Dolores County rescue frees injured biker after 200-foot fall near Rico

A 36-year-old Telluride man was flown out of the backcountry the hard way after a 200-foot fall on the Calico Trail west of Rico left him injured and unable to get himself out. The Saturday afternoon rescue drew in San Miguel County Search and Rescue to assist Dolores County Search and Rescue, turning a single crash into a cross-county operation.

Responders moved into Dolores County around 2:30 p.m. and worked an extrication on steep terrain where a simple carryout was not possible. The rider was packaged into a litter, then taken to an ambulance waiting at the trailhead before being evaluated for non-life-threatening injuries.

The man had been riding with friends when the fall happened. His companions provided initial care and activated the search-and-rescue response, a critical first step that likely helped stabilize the scene before rescuers reached the slope.

The call came during a busy stretch for mountain-area first responders. The same weekend roundup also included a rollover crash on Imogene Pass and a small wildfire in Mountain Village that burned about 0.2 acres before firefighters got it under control, a reminder that summer recreation season can stack multiple emergencies across rugged terrain in a matter of hours.

The Calico Trail has long been part of that risk profile. Trail references place it in the San Juan National Forest and across parts of Dolores and Montezuma counties, while the Rico Trails Alliance describes it as extending 19 miles from Lizard Head Pass south to Priest Gulch. In other words, this is not a roadside path, but a backcountry route where steep slopes, remote access and long approaches can quickly force a technical rescue.

That is where mutual aid matters. San Miguel County Search and Rescue covers roughly 1,200 square miles, from high desert at 5,000 feet to high alpine above 14,000 feet, and Colorado Search and Rescue Association estimates the state’s roughly 50 volunteer backcountry teams handle about 3,000 incidents a year, along with about 8,000 incident hours and 400,000 volunteer hours. On trails like Calico, those numbers translate into a very real local question: when a rider goes over the edge, who can reach them, who can package them, and how fast an ambulance can be staged at the trailhead.

For hikers, bikers and off-road users around Rico, the lesson from Saturday’s rescue is blunt. Travel with partners, carry a reliable way to call for help, stay aware of exposure on steep sections and be prepared for a response that may require litter evacuation rather than a quick walkout. On Calico, the difference between a hard day and a major rescue can be one turn of the wheel.