Webster pass to 285

So I have looked online for information, and it looks like everybody does red cone and then down Webster pass. Has anybody done up from Keystone to Webster pass and back down the other side to 285. The info I found on the internet states it is really narrow with a 300-foot cliff. Does anybody have any real-world experience on that side of Webster pass. Thanks

 

@JDM

 

It's real narrow with a 300-foot cliff.


















It's narrow but doable when the snow is gone.
Stop at the top and make sure noone is coming up

 

so overall an easy trial if heights don't bother me and i don't meet a vehicle. I'm asking because i will be solo

 

It's pretty narrow in spots. I talked with a guy who ran it on Saturday for the first time (he was one of the two Land Rovers at the camping spot just down from the trailhead), and he didn't care for it (narrow shelf roads aren't his thing).

It's been a long time since I've exited the area that way (8-9 years). At one point 5-6 years ago, there was a washout on one of the stretches between switchbacks which left very little room for error. If I find one of the videos from that time, I'll toss it in - there was some pucker going on. IIRC that section was fixed and I haven't heard of it being a problem since.

Well, that was easy to find. Jump to 4:28:

 

hmm thanks. running solo i might just hold off. don't really need to do a trail either i just live in summit and have to go to Denver Friday a.m. and trying to do a fun easy drive back to the mountains and not do i70 cause no wife or kids. any other recommendations?

 

Depending on your end point/destination, Georgia Pass and Mosquito Pass are two off the top of my head which are thru trails. If you want to poke around, there's plenty of easy paths near Kenosha Pass.

Or, you can get into the Radical Hill area by going Georgia Pass -> Middle Fork of Swan River and then from there exit to Montezuma via Saints John or Deer Creek which are just west of the top of Radical Hill.

 

thanks

 

Very late to the party, so I guess at this point this info is for future reference. I've gone up from Montezuma to the top of the pass many times, but there's always been a snow drift here pretty much all summer making the leg to 285 impassible: https://www.google.com/maps/place/3...1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d39.5308533!4d-105.8328331

Check the forums to see if anyone has run it through recently if you wanna go all the way to 285. That snow drift almost never melts.

I also got a chance to run from Montezuma to Breckenridge last summer via St John's Road to Middle Fork Swan River. This part of the ridge was pretty exciting because of the drop offs, but the road itself wasn't too difficult: https://www.google.com/maps/place/3...1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d39.5471412!4d-105.8851378

Also note that as you begin to head downhill onto Middle Fork Swan River, the road starts to branch. The hill is steep and loose enough that it will be very challenging to back up if you choose the wrong one. Do yourself a favor and scout ahead. In the following link, the hill is at a 30 degree grade according to my instrument cluster (just enough for the low oil warning to start chiming at you), and there was a nice drop over a bedrock spur that I had no choice but to drag the truck over since I don't have any rock sliders. Absolutely destroyed the (shitty) stock skid plates, which was a good excuse to buy some nice new armor. I'm relaying this as an FYI and to reinforce the need to scout the road ahead of you. It would have probably been much easier to take the branch that is slightly to the east of the pin: https://www.google.com/maps/place/3...1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d39.5074554!4d-105.8707882

Hope this helps anyone who wants to run these routes in the future!

 

Interesting. In the 10 years I've been wheeling this area, I can only recall one year (and I'm not 100% sure, either) where it did not melt. All other times, it does melt away enough to allow you to run Handcart Gulch out to 285.

We had a good time a couple months back as a group running Red Cone -> Radical Hill -> Middle Fork Swan River -> Georgia Pass.

This is nicknamed Tombstone Hill. I led the group down the moderate and hardest lines. There was some fun had there, either with hanging a rear tire a couple feet in the air or with scrapping the hitch across the rock dropoff. Not sure if it requires an account to see it, but here's a depiction of the various lines on that hill:

Thanks. If you haven't signed up for a free account on Trails Offroad, be sure to check it out. It too is helpful.

 

X2, never had an issue there by the end of summer.

 

Good to know about the drift melting! I usually will check once in early/mid July if I'm in the area, but I've never had the time to go check in late summer.

Thanks for the info on Tombstone Hill! Aptly named! Glad to see I took the hardest route down... All's well that ends well I suppose!