Denver, CO day trips

[milehighpirate]

Hey guys,

I'm new to OB and relatively new to Denver. Does anyone have any good recommendations for trails within an hour or so of denver? I'm going to check out Yankee Hill Road up by Idaho Springs sometime soon. I'm not looking for anything too gnarly - I'll be in a stock 4runner.

Thanks in advance,
Michael
6025

 

[doubleAron]

Hey Michael,

Welcome to OB and Denver. There are lots of great trails within an hour or so of Denver. Kingston Peak is near Yankee hill and its a great way to add on or make a loop out of yankee hill. Pickle Gulch and Moon gulch are just pass Black Hawk on 119. Pickle gulch has a couple of fun spots but mostly old mining roads.

Check out "Guide to Colorado Backroads and 4x4 Trails" by Charles Wells. It's a great resource and has detailed trail descriptions. Maybe we'll meet up some day.

Aaron
4224



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[Boort]

@milehighpirate

I'm not looking for anything too gnarly - I'll be in a stock 4runner.

I'll second the "Guide to Colorado Backroads and 4x4 Trails" by Charles Wells. FYI, You can borrow a copy from a number of libraries in the area.

From there I'd suggest Haggerman's Pass between Leadville and Norrie. Lots of varying terrain, including a water crossing on the west side. Measure it out cause it can be a few feet deep.
I've done this road in my stock Tacoma, a Stock long wheelbase Ford F150, and an old VW Bajabug ( I've seen someone take a stock 90's Civic over the pass like a bat out of hell, he did not make it w/o hitting the oil pan. ) so your 4runner should have no problem. Be mindful of your wheels and any rocks and I'd make sure there are no Leadville Mtn. bike races going on the day you choose to hit this trail cause the trail can get over run even if it's not part of the route.

Boort

 

[milehighpirate]

Thanks @Boort and @doubleAron. You've given me some good suggestions and I'll definitely pick up "Guide to Colorado Backroads and 4x4 Trails".

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[Denver6161]

Charles Wells also has a Guide to Northern Colorado Backroads and 4x4 Trails that has a good rundown of areas close to the Front Range and near Fort Collins. I actually just ordered it this morning (random) but I've always been happy with his work in the past. There are also a number of good resources through the local meetup groups (Rocky Mountain Overland/Imogene Overland Provisions, etc). I don't know my way around too many trails but I'm usually up for exploring!

 

[milehighpirate]

I just ordered that one (N Colo) after I got the first. Looking forward to checking it out. The first one was great.

I should look into those local groups. I don't have too many 4-wheelin friends out here. I'm down for a meet up.

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[will liebel]

Hey Michael,

Welcome to OB and Denver. There are lots of great trails within an hour or so of Denver. Kingston Peak is near Yankee hill and its a great way to add on or make a loop out of yankee hill. Pickle Gulch and Moon gulch are just pass Black Hawk on 119. Pickle gulch has a couple of fun spots but mostly old mining roads.

Check out "Guide to Colorado Backroads and 4x4 Trails" by Charles Wells. It's a great resource and has detailed trail descriptions. Maybe we'll meet up some day.

Aaron
4224



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I'm planning on hitting guenella pass near Georgetown , I've been hunting up there but never wheeling, any recommendations?

-Will


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[NYCO]

also check out https://www.trailsoffroad.com/ for a free online trail resource and https://traildamage.com/ for a $12/yr resource

there's some nice trails from central city north to Lyons that are friendly to stock'ish builds. do yourself a favor and venture past the popular yankee hill...I will typically only do yankee hill now as a fun addition to get over to the st mary area to hit chinns lake or to link into Kingston peak via Sheridan hill.

bill moore lake is doable in a stock 4runner and can quickly become your favorite trail

as you can see from this screen shot from trailsoffroad, there are many options between i70 north to keep you busy. unfortunately not all of those marks have a nice trail report to accompany them (traildamage has a deeper library of trail descriptions and maps) it shows you possible routes to explore. many of them are forest service roads that stock vehicles can use.

 

[milehighpirate]

also check out https://www.trailsoffroad.com/ for a free online trail resource and https://traildamage.com/ for a $12/yr resource

there's some nice trails from central city north to Lyons that are friendly to stock'ish builds. do yourself a favor and venture past the popular yankee hill...I will typically only do yankee hill now as a fun addition to get over to the st mary area to hit chinns lake or to link into Kingston peak via Sheridan hill.

bill moore lake is doable in a stock 4runner and can quickly become your favorite trail

as you can see from this screen shot from trailsoffroad, there are many options between i70 north to keep you busy. unfortunately not all of those marks have a nice trail report to accompany them (traildamage has a deeper library of trail descriptions and maps) it shows you possible routes to explore. many of them are forest service roads that stock vehicles can use.
View attachment 28781

Thanks for all this @NYCO I'm going to have to hit up bill moore lake soon.

My favorite trail so far was Deer Creek to Saint John's in Montezuma. It wasn't for the faint of heart but had amazing views. Got a few pin stripes but made it through in the 4runner.

Michael
6025

 

[NYCO]

Thanks for all this @NYCO I'm going to have to hit up bill moore lake soon.

My favorite trail so far was Deer Creek to Saint John's in Montezuma. It wasn't for the faint of heart but had amazing views. Got a few pin stripes but made it through in the 4runner.

Michael
6025

yes st johns is a nice one for sure. we also checked out hunkidori mine on that day. you can link that over to the swan river trails which drop you into Breckenridge as well. and if you wanted to keep going, you can hop onto Georgia pass over to 285. lots of ways to link together long days in that region from Montezuma/Breckenridge/Jefferson/Kenosha Pass

 

[will liebel]

Guenella pass?


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[Denver6161]

I actually just signed up for the $12 a year with Traildamage and was relatively impressed with their recent website update. Trailsoffroad does a great job of giving you a view of other trails in proximity to an area you're researching as well.

Guanella pass is an easy drive and offers great views. If you run it north to south you also have a great excuse to stop and have lunch at the coney dog near Bailey.

 

[Colorado Yeti]

Outside of Fort Collins are some fun and beautiful forest roads. There are some more technical trails to explore, but they are mostly optional. If you're looking up north, check out Laramie River road, Cherokee Park road, Pingree Park road/44H and Crown Point road, Deadman road and Manhattan Road to name a few. From Denver, they'd be closer to 2 hours away. Deadman road in Red Feather Lakes had a lookout tower open for tours on the weekends. Some of the trails can be connected to get you many miles off pavement. A fun way to spend the day.


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[JCarter]

I like Rollins Pass and the history of the trail. Located south west of Nederland Colorado, west of Rollinsville. The only catch is Needle Eye tunnel is closed so you can't drive over, but you can Drive up the westside from Winter Park on a separate trip.

I hope one day enough people put pressure on BLM (I think its them) to get the tunnel reopened.




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[Colorado Yeti]

Outside of Fort Collins are some fun and beautiful forest roads. There are some more technical trails to explore, but they are mostly optional. If you're looking up north, check out Laramie River road, Cherokee Park road, Pingree Park road/44H and Crown Point road, Deadman road and Manhattan Road to name a few. From Denver, they'd be closer to 2 hours away. Deadman road in Red Feather Lakes had a lookout tower open for tours on the weekends. Some of the trails can be connected to get you many miles off pavement. A fun way to spend the day.


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Outside of Fort Collins are some fun and beautiful forest roads. There are some more technical trails to explore, but they are mostly optional. If you're looking up north, check out Laramie River road, Cherokee Park road, Pingree Park road/44H and Crown Point road, Deadman road and Manhattan Road to name a few. From Denver, they'd be closer to 2 hours away. Deadman road in Red Feather Lakes had a lookout tower open for tours on the weekends. Some of the trails can be connected to get you many miles off pavement. A fun way to spend the day.


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Great info. These routes you've mentioned are fantastic and I've explored many of them to some degree, except Cherokee Park. There's also a lot of camping available along all of the roads so it would be amazing to link them together for a couple day trip. I've heard the North Hill sand dunes had some trails that can connect with Laramie River Road to add on some miles. Old Flowers is on the list to try as well.