Phil’s World, Cortez, CO: Follow Me, the Trails are Great

Phil Vigil wanted little more than to explore. After relocating from Fairbanks, AK, to Cortez, CO, in the late 1980’s he found himself mountain biking on deer tracks and game trails across a seldom frequented patch of federal and state trust land five miles east of town. Despite his unexpected passing in 2020, his proclivity for route finding and engagement with the mountain biking community in Cortez have seen him remembered as the pioneer of one of the most renowned mountain bike trail networks on the Colorado Plateau.

The state and federal trust land east of Cortez, CO, on which Phil’s World lies saw infrequent use into the late 1980’s with a small portion on the western half leased by a shooting range and the rest exploited or polluted through livestock grazing, firewood gathering, and illegal waste disposal. The sparse use and proximity to town did however offer enough seclusion for recent transplant Phil Vigil to trace deer tracks on his mountain bike across the undulating terrain. As the paths grew broader and more distinct, Vigil marked them with animal skulls and in-so-doing laid the groundwork for the trail system that came to bear his name.

In 1994, friends Jimbo Farley and Morgan Bell moved west from Alabama and opened Cortez’s only bike shop, Kokopelli Bike and Board. Vigil quickly became a regular. Phil’s tales of the paths near the shooting range prompted staff to nickname the area Phil’s World. Cortez local Scott Darling, then a teenager employed at the shop, was introduced to the trail system by Phil. Inspired, he and a small group of riders began to develop the network. While Phil had moved on to more remote country in the four corners region, builders like Bob Wright, Stephan Barnes, Sam Dayzie, and Shawn Gregory saw potential in the terrain and further established an engaging network unlike any other in the Southwest. Wright, Barnes, and Gregory prioritized ease, fun, and speed in their design and were advised by Dayzie, an indigenous amateur archaeologist, of conflicts in route finding with remnants of Ancestral Puebloan sites.

In the late 1990’s electricity supplier Tri-State Generation expressed interest in developing the land for coal production. While Tri-State pursued extractive access, the shooting range expanded its lease in October of 2003. Safety concerns citing repeated conflict between cyclists and target shooters and a lack of legal authority to build and maintain trail on the land placed Phil’s World in jeopardy. Advocacy groups Kokopelli Bike Club (now Southwest Colorado Cycling Association) and Greater Dolores Action filed a motion to lease 500 acres of state trust land and use adjacent Bureau of Land Management holdings to avoid conflict with gun enthusiasts with dual-members of the bike club and Four Corners Rifle and Pistol Club acting as mediating liaisons. By 2005, Tri-State Generation had shifted interest and the lease and funding for Phil’s World had been secured, mountain bikers were formally guaranteed land and resources.

To maintain the feeling of solitude for riders in the spirit of Phil’s original design, organizers established a directional loop system to minimize rider interaction and traffic. The clever layout, fast and fun trail building approach, and nearness to Cortez distinguished Phil’s as a prototype of the BLM’s Backyard to Backcountry project. The network’s revenue generating ability for Cortez and nearby Dolores, accessibility for all ability levels, and protection of sensitive resources made it a valuable asset to the BLM and encouraging example in cooperative land management for other Plateau communities.

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