Lost Park Road is a gorgeous drive that follows the Lost Creek upstream taking you through several valleys and along the border of the Lost Creek Wilderness. It offers several different access points to the Colorado Trail, other hiking trails, and a network of more challenging 4x4 trails. Only an hour drive from Denver and open year-round, this trail is perfect for a day trip to see some great fall colors, viewing wildlife, snow wheeling, hunting, or a secluded weekend camping trip with endless areas to explore.
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From Bailey Colorado take Highway 285 west for 21.7 miles and the trailhead will be on the left. From Colorado Springs take US-24 W/W Highway 24 for 38 miles then merge rIght onto Tarryall Road/CR 77. Continue on Tarryall Road for 41.4 miles into the town of Jefferson. Turn right onto Highway 285 and continue for 1.2 miles and the trailhead will be on the right. For further direction here is a link to Google Maps.
This area is part of Pike-San Isabel National Forest, and as such is part of the 2011 Lawsuit where a coalition of conservation and recreation groups are suing the U.S. Forest Service over what they say is the illegal addition of 500 miles of motorized roads and trails. A settlement was reached in late 2015 which requires the U.S. Forest Service to re-evaluate the roads and create a new Travel Management Plan (TMP). Over the next year, some roads may be partially or completely closed while this evaluation proceeds. The TMP process is scheduled over the next 5 years. It is imperative that the OHV-user community voices their interests on this issue. If we do nothing, those 500 miles may be shut down. Contact the local Ranger District at (719) 836-2031 and let them know why the area is important to you as an OHV enthusiast.
Calvary 4-Wheelers ran Lost Park Road as part of our End of the Season trip on Saturday, November 4. Along for the trip were me in my mildly modified Wrangler Unlimited (LJ), and Ali in his stock Chevy Silverado ZR2. The day was bright and sunny with mild temperatures in the upper 40s to low 50s and only a light breeze. The beginning of the road coming off Highway 285 was clear and dry until we started into the hills, then it alternated between hard-packed snow, wet/icy/slushy, and clear until we reached the seasonal gate. After the seasonal gate, it was still well-tracked but not completely hard-packed. We took a side trip up Topaz Mountain/Wallace Gulch before continuing to the end for lunch. The last part of the road, where it runs along the side of the open valley, was mostly clear. The campground is closed for the season, but we parked in the trailhead parking area and ate in the back of Ali’s truck. On the way out, we took another side trip up Bonis Creek and down Banana Peel before returning to Highway 285. The parts of the road that had been icy on the way in were now slushy on the way out but, no doubt will ice over again when the temperatures drop overnight. The views on the way out of the peaks across 285 were spectacular.
Ran this trail yesterday... super beautiful drive, one of my favorites in the area. This is by no means technical or tricky, but for what it lacks in "fun" is made up for with scenery.
As the review below mentioned, this trail is still closed at the seasonal gate (Waypoint 8) until 6/15. You can still access a few other roads and tons of camping, though. This entire area is gorgeous but wow, almost every single campsite (and there are DOZENS) was occupied the weekend of 6/10-6/11. Some of the campsites are spectacular but almost every one of them is within seeing distance (in some cases only 50-100 feet) of another site. If you don’t mind hearing yelling, laughing, music, and tons of SxS’s ripping around, this is the place for you. I’ll be back in the winter when it’s hopefully a bit quieter.
Ran this trail along with Topaz Mtn, and North Fork Rd today. This was a awesome place to test my Gladiator in the deep snow. most of the trial was about a foot to 15 inches deep today. it was a blast. Great group of trails for snow wheeling.
Took this trail today. Even with the recent snow fall there is not much here at all. While the scenery is great, this trail has the absolute worst washboards for quite awhile. If it had more snow to pack in the washboards it would be fine but currently you got to go slow to save your shocks.
Just went up to/on FR 130 to shake down the 4WD on a recently acquired vehicle. Main road was dry, as was the Forest Road largely. Just a few shallow mud holes.
Definitely seems like there’s a lot of dispersed camping options in the area. (Given the location inside Pike National Forest, there is shooting, so might not provide the most peace and quiet, at times.)
Making note of Fire #56 located somewhere in between waypoints 1-4 and Forest Service Road 130.
56 Fire
Time Reported: 5/1/2121 at 11:56 am
Size: 45 acres
Location: Park County Road 56/ FS Rd 130, 4.2 mi E of Jefferson, CO
Jurisdiction: USFS,
Resources: Engines and hand-crew from USFS and Local VFD, one Large Airtanker (LAT) two Single Engine Air Tankers (SEAT) & Type 2 Helicopter
Containment: 70%
Controlled:
Structures Threatened: N\A
Evacuation: N\A
Closures: none
Cause: Human under investigation.
Fuels: Grass and Timber
#56Fire
Update: 5/2/2021 11:30 am
The #56 Fire is now 70% contained, firefighters still constructing and improving fireline. All aviation resources have been released.
Update: 5/2/2021 8:30 am
Fighters consisting of engines and squads are continuing to construct and improve fireline on the #56 Fire. Fire is still at 45 acres with a 50% containment. No aviation resources ordered at this time.
Update: 5/1/2021 8:10 pm
Firefighters will be staffing the fire through out the night, #56 fire is now 50% contained. Aircraft are released for the night but are available tomorrow if needed.
For a snow wheeling route this was a great time!
The seasonal gate at way-point 8 was closed by the rangers just before we got there, we talked with them a bit on their way out.
There was still lots of fun to be had from Rock Creek Hills and the spurs around there. We ended up pulling out someone stuck in a drift, alone.
made it almost all the way to the campground today, gets pretty snowy about halfway some spots are deep. limited turn around space the further back you go due to deep icey snow. I turned back because I was loosing traction, i was in a lifted Ford Raptor on 37" tires lol
it's a fun drive right now tho, nobody out there hiking, still pretty wash board for most of it, packed snowy and icey spots make it smoother lol
After we finished running Rock Creek Hills in the snow, we decided to see how far up Lost Creek Road we could go. The lower part of the road was well-tracked and snow packed, slick but passible. The seasonal gate was open. once we got above the seasonal gate the tracks became fewer and the travel became harder. Just before Waypoint 9, someone had left a truck in the middle of the road. The necessitated driving into the ditch on the uphill side of the road for a few hundred feet to get around it. getting back up onto the road was a little challenging. The tracks continued to diminish but we followed them all the way to the end. The road is drivable to the seasonal gate. The upper part of the road is definitely challenging snow wheeling.
The dates listed for opening here are not correct. The seasonal closure dates of this trail are 3/1-6/15. Recent reports suggest the trail is snowy and icy and could be impassable to some vehicles.
We camped here for NYE and it was perfect. No wind, beautiful everything. 1-2 feet of snow but we made it all the way to the campground, which is closed.
We did recover 2 vehicles so if you're gonna go, make sure you are ready for snow: aired down, recovery gear, don't go solo, monitor weather/wind.
The trail is relatively easy but with the snowfall it added a little bit of a challenge in some areas. Recommend airing down as it’s really washboardy. Its a good trail for snow wheeling especially if you’re just starting out.
Trail was clear the whole way. It was very dry with mostly dirt showing and only a few stretches of packed snow. This road is EXTREMELY wash boardy. It will rattle your teeth out if you aren't aired down. Trail was packed today with a bunch of people getting Christmas trees.
Mostly dry with the exception of a few large puddles. This road is more bumpy than the FS off shoot roads. Several FS roads to explore with great scenery including aspens galore and continental divide panoramas. Motocross, quads and OHV occasionally passed. Several large camping areas.
Great snowrun today with 5 rigs but not without several recovery situations. Made it about 14mi in before we decided to play it safe and turn around. Sliding into ditches were biggest issues. Variety of snow type conditions from hard and packed towards beginning to soft and fluffy further up. Snow at least 2+feet and far deeper in ditches. Would not attempt without 2 or more vehicles for recovery purposes, a modified rig and plenty of adequate recovery gear!
Decent views but many areas filled with large campers. This road itself isn't the best but there are many off shoots that are more exciting. This road is so wash boarded that you need to take it at 15 mph or 35 mph to smooth it out. it seems there is no in between that won't shake your car apart. the road was completely open with no snow.
Did lost park Road lost of washboarding, found a dispersed campsite lots of sites from big family areas to small sites for campers and tents. Explored many trails off CR56 The seasonal gate was still closed
The road is still open back to the Lost Park Campground gate. Snow is packed in the shaded areas with an inch or two with some of it about 6 inches deep in the switchbacks and hill climb at waypoint 9. A couple more decent snows and it might get a little slick.
Went and did a bunch of the Lost Park area trails yesterday. Everything is open and dry down low. Lost Park road is closed at the seasonal closure gate about halfway in, right before the switchbacks that go up to the higher elevation area. Just FYI.
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Bradley and Rhea are currently living in the quaint little town of Fairburn, South Dakota with their two daughters, Riley and Dakota, and their dog Nyx. Bradley was raised in Northern Colorado, while Rhea was raised in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Growing up in these environments, the mountains are where they like to spend their free time. Since meeting in July 2011, they have been fishing, camping, and wheeling together ever since. For the Mikkelson family, owning a Jeep is essential to the mountaineering lifestyle. They currently have three Jeeps, a built 1995 Jeep Cherokee, A mildly built 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee, and a bone-stock 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee. As a volunteer wildland firefighter, TrailsOffroad mapping crew and avid nature lovers, the Mikkelson's strongly encourage responsible trail usage, respect for our forests, always stay the trail, pack out what you pack in, and enjoy the adventure!
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