| Difficulty: | Number: | Miles: | Altitude: | Obstacles: | Time: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy 4 | FR 122, FR247 | 6.54 | 8,720 ft. | 7 - Rocky outcrops 1 - Steep hill |
4 hours |
Canyon Lakes Ranger District
Fort Collins, CO 80526
Closure
July - Best
August - Best
September - Best
Accessed:
From Lyons, CO head west on Main Street for 351 feet. Turn right onto US-36 W/5th Ave/W Main Street and continue to follow US-36 W for 16.5 miles. Turn right onto Pole Hill Road and go 0.8 miles. Turn left into the Pole Hill trailhead.
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Starting from parking area photo by: Adam M |
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In less than a quarter of a mile you will encounter some rocky outcrops in the road. After a quarter of a mile the road will widen at a large rocky outcrop.
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First obstacle photo by: Adam M |
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After crossing a low rise the road will drop down and pass a pulloff on the left side below a large rocky uplift. From here you will continue to follow the power line and have to navigate a few more rocky outcrops in the road. Next you will come to a four way intersection. The road on the left loops around through the trees and comes back to FR122. The road on the right is FR247A, which goes toward Panorama Peak. Going straight you will come to another four way with the loop on the left coming back into the main road from the earlier left turn, and the road on the right, FR247, also heading toward Panorama Peak. Continuing straight you will come to a small meadow on the left with a spur road to a campsite. Following the main road you will head back into the pines as you climb to the top of a low flat hill. You will come to another intersection. The road on the left is FR122A. Take this left and you will head through an open area before crossing under a different power line. Here you will have a nice view of the Continetal Divide.
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View of Continental Divide photo by: Adam M |
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Pole Hill road will continue to climb up a ridge through the pines.
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FR122A loop photo by: Adam M |
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You will come to a loop on the left that goes down to a parking/view spot.
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Loop on FR122A below the Notch photo by: Adam M |
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Staying on the road you will come to the Notch, which is a built up section of road through a rock outcrop. The road is not difficult through here, though a little tight.
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The Notch photo by: Adam M |
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After going through the Notch you will come to a wide down hill that crosses another rocky outcrop. A spur to the right goes to a loop on top of the Notch outcrop. After driving down the outcrop you will pass three spurs on the left that go to different overlooks that look toward Mount Olympus and Estes Park. You will be in aspen trees through this section.
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Some aspen along FR122A photo by: Adam M |
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Next you will come to another rocky outcrop on a right hand curve.
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Brian M on FR122A obstacle photo by: Adam M |
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Paula K on FR122A obstacle photo by: Adam M |
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Past this obstacle the road will head back into pine trees and climb up along Solitude Creek. As you top out you will pass under the second power line again and come to another intersection. The road on the left is FR122, which will end at a private property gate in just under a quarter of a mile. The road on the right is FR122 that heads back to the intersection where you started on FR122A. Before reaching the intersection you will pass the blocked off FR247D, which was decommissioned after the 2013 flood. It is still shown on the MVUM map though.
Going back to FR247, off of FR122, this loop will head toward Panorama Peak. The road will head through pine and aspen trees as it goes east.
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Forest road 247 photo by: Adam M |
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You will come to an intersection to the left, this is FR247B. Stay to the right to stay on FR247. Shortly you will come to another intersection on your right, This is FR247A. Stay to the left to stay on FR247. Next you will come to a small pull off on the right with a view to the southwest.
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View southwest along FR247 photo by: Adam M |
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Continue past the pull off and you will come to an intersection with a locked gate to the right, which goes to the radio towers on Panorama Peak. Stay left here heading downhill to start on FR247B. The road will narrow up into a two track as it crosses the head of Solitude Creek looping around to a steep downhill section.
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Looking back up the down hill on FR247B photo by: Adam M |
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Below this down hill the road will cross a large meadow around Solitude Creek.
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FR247B crossing the upper part of Solitude Creek photo by: Adam M |
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Just before entering the trees, on the right, you will pass the upper end of FR247D, which was decommissioned in 2013 due to the flood. After entering the trees you will come to the previous intersection on FR247. Here you can go right to head back out, or go left for a short distance to FR247A, which you passed previously, and take it to go back to FR122, the Pole Hill road.
After turning right on FR247A you will head west parallel, and above, FR247. The road is a two track through the trees. About half way you will come to a wide section of road, then it will narrow back to a two track. You will pass an illegal spur road on the left, followed by a second illegal spur on the left, before coming back to FR122. From here take a left to head back to the parking area. You have to climb an obstacle on this side of the first ridge along the power lines.
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Heading out obstacle on FR122 photo by: Adam M |
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After crossing over the ridge you will head back down over the first obstacles, and then back to the parking area.
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Heading back to the parking area on FR122 photo by: Adam M |
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