| Difficulty: | Number: | Miles: | Altitude: | Obstacles: | Time: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy 4 | FR253 | 13.22 | 9,780 ft. | Rocky Hill | 1-3 hours |
Sulphur Ranger District
Granby, Colorado 80446
Closure:
July - Best
August - Best
September - Best
October - Early snows possible
Accessed:
From Hot Sulphur Springs, CO. head east on US-40 E/Byers Ave toward 1st Street for 482 feet. Turn right toward Byers Ave for 79 feet. Turn left onto Byers Ave and go 0.5 miles. Continue onto CR 55 and go 3.8 miles. Turn right onto CR 555 which will become the Big Meadows road.
From Fraser, CO. head northwest on US-40 W/Zerex Street toward Fraser Ave and continue for 10.4 miles. Turn left onto CR 55 and go 5.4 miles. Turn left onto CR 555 which will become the Big Meadows road.
West end start
From Hot Sulphur Springs, CO. head west on US-40 W/Byers Ave toward Maple Street and continue for 2.7 miles. Turn left onto CR 50 and go 0.1 miles. Continue onto CR 50 and go 2.1 miles. Turn left onto FR253, the Big Meadows road.
From Kremmling, CO. head east on US-40 E/Park Ave toward 7th Street and continue for 14.7 miles. Turn right onto CR 50 and go 0.1 miles. Continue onto CR 50 for 2.1 miles. Turn left onto FR253, the Big Meadows road.
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Rocky section photo by: Adam M |
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The road will continue east climbing up the bare hills. You will pass a short spur on the right that goes to a turn around. As you head around a curve you will come to an intersection with FR253.1A coming in from the left. Though not on Forest Service lands yet, this road will head north, crossing BLM land, going around a small drainage and then it will connect with CR50. Stay to the right continuing to climb.
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Heading east photo by: Adam M |
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You will come to another short spur on the left which is where you will cross onto Forest Service lands. The road will continue east and then make a long curve to the north. You will pass a spur road on the left that goes to the top of a small rise next to the road. Stay right and you will head into some aspen trees. If there has been rain you will have to drive some muddy ruts.
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Ruts through the aspen photo by: Adam M |
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You will come out of the aspens and cross a small drainage making a right turn and heading up the drainage. Part way up you will have a small rough obstacle to climb.
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Climbing toward Big Meadows photo by: Adam M |
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The drainage will narrow a bit and you will come to a short set of switchbacks that climb out of the drianage.
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Climbing the tight switchback photo by: Adam M |
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The road will climb north up toward the top of a ridge. You will make a sharp right and pass a spur road on the left that goes to a campsite. From here you will head into some aspen groves as you continue east.
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On the ridge photo by: Adam M |
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You will come out into an open area and pass a spur road on the right that goes down to a campsite. Stay left and you will head back toward the trees. Next you will pass a spur road, FR253.1D, on the right that heads southwest down a ridge above Spring Creek before ending. Stay left and you will pass another spur road on the left that goes up on top of the ridge ending after a short distance. Stay to the right heading east as the road gets a bit wider.
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Continuing along the ridge photo by: Adam M |
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After passing through some more aspen you will come out onto a large bare slope above Spring Creek.
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Along the bare ridge above Spring Creek photo by: Adam M |
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After crossing the slope you will head into the pines and pass a campsite on the left. Further along, the road will make a curve to the right and cross the head of Spring Creek. You will come around the side of a hill and have views down Spring Creek.
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Looking west from above Spring Creek photo by: Adam M |
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Here you will come to a large intersection with a spur road on the right that goes down hill a short distance and ends. Stay to the left and you will come to another intersection on the right with a spur road that goes out to the top of a small bare hill. Stay left again heading to the east. The road will get wider and become more maintained as you head into some more aspens.
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Graded road along Big Meadows photo by: Adam M |
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You will now come into an open flatter area, Big Meadows, and pass a spur road on the righ to a campsite. Further along you will pass FR253.1E on the right that goes to another campsite. Stay left and you will come to a spur road, FR253.1F, on the left that goes out to the high point on the ridge, called Cottonwood, where a communications tower is. Stay right crossing another large bare area. You will come to a large intersection with two gated roads on the right. You will have to stay left heading down hill on a two lane graded road.
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Graded road heading down to Cottonwood Pass photo by: Adam M |
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After making a sharp turn around a ridge the road will nead northwest through a more forested area. The road will head downhill zig zagging in and out of small drainages. You will make a sharp hairpin turn to the right and then pass a blocked road on your left. Further along you will drive through a small aspen grove and pass a campsite on the left before coming out to Cottonwood Pass, CR55. From here a left will take you to Hot Sulphur Springs, a right will take you toward Fraser.