Easy trails near I-25?

EDIT: I really meant to ask for dirt/unpaved roads. Not really “trails”.

I'll be making a trip up to Denver for a convention in February with my wife and (little) kids. They've never been to CO before, so I was looking for an easy trail not too far off of I-25 (we're coming up from TX) that has a shot at being open. Browsing onX, I've found Lower Gold Camp Road (https://webmap.onxmaps.com/offroad/...4e5c-b0ca-51408ac19f51#12/38.80682/-104.87843) and Mt. Herman & Rampart Range Roads (https://webmap.onxmaps.com/offroad/...rview?id=d88891e0-b5fe-5b0a-882e-20256a233bf9).

Any suggestions from locals or anyone who's been/familiar with the area?

Cheers,
Jeffrey

 

It's winter even rampart is closed in the winter time.

 

You're going to have to check for closures closer to the time that you will be here.
Upper Rampart Range is closed in the winter time, but Lower Rampart is usually open.
Start from Garden of the Gods, Balanced Rock and head north, then bounce out in Woodland Park, and follow 24 back down to where you started. Or, just turn around and take it back down.

 

There are quite a few great drives in the area. Garden of the Gods as noted. You can search the “million dollar highway” for great scenery.

 

garden of the gods is a very easy drive, the whole thing is paved and you can take whatever car you want through there.

the drive from balanced rock up rampart range road is closed this time of year. to get up into rampart, you have to go through woodland park to the west or monument to the north. if you drive out to woodland park, you could go north up 67 and do some stuff at rainbow falls. that should be open year around and there are normally a number of people there that could help in a pinch. if you map it out right, you might be able to get over the mountains and come out in monument. the drive from woodland park to deckers to conifer or sedalia could be scenic too, but all paved. you might even be able to drive rampart range road from woodland park all the way to sedalia, or pretty close to it. i personally haven't gone that far north on it.

i dont have on x so i dont know exactly what roads you linked, but if its the lower gold camp im thinking of in colorado springs, that more of a scenic drive on a dirt road that isn't difficult. normally a lot of hiking and biking traffic on it. be sure to take it slow since there is a lot of foot traffic. people treat this like a normal city road and go pretty fast. its not uncommon for someone to park off the side and get stuck causing lots of traffic.

if you're in springs, you could go up and over old stage road into cripple creek. that is pretty much all dirt from springs to cripple creek. balanced rock (edit: i mistyped. its not balanced rock up there. some other rock feature) is up there and some other technical stuff to explore on. not as much traffic as gold camp, but can be icy.

 

Phantom Canyon Road is a little west of the springs, but it's super easy driving and has a bunch of tunnels through the rock.

 

You could go through Sedalia to the foxton area, see that section of the platte River, then head back out through Aspen park/confer. It's a very beautiful drive with amazing views.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions so far! I'll definitely check for closures once as close as I can to getting there. Gonna research the suggestions here.

 

I looked up the sections of Rampart that you suggested. Looks like I could take 24 from Co Springs to Woodland Park and then Canyon Dr (I'm sure there are others) into Rampart. I did see some mentions of Old Stage Rd in my research, but wasn't sure if that was open this time of year. That's the one that starts at/near the zoo, right?

 

Thanks, this is exactly the section of Rampart I was looking at. Trail report on onX says it was open on 1/14/2024. I'll have to check again closer to when I'll be there.

 

i have never taken canyon dr into rampart range. looking at a map, im not even sure if it gets all the way to rampart range. that looks like a residential street.

from colorado springs on hwy 24, go west into woodland park. then turn onto s baldwin street at the mcdonalds. that takes you to the bottom of rampart range road. it turns into the dirt road and goes up higher. im not sure about certain closures up there. i've driven around on different roads in the winter using gaia to know if its a road i can drive on or if its a trail for smaller vehicles (atvs and dirt bikes). it can be tricky to know what is acceptable or not, but there is a huge push for only being on designated trails. Stay the trail is a big deal in colorado. that site has maps of both rampart range and rainbow falls that tells you what you can drive on. i would guess the info on On X is pretty similar, but dont know how updated On X is.




im pretty sure old stage is open year round, but would personally skip if since you're going to denver. rampart range and rainbow falls is a little more fun imo

 

Thanks @mrtonyd . I checked out staythetrail and it looks like Rampart Range Rd is good to drive on, but some of the trails that shoot off can be UTV/moto only. I plan to stay on the main road. Really just trying to get the fam introduced to off-pavement travel, and not looking for any real "wheeling". I'll keep the STT maps handy just in case I get off the main road somehow.

 

check on here. remember trails change every year with weather, etc!

https://bushducks.com/tripreps/passopen.htm

 

Thanks! Looks like FSR 300 was closed at Garden of the Gods as of 12/1/2023, if I’m reading that correctly. OnX has a different report, but also not specific to Garden of the Gods. Probably best to check with the ranger, but it’s not that far outside of Colorado Springs. I might just drive out there and look for signage.

 

My suggestion is to enjoy the beauty of you visit from the pavement. Then come back in the summer and experience the off road opportunities.

Every year it's some similar story...
https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/crew-who-saved-three-men-pike-national-forest-rescue-mission/

 

10-4. It’s all part of the research I’m doing…and why I’m asking y’all locals. This is not a “must do”, so if things are closed or look sketch, I would just continue on to Denver. I have not been off pavement in CO and only been there a couple of times in the winter, so I don’t know what real world conditions are like there.

 

You can probably drive to Ruedi Reservoir. You may be able to drive down the Fryingpan River some. That's a lot of driving and not much to do once you get there. Maybe Ice Fishing @ Ruedi? I do recommend checking out some ice fishing here in the city. Mainly in Aurora @ the Aurora Reservoir. Rocky Mt Arsenal is great to drive through for Buffalo, def check out Buffalo Bills grave/museum @ Lookout Mt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruedi_Reservoir
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fryingpan_River
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_Reservoir
https://buffalobill.org/
https://www.fws.gov/refuge/rocky-mountain-arsenal

Also, Coors Tour in Golden is worth a go. Clear, see-through bags only

 

Yes, Old Stage is the one by the zoo. It is maintained year-round, but can still be dicey depending on recent snowfall and freeze-thaw cycles. It's also a pretty high-traffic road and popular with tourists so even if you're competent in those conditions you have too be mindful of and patient with everyone else out there. It's scenic and unpaved but it truly is a road, not a trail.

I'd say the same things about Rampart out of Garden of the Gods when it's open--it's scenic and unpaved but it's still a road and it's even more popular with tourists than Old Stage

I don't want to make any assumptions about your skills or competency, so please don't take offense if you already know this but please listen if you aren't experienced driving in snowy mountains: When roads are slick it's much easier to drive up a steep hill than it is to drive down. The easiest way to get stuck is to lock up your wheels coming down a hill and slide off. Once your wheels are locked up, the truck is going to take the most direct path downhill regardless of which way you steer, and the most direct path downhill almost always leads to either a ditch or a long, steep slope. This can happen even at "barely moving" speeds. Even if you're lucky enough to slide to the ditch side, odds are you're going to have a hard time getting out. I helped dig out a 4Runner with a locker on 35s after it slid off earlier today. Conditions can change drastically throughout the day--the crunchy snow on the road in the morning when you're driving uphill can turn to slick slush or wet hardpack by afternoon when you're coming back down. Dirt roads can be beautiful when it's snowy but they're much easier and safer to enjoy when dry.

 

Not offended at all. I’m comfortable driving off road in general, but only been on one snow trail in NM and ended up turning around.

That said, after I read your post, I should clarify that a dirt or unpaved road is what I’m looking for and not what CO folks consider a “trail”.