring.
Shuttle
Absolute Bikes shuttles to the top Fri-Sun at 8am ($30/person). Without shuttle, it's an 8-mile dirt road climb up CR 175, doable but grindy.
Self-shuttle
Drive CR 175 about 7 miles to unpaved parking area on right side with kiosk. Ride down, retrieve car. Or pedal up the road and ride down.