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Post by cweston on Sept 4, 2023 10:49:04 GMT -8
Bear Creek Road, CR 49 and/or 101, just SE of Salida, CO.
The road accesses a Rainbow Trail TH. In his Hiking Colorado's Sangre de Cristo Wilderness, Jason Moore says "The end of the road is rough and could require a four-wheel-drive vehicle."
This is considerably less detail about the TH access road than Moore usually provides. It'd be great to know what he means by "the end." The last 100 yards? The last 2 miles? It's on USFS land, so presumably one can park and walk, as long as there are places to get off the road.
I'm looking at this as a possible late June hike to Hunts Lake and Peak.  |
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Sept 4, 2023 12:38:24 GMT -8
I've been on it, but unfortunately not as far as you want to go. Most of the roads that come off of 50 in that direction degrade progressively as you get uphill, but I'm sure you already knew that.
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kayman
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Post by kayman on Sept 4, 2023 15:47:31 GMT -8
Bear creek road is a very good road but the last 2 miles to the trailhead are very rough.
We were on it back in June. Saw a black bear on the way. Must’ve been his road.
And yes, there is a parking area right there before the rough part.
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Post by cweston on Sept 4, 2023 15:58:09 GMT -8
Bear creek road is a very good road but the last 2 miles to the trailhead are very rough. We were on it back in June. Saw a black bear on the way. Must’ve been his road. I'd be in a Rav4 AWD (with regular clearance), so clearance would be the primary issue. Do you remember if there are places to pull off and park short of the TH? Also I see that there is a TH to the south on the Rainbow Trail that only adds about a mile to the distance to Hunts Lake, and Moore says that most cars can reach that TH. That might be a better bet than breaking my spouse's vehicle. (She‘d be shocked to know some of the places I've taken it, but that's another story.) |
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kayman
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Post by kayman on Sept 4, 2023 16:14:06 GMT -8
Bear creek road is a very good road but the last 2 miles to the trailhead are very rough. We were on it back in June. Saw a black bear on the way. Must’ve been his road. I'd be in a Rav4 AWD (with regular clearance), so clearance would be the primary issue. Do you remember if there are places to pull off and park short of the TH? Also I see that there is a TH to the south on the Rainbow Trail that only adds about a mile to the distance to Hunts Lake, and Moore says that most cars can reach that TH. That might be a better bet than breaking my spouse's vehicle. (She be shocked to know some of the places I've taken it, but that's another story.) I must’ve been editing my post when you were responding. Yes, there is a parking area right before the rough stretch of road. I wouldn’t take a RAV4 on that stretch. |
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