Join me for a day of the Greatest Hits above Boulder.
When: It’s a big day and while temps up high look to be perfect, I still want do get an early start to buy time to fix any friction on the trail.
7:30-7:50 meet and greet
7:50 riders brief
8am KSU ← hard start time, not a suggestion.
Where: Spruce in NoBo. @NikkiD if you’re reading this, be sure to meet us at the correct Spruce this time
What: this will be a tour of some of the best trails and road above Boulder. The A route will include a bit of everything. I’ll create a B route that will do the same, and hopefully we can coordinate a couple locations where the two groups can meet up.
Who:
A Route:
>650cc single or twin – A riders or B+ with a very good attitude
<650cc DS – Advanced Beginner to Intermediate
A-Ride Overview:
Lee Hill, Lefthand, Lickskillet, Gold Hill, Switz to the Sugarloaf staging area
Sugarloaf to P2P to WestMag
WestMag system to Rollinsville to Mammoth Gulch to Elk Park
A loop, as Elk Park to Apex to a trail that goes back to Elk Park. Quick stop at the Lunch Tree
Back down Elk Park to Apex to Moon Gulch to Rollinsville
Ride WestMag “backwards.”
P2P to Gold Hill Road to “North Switz” (much spicier section of Switz) to Sawmill to Lefthand to P2P
P2P to Camp Dick to Bunce Skool Road to P2P
P2P to the top of Johnny Park and down to Lyons
Ride ends at Mainstage in Lyons
B-Route Overview
Lee Hill, Lefthand, Lickskillet, Gold Hill, Switz to the Sugarloaf staging area
Sugarloaf to Boulder Canyon to Magnolia
Short road that transfers you over to Coal Creek Rd, then back up to P2P to Rollinsville
Out and back to the Tunnel
P2P to Ned to a short dirt road that parallels P2P then to Ward to another parallel road, back to P2P
Navigation: I’ll provide tracks. Have them loaded on your device of choice and be prepared to navigate the entire route if you become separated or need to bail
Tools: bring what you need to fix your own flat, with help / heckling from the group.
Food: bring water and snacks for the trail
Gas: fill up at the Shell down the street from Spruce. Gas available in Ned if you need to top off mid-ride
Comms: per BCADV Radio SOP. Anyone with their radio not properly programmed and ready to go at the start of the ride will join me for 10 pushups in full kit.
Use the poll below to RSVP. @STownsend good ride for you, hope to see you there.
West Mag gate is open but there’s a very impromptu barbed wire fence and a whole lotta lodge pole dragged across the 105 trail at the barbed wire. Impromptu meaning that that the fence isn’t properly tensioned. There’s a metal T-Post right smack in the middle of the 105 trail holding up the barbed wire. The fence is after the two steep gullies down and ups coming from the West Mag gate. So, I don’t think there’s access from West Mag to Rollinsville. Edit 501 to 105 …dyslexic.
It’s either been put up by FS or the person with adjacent private property. I know FS will sometimes close a trail for a variety of “official” reasons, like revegetation or to placate the private land owner because of easement issues …or alien abduction ops.
I drove Johnny Park (FS Road 118) with Big Thompson 4-Wheelers on their annual pre-opening run (the club is authorized by Boulder Ranger District & Canyon Lakes Ranger District) to check trail status and clear fallen timber off the route. We cleared 15 trees that the wind had blown down over winter, on the main route and on spurs to campsites. The road surface is in good condition, ready for opening on the scheduled date.
fwiw I saw this in the trail reports from trailsoffroad (as of 5/17)
.GPX file of tracks for the ride added to the first post.
Tracks include an A ride and a B ride. Notes:
I’ve included Johnny Park for the A-ride. Though the gates were still closed as of yesterday, Wednesday, I plan to shoot out to the bottom gates outside of Lyons Friday late afternoon on the off chance that the NFS will open them up for the weekend.
I used the DMD Planner to plan the routes. The map layer is…different…than what I’m used to so while I’m pretty sure I got the tracks for the WestMag and Moon Gulch sections correct, I and several others on the ride have ridden these a gillion times and will be able to notice if the tracks don’t 100% line up with the trail. Don’t worry, we won’t get lost
A-Ride Overview:
Lee Hill, Lefthand, Lickskillet, Gold Hill, Switz to the Sugarloaf staging area
Sugarloaf to P2P to WestMag
WestMag system to Rollinsville to Mammoth Gulch to Elk Park
A loop, as Elk Park to Apex to a trail that goes back to Elk Park. Quick stop at the Lunch Tree
Back down Elk Park to Apex to Moon Gulch to Rollinsville
Ride WestMag “backwards.”
P2P to Gold Hill Road to “North Switz” (much spicier section of Switz) to Sawmill to Lefthand to P2P
P2P to Camp Dick to Bunce Skool Road to P2P
P2P to the top of Johnny Park and down to Lyons
Ride ends at Mainstage in Lyons
B-Route Overview
Lee Hill, Lefthand, Lickskillet, Gold Hill, Switz to the Sugarloaf staging area
Sugarloaf to Boulder Canyon to Magnolia
Short road that transfers you over to Coal Creek Rd, then back up to P2P to Rollinsville
Out and back to the Tunnel
P2P to Ned to a short dirt road that parallels P2P then to Ward to another parallel road, back to P2P
