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Colorado Trail: Kenosha Pass to Lost Creek Wilderness Boundary

RECOMMENDED ROUTE
Intermediate/Difficult Intermediate/Difficult
 3.8 (30)
  1. Areas
  2. CO
  3. …Central Rockies
  4. Park County
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“Well balanced singletrack with impressive views of endless aspen groves ”

Chuck McQuade
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Map Key

13.1

Miles

21.1

KM

100%

Singletrack

10,418' 3,175 m

High

9,525' 2,903 m

Low

1,690' 515 m

Up

1,689' 515 m

Down

5%

Avg Grade (3°)

18%

Max Grade (10°)

Dogs Off-leash

E-Bikes Not Allowed

Lost Creek Wilderness Boundary (No Bikes) is encountered 7 miles in from the Kenosha Pass parking lot.

Overview

This is a great, usually overlooked ride. It provides an alternative to its more famous counterpart across the highway (Kenosha Pass to Georgia Pass and West Jefferson).

There are a couple of tough climbs, but overall this ride is a great ride for the more novice mountain biker, and much easier than its counterpart across the pass. This ride contains great flow sections within aspen tunnels, a couple of great rock gardens and incredible views! The scenery is fantastic, especially during the fall season, as the area is smothered with aspen groves.

This is the tail end of Segment #5 of the Colorado Trail (Denver to Durango Direction) The majority of Segment #5 is in legal Wilderness (No Bikes), however the section that isn't provides an excellent out and back.

Need to Know

The Kenosha Pass area is definitely not a secret. During the peak aspen gazing season especially on weekends, both parking lots can be full and trying to rip along this trail can be more work than fun when it's busy.

Description

The smooth singletrack begins near the East Kenosha Pass parking lot. If the parking lot is full, one can park on either side of the road at the Kenosha Pass parking lot.

Enjoy the fast flowing singletrack for the first few miles through aspen tunnels and alpine meadows. Don't go too fast or you'll miss the vast views of the South Park basin off to the west. A little over two miles in you'll get several miles of fast downhill. There's a bridge to cross over Johnson Creek before a slight climb which precedes another downhill section leading to the Wilderness Boundary.

At this point bikes are not permitted so turn around and enjoy the ride back. The return will indeed be more of a climb back to the pass, but this only means more time to savor the views.

Contacts

Land Manager: USFS - Pike & San Isabel National Forests Office

Shared By:

Chuck McQuade with improvements by s platte
Full Details

Trail Ratings

  3.8 from 30 votes

#6

in Park County

#896

Overall
  3.8 from 30 votes
5 Star
23%
4 Star
40%
3 Star
33%
2 Star
3%
1 Star
0%
Recommended Route Rankings

#6

in Park County

#206

in Colorado

#896

Overall
12 Views Last Month
21,639 Since Apr 7, 2013
Intermediate/Difficult Intermediate/Difficult
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Photos

Kenosha Pass (East) in the fall... such an incredible ride.
Nov 16, 2015 near Pine, CO
You gotta get up to get down... but it's oh-so-worth-it on Kenosha Pass.
Nov 16, 2015 near Pine, CO
Nature's Highlighters <br> The reason to do this ride in the fall:)
Apr 9, 2013 near Pine, CO
Hammering through a huge aspen grove at the beginning of the Colorado Trail off Kenosha Pass.
Nov 16, 2015 near Brecken…, CO
Fall is such a magical time of year to ride Kenosha Pass... this was taken JUST after peak, once most of the aspens dropped their leaves.
Nov 16, 2015 near Brecken…, CO
Colorado's version of Oak Alley
Apr 7, 2013 near Brecken…, CO

6 Comments

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Current Trail Conditions

All Clear 95 days ago
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Check-Ins

Oct 24, 2024
Doug C
Jul 27, 2024
Katie Novak
Jun 8, 2022
Rich Kelly
Oct 24, 2021
Jeff Verseman
Sep 13, 2021
Bob Paulsen
Super beautiful, not for beginners. Lots of loose rocks. 1 section hard enough to get off bike. Easy ride back. 13mi — 1h 45m
Jun 23, 2021
Alex Balister
Oct 17, 2020
Caitlin G
13.1mi
Oct 3, 2020
Rob Levy

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