Colorado Trail Status, Closures, repairs, discussion.

Everything I've seen over the last couple of days indicates travelling there is good to go. The Durango train arrived yesterday for the first time of the season too

 

Does anyone know if trails are open to Yankee Hill shooting area? I've seen both yes and no answers today.

 

I would be surprised if it's blocked by snow, but we all know that doesn't mean it's open. I just left a message with Clear Creek ranger district and will post back up here if they call me back with a definitive answer today on Yankee. I've been pretty impressed with the responsiveness and callbacks I have gotten from different ranger districts the past few weeks asking about what's open.

I did call today about Webster, Handcart and Red Cone which are all still closed due to snow and they do not have an estimate of when they will be open.

 

I've heard that it's gated at the main entrance but the alternate route is open...

 

Yea I was gonna come in from the Fall River road side. I saw a pic of the barricade on the central city side

 

I talked to Arapaho FS today and he wasn’t for sure but assumed that it was still closed but I think it’s only closed on the Central City side

 

Speaking of Yankee area, anyone been up to Chinns yet? Wondering if that last drift is still lingering like usual.

 

i was thinking the same thing this morning

edit: probably not accessable yet since fall access to fall river reservoir isn't even open yet...

5/30/20 review on rainbow road states "(they were) not able to make it to the end"

edit #2: 2019 didn't open to the lake until July

 

BushDucks.com Finally updated for 2020.

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

 

Didn't think to check Ranbow, good call.

 

What paper maps are y'all using for the trails/passes?

I love Gaia and use it, but it's often easier to brief people (my wife, in this case) with a paper map.

 

Your options include, but aren't limited to:
USGS quads
National Geographic Trails Illustrated
USFS Visitor Maps

USFS MVUM for ensuring legal travel, but these are not very good for actual navigation since they are legally allowed to display underlying data on the MVUMs like topography and other roads/trails.

 

when available, i like the nat geo maps for paper backups

 

Thank y’all! Looks like I need to find the correct map. I’ve done some looking through their site and they have a ton.

Ideally, it would have from Durango to Ouray, over to Telluride.

 

If you run the Alpine loop you will want one that includes Lake City.

 

I'll take a look who makes them when I get home, but I have some great paper/canvas maps. It might be hard to find a single map that covers that whole area at a sufficient level of detail. I used several maps on my SW Colorado trip including ones that I picked up at local 4wd rental shops. Those are also good places for detailed maps that you can't get online or elsewhere

 

Latitude 40.

http://www.latitude40maps.com/



They make high quality maps that are more like a canvas than paper and various levels of detail. The SW Colorado actually looks like it covers all those areas. It gives trail types (hiking, offroad, etc) and difficulty which is nice.

While not as detailed, I got this paper map at Southwest Raft and Jeep in Durango that covers the alpine loop and all the passes.

 

Thank you so much!

 

I have a few more in my truck too...

 

Doing research on the metberry/longwater/hackett gulches and it seems there was some issue with crossing into Park County and getting down to the river last year? MVUM's appear to show the trails stopping at the county line as well? Looks like a great spot but wanted to check here since there's discrepancies in the reports/access I'm reading. Ultimately looking for a new spot to post up and fly fish this weekend.