Trip to Red Feather Lakes (Roosevelt NF)

I am planning a trip up to Roosevelt NF this summer in July. I already have cabin/campground reservations made around the Red Feather Lake area, and am looking into getting opinions on which 4x4 trails in the area might get me into trouble. I have a stock 2018 TRD OR, and I do not have sliders yet. As such, I am mainly worried about rocker panel damage. I also don't have a winch, so if I do get truly stuck, I'll have to hope someone comes along to tow me out (I do have snatch and tow straps).

I live in Nebraska, so the only research I have done so far is online. I have looked up every trail on www.trailsoffroad.com that is between Rocky Mountain NP to the Wyoming border, and Walden to Fort Collins, watched all the youtube videos and read all the trail reports. As best as I can tell, it appears that I might want to avoid Bald Mountain, Kelly Flats and Green Ridge road, but am not certain. I would really like to try driving Bald Mountain, but I will only have my wife along to spot for me, who doesn't really know anything about spotting. Any recommendations on trails to steer clear of other than those listed above?

Also, if anyone would be so kind, if there is anything worth seeing/exploring (history, natural features, unique hiking trails, etc.) in the area that might not be apparent from doing research online, please let me know. One item I have been having difficulty figuring out, is if it possible to rent a boat (canoe/rowboat) at any of the lakes in the area. I will be staying at Bellaire Lake for couple nights in the middle of the trip and plan to use it as a base camp for most of the planned exploring in the area.

 

Kelly Flats is all that is currently open but with the warm weather it's a short period of time before they do open.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/wps/portal/...000000000000&ttype=detail&cid=stelprdb5300963
7-mile would be a great choice after the runoff subsides and it reopens.
Kelly, Greenridge, and Bald are not for beginners but you could always gio and check out the rail entrance and if it looks like more than you want to tackle, you can always turn around.

 

Looks like Moody Hill is open, that one would be a good one. I drove my stock 1st gen Tundra up that one. It is steep, so that gives it some thrill. And the scenery at the top ain't bad.
Not sure about the boat rentals. Bellaire isn't really big enough to need a boat imo. You should be able to cast halfway across the lake.

 

Thanks Brett. Much appreciated.

 

I'm a bit of a noob myself, and tried just getting UP to Kelly. I tried it too late in the day, so I turned back right away, and about scared the shit outta myself getting down.
It was before I got my lift, too. Going up wasn't bad at all, but it turns out the departure angles are a little rough on an unlifted Taco on the way down...

 

I went with a group, and having no lockers or armor I elected to take the bypass instead of Heart attack hill, and another (much more experienced and built) person volunteered to go went with. It wasn't really bad and I could pick my own line, but there were some bowling balls in inconvenient places that made me request a spot about halfway up. Angles didn't become an issue until we got to a small mudhole that you wouldn't look twice at unless someone else was in front of you. Scraped the bottom of the bumper, but it was an oh-well kind of thing even as new as the truck was at the time.

For @pinem56 I would agree with your choice to avoid those three. With that new of a truck, stock and solo (not that some locals wouldn't potentially join you), while it they can be done I'd say they'd be more stress than worth it. My avatar is at the west/south end of Green Ridge, about a quarter of the mile in, and before the mudhole I *wasn't* willing to attempt. We hiked it later past that (but not all that far, certainly not the whole way), and there were at least two more that would give me pause. I've gone in to where Green meets Bald to take a look, and Green has another deep hole there and I didn't get too far up Bald before things were so rocky and trees so close I wasn't willing to risk it with no locker. A pickup (pre-first gen) came up behind and I watched him go up it and he ended up taking out some marker lights. Also ran into him in town later and found out he'd not gone much further before finding another mudhole he didn't want to chance. Now granted, this has all been a while ago and trails change, but...

Moody and Sevenmile, doable for sure if something hasn't happened to them. I guarantee someone will run both before you are out here to know current conditions when they open. There's also Old Flowers, but it and Moody are actually south of 14, so you'd have a bit of a drive from Redfeather. There is another trail up there that the name of escapes me, but it's mostly just a narrow FS road.

There's a fire tower to visit up Deadman Road from Redfeather (in the vicinity of the turnoff for where Bald and Green meet), and continuing to the pass and a little more has some good views to the west. I don't know too much more about hiking over that direction, most of what I've done is to the south off 14 up there (Long Draw, Big South trail which is definitely a good one). Roaring Fork is between 14 and Green Ridge (I was actually trying to drive to that point in the trip above), but it's a fairly steep trail, especially at the 14 end of it.

 

This is all very helpful. I was planning on checking out the fire tower at Deadman Road. I might also go as far north/west at the North Sand Hills area north of Walden.

I am also planning on going south of Hwy 14, either earlier or later in the trip. I was planning on going up Long Draw, check out the headwaters of the Colorado River (what little appears to be of them). If I drive up Long Draw Road to the reservoir, it appears that the road shortly after ties into the Grand Ditch Trail, which appears to be within RMNP. Am I correct to assume this trail is closed off to public vehicular traffic?

I am also planning on doing some trails south of Gould, such as going up Owl Mountain and/or to Teller City.

I guess the title of this thread is a bit misleading, as what I meant by "Red Feather Lake area" really is the whole of the Roosevelt NF north of RMNP. I like to explore more than anything (in role playing type video games I'll explore the whole map before I bother doing any quests), so that is my prime motivation for this trip, drive/hike as much and as far as I can while I'm in the area.

 

Old Flowers is easy - I enjoyed that one.

In the spring-time the brush hangs out pretty far in places, but it's nothing that won't easily buff out of your paint, and I have a black truck.

Next trip is most likely either Seven Mile or Pole Hill Road, I just have to get off of this stinkin' night shift to be able to get out more.

 

Sand hills are certainly something to see, and taking Deadman up to CR13 aka Laramie River Road over to 14 and on up is a scenic drive. There may be another route from the Deadman/Laramie intersection that doesn't go south, but I haven't taken it/don't know it. Depending on when you're there though, expect lots of vehicles/people/atvs/bikes. I much more enjoyed my fall 'off-season' visit than my summer not even a holiday weekend visit. Even if you don't go all the way to the Sand Hills/Walden, I'd suggest taking the short distance from Long Draw on up to Cameron Pass just to see it. Maybe even a mile or two past, as the mountains right there are kind of dramatic and there's a pull-off or two. You may want to double check the fire tower info - a couple of times I've been in the area or tried to go to it and it wasn't open (either I misread the schedule or it wasn't right or weather conditions/construction projects changed it).

As far as Long Draw, yes, at Poudre Pass there's a parking loop which is the end of public access. The ditch access road continues on but isn't open to the public. I haven't hiked from there yet into the park, though I've wanted to do a car shuttle between 14 and 34 there sometime. From the Cow Creek trailhead a bit down the road before you get to the reservoir though you can go down to the Big South trail and up or down stream. Heading down you'll come to a fork that accesses up to Peterson Lake which is also accessible from the road. The trail also continues all the way down to 14, but there is a point at which you must cross the river and the bridge has been gone for years. People have gotten lost because of that (the ford point isn't as far south as you can travel on that side of the river) and a few years back one turned into a multi-day S&R. However the section between Cow Creek and Peterson is a really nice hike along the river (as is coming up from 14 as far as you like). You can also go upstream from Cow Creek and into RMNP. There are a couple of forks that are essentially through trails, but the only one I've done so far is a hike up to Mirror Lake. Much of that hike isn't terribly scenic just being in forest, but Mirror Lake is a nice payoff at the end of it.