The road to the trailhead is a bear. Need good clearance and possibly four wheel drive. Check out the alltrails app for reviews of those who have gone in recent days before your hike for road conditions and timing. The parking lot at the trailhead does fill up. I think we started our hike at 4:00 am last summer. Worth it, though.
Colorado Hiking Thread
- Thread starter JM4CY
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The road to the trailhead is a bear. Need good clearance and possibly four wheel drive. Check out the alltrails app for reviews of those who have gone in recent days before your hike for road conditions and timing. The parking lot at the trailhead does fill up. I think we started our hike at 4:00 am last summer. Worth it, though.
Bert hound pass or Bert hound falls? I only see the later on my AllTrails app.
Aren’t keystone and winter park somewhat close? And when are you taking this trip? You’ve been himming and hawwing about it for awhile. Don’t talk, DO!
Look up second creek trail. Berthoud Pass is the road that leads into WP from I-70. I couldn’t find the hut on the satellite image but it would be fun to hike and search for it.
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Consider the Mt. Ida hike/summit. A great hike that starts in the trees then into the Alpine Meadow along the continental divide with great views.
the map shows some sort of luxury hut called broome hut but that must be an airbnb type. The one I’m referring to is like the size of a shed
The distillery on the west side of town is nice for food and drink. The grocery store in town has a nice spirits/wine/beer selection and reasonable prices. I suck at snowboarding for the first time in my 40's. That's about all I got from my Christmas trip out there, hope that helps! Oh, and there's at least one dispensary in town too.
If you have transport I think the distance to the Gray/Torreys trailhead is about the same as it would be from Keystone. You're actually on the same side of the divide/tunnel in WP. Hiked from Second Creek Trailhead year's ago and it was 'fine' (nothing memorable); have heard Berthoud Pass is decent, but don't have experience with it myself. Honestly, if you have the ability I'd say Grays/Torreys are well worth the trip being so close.
Where the hell is the TH? I can’t get Second Creek up on AllTrails app? Is that the closer and potentially more crowded TH? I understand theirs two ways to do that hike.
Second creek is a different hike all-together, just before you'd come into WP IIRC (not sure on the specifics as I was with friends who were driving).
Grays/Torreys is fairly well marked from I-70, but from 14ers.com here is a summary:
"Take I-70 to the Bakerville exit (#221). Leave the highway and drive south over to the dirt parking area near the start of Forest Road 189. This is the winter trailhead and even if the upper road is open, low-clearance passenger cars should park here. It's almost 3 miles to the summer trailhead. Continue up the Grays Peak (189) road. After 1 mile, stay straight at a junction. Continue another 2 miles to the trailhead, at 11,280'. There are restrooms and a few dispersed camping spots near the parking area."
I rode with a buddy who had a lifted 80's era Forerunner and from my recollection he needed all the clearance he could get to make it to the summer trailhead so depending on your transport you may need to account for the extended hike before the hike. We also left Denver at like 3:30 in the morning so we could be at the trailhead by 5 a.m. to beat the crowds - that was in 2018 so things might be even busier now.
If you were staying in Keystone, Argentine Pass (and Trailhead) is essentially the 'backside' (Westward basin) of Grays/Torreys and a really cool/less popular spot to hike around and explore, but it'd be a pretty good poke from WP. Have seen Mountain Goats there every time I hiked/camped and a 4x4 is not needed to get to the trailhead.
I was actually going to recommend the trail up past the Broome Hut. It's from the Second Creek trailhead (not much parking), very close to WP. The trail goes East to West up past the Broome Hut (which can be reserved but not sure how) and if you keep going, you can reach to the 'summit' at the end of the WP chair lifts.
Not bad. We did this in about half a day when my youngest son was probably 6. I wouldn't necessarily recommend that, we should have brought WAY MORE SNACKS, but that gives you an idea that it's a nice hike but not terribly difficult.
Also, if they're still open, the alpine slides at WP are a barrel of fun. Highly recommend. Some friends of ours said there's a zipline course out near Fraser that's also fun, we may try to go back and do this some future year. If you want to drive, I believe there are places in Estes Park you can rent a Jeep and drive on a 4x4 trail in that area.
The GAIA app is one of the better free apps to show trails and elevation, although it's pretty bare bones in terms of marking trails and trail suggestions. You gotta know what you are looking for first.
Not bad. We did this in about half a day when my youngest son was probably 6. I wouldn't necessarily recommend that, we should have brought WAY MORE SNACKS, but that gives you an idea that it's a nice hike but not terribly difficult.
Also, if they're still open, the alpine slides at WP are a barrel of fun. Highly recommend. Some friends of ours said there's a zipline course out near Fraser that's also fun, we may try to go back and do this some future year. If you want to drive, I believe there are places in Estes Park you can rent a Jeep and drive on a 4x4 trail in that area.
The GAIA app is one of the better free apps to show trails and elevation, although it's pretty bare bones in terms of marking trails and trail suggestions. You gotta know what you are looking for first.
I just came back from that area and have spent quite a bit of time there over the years. Two hikes I would recommend are Butler Gulch, on the way to Winter Park, and Devils Thumb, (the hike, not the resort) just outside of Tabernash. They are outstanding! Both on AllTrails.
If you want to go up to RMNP, there are several great hikes, but part of the west side near Grand Lake was hit with wildfires two years ago so check Alltrails and the reviews before you go to see if the trails you are interested in were impacted.
If you want to go up to RMNP, there are several great hikes, but part of the west side near Grand Lake was hit with wildfires two years ago so check Alltrails and the reviews before you go to see if the trails you are interested in were impacted.
Monarch Lake just south of Grand Lake is a beautiful area and an easier hike than the prior two I mentioned above.
Idlewild Distillery on the north end of WP is good, as is Hernando's pizza pub.
Idlewild Distillery on the north end of WP is good, as is Hernando's pizza pub.