Cherokee Park Road

Quite a bit less snow than I was expecting, made it to between waypoints 17 and 18 before coming across a guy in Ram that beached in a pretty big drift. Pulled him out and decided it was best to call it a day. If you go before it is legitimately spring/summer, make sure you have recovery gear.

Nice easy drive with not many crowds. I have been on the road when snowy or mud then it can be difficult otherwise the family sedan is all you need. Lots of dispersed camping too which is nice.

Great road to get out into the mountains north of Fort Collins in whatever you drive. Looked like some good dispersed camping on the Western 1/3 of the road.

Traversed east to west on my BMW R1200GS. Overall Trail was dry and in great shape. Most of the good camping spots were already taken, but that shouldn’t be too surprising for the Friday of Memorial Day weekend.

We took this all away to waypoint 14. There was not a lot of mud but the road was in rough shape in a few spots (still easily passable by a 2wd vehicle). There was a moose and a baby along the way which was pretty cool to see!

Not much snow in the area this weekend. Came onto the trail from Prairie Divide and made a quick pit stop at waypoint 7 before returning the way we came.

Drove trail westward, the 'pass' section at 8800' had about 6" of snow with no tracks beyond, did not attempt hill in picture. 6" of ice in two spots to where I stopped, easy to manage through. 5th Gen 4runner w/2.5" lift 285/70/17

Fire closure has been lifted. Trail is back open for use.

All of Canyon Lakes Ranger District is now closed due to active fire. https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd807181.pdf

Fun trail with some great views, nothing technical at all, basically a dirt road. A nice off the beaten path trail from others in the area though. We didn't see another sole for two days. Found some really great dispersed camping as we got closer to the Laramie River road. They were doing some maintenance on the lower section of the road towards Fort Collins and putting down some really nasty stuff on the road as we drove through. But for a less crowded experience, very nice!

We are the party that Tim is referring to in his post dated 01/29/2020 / Below is what happened. Sue and I decide to leave the house at 11:00AM to go look for Moose and Elk. We stopped at the Shell station in Laporte to fill the truck up with gas and bought two bottles of Smartwater and a small individual bag of Cheez-Its. We headed north on 287 towards Laramie, WY and made a left on county road 80C. Once we got about a mile down the road there was a sign the said “No Winter Maintenance” passing this sign was my first mistake. We saw a large herd of Antelope within the first five miles of the drive, the sun was shining and so far, it was a good day. As our drive went on, we were starting to encounter more and more snow on the road. It was not bad, but after about an hour and a half into the drive I put the truck into four-wheel drive. We passed some summer homes on the left hand side of the ride that were closed up for the winter and you could tell that no one had been to them in a couple of months because the snow was untouched around them. We were probably about 30 miles into the drive and went through a couple of fairly deep snow drifts, but nothing really bad. As we passed a side road on 80C we saw a white Chevy pickup pull out of this side road and head east away from us. This was the only person or vehicle that we would see for the next three days. We got about two miles from the road that the white pickup pulled out of and noticed what seemed to be quite a bit more snow. I sped up to get enough momentum to get through the snow and when I got into it, I noticed the imprint of the front of someone else’s truck and the tire tracks stopped. I hit the brakes knowing that we could not get through it and we slide right into the holes that this person’s vehicle left in the snow. I tried to get the truck to move, but the truck was hung up on the frame and there was no moving it. This was around 1:45 Sunday afternoon. Sue and I tried to both use our cell phones, but both had no service. There were some buildings to our right that were fenced in that people refer to as the old homestead. We looked at them with the binoculars, but the windows and doors were all covered with steel. I got out of the truck and walked around the fence and tried my cell but still no service. I found a couple of pieces of wood to put under the tires, but that did not work and I told Sue that we needed to spend the night. Darkness came quickly and with it came terrible winds. We were on a summit that was close to 10,000 feet elevation. The winds were steady around 40-50 MPH and the temperature went down to 12 degrees. We now had a half a bottle of water left and the Cheez-it’s were gone. Sue was scared of being stuck in the truck all night and kept thinking that someone was going to come up to one of the windows. She also pulled a beanie over her eyes so she could not see outside. I tried beeping the truck horn three times every 15 minutes knowing that was an international sign of distress but no one heard it. To get through the night I started the truck once and hour to warm the cab. The next morning (Monday) I walked around a little more and tried my cell, but had no luck. Around 11AM I told Sue that I was going to walk 2 hours east and try to reach one of those summer homes. AllI had on was a long sleeve T-shirt, jeans and I hoodie with some summer hiking boots. Sue had on jeans and a long sleeve shirt and a white windbreaker. Standing outside of the truck I noticed that the wind was cutting through my hoodie, so I took Sues windbreaker with me. Walking was really easy, I had the wind at my back and I felt pretty good, but I could not find the houses. After walking for a while my phone vibrated and said "congratulations, you have achieved 360 percent of your daily goal" I looked at my phone and realized I walked over 10 miles and it was also 4 PM. I was in a panic and started to walk by west but the wind was directly in my face and it was terrible. Also I was starting to cramp up from being dehydrated. At this point I realized that I was going to have to spend the night. I looked all around and could not find anything to hide from the wind except a decent size pine tree. Darkness fell and there was no moon, my cramps were getting really bad and I ate some snow but I was worried about lowering my core temperature. I prayed a lot and just kept exercising and moving my arms and legs all night. The ground was covered with snow and it was too cold to lay down or sit on. This was the worse night of my life and the biggest test of my life. There were a couple of coyotes nearby that I could hear but they never got close enough for me to see them. I was sure that I was going to die so I made videos for Sue and all of my kids. I watched the videos a few days afterwards, and I could not let anyone see them, I was delirious and kept mentioning someone named Bill. I finally go through the night and at daybreak I started walking again. At this point my body was so drained and I was dragging my feet and the cramps were killing me. My pee also started to look like coffee. I kept walking no matter how slow and I finally came across a house with windows on the bottom floor. It was about 250 yards from the road with a snow filled field in front of it, and I could actually see team coming out of the heater vent. I was so excited and crawled under a cattle gates and started across the field. As I was walking the snow started around my ankles and then started approaching my knees and waist. I crossed a small bridge that goes over Sheep Creek on the property and there is a big propane tank on the other side. When I reached the propane tank the snow was over waist deep and I was out of breath. I fell forward and under the snow and was scared that I would suffocate, so I took a break under some small pine trees and rested but now I had another problem, my jeans were now soaked from the snow and I wa snow shaking uncontrollably. I now realized that the snow around the house had not been touched all winter and was well over my head. This was so disheartening and I was sure that I would die. I walked back through the field, crawled under the gate and just layed in the road. I had nothing left mentally or physically. I made a straight line with small rocks across the road hoping the a helicopter would fly by. This was my only chance. At this point my wife knows that something is really wrong at that she might die in the truck. Around 12:30 PM she got out of the truck, climbed the fence of the old homestead and walked through the snow drifts to get near the main building. When she got close she turned her phone off and restarted it, when it started it had one small bar! She called our neighbor who called search and rescue and told them where she was. S & R sent out a helicopter and found Sue in the truck, they dropped off water, energy bars and a coat. They also told here that a ground tea was coming in to get her and the helicopter then took off to look for me. At this point I was delirious and hallucinating, talking to my imaginary friend Bill and I knew that the minute it got dark, I would not last long. I heard the helicopter fly over and the circled around the house that I tried to get to. They later told me that they saw my tracks trying to get to the house and looping back out. They also saw my straight line of rocks across the road. I was laying down in he snow with my wifes white windbreaker, I didn't have the strength to get up but was waving my arm. I was very scared that the wind was blowing too hard for them to land but the pilot dropped that thing on the road about 200 yards from me. The pilot and her crew came and got me and pretty much carried me back to the helicopter. The took my vitals and my temperature was 93 degrees. They took my clothes off and put an electric blanket on me and heated the IVs going into my arm. When we got to PVH my kidneys were almost shut down and I had Rhabdomyolysis. I spent a week in the hospital and a couple of weeks recuperating. I made a lot of mistakes on this trip and became complacent with taking things for granted. I walked 16 miles total with no food,water, or sleep for 52 hours. My wife and the UCHealth helicopter team saved my life. Larimer County Sheriffs, and Search and Rescue came and got my wife with a snowcat, and the Fort Collins Mountaineers pulled my truck out 3 days later and brought it home. I could never thank these people enough!! -Mike

drove through to way point 11 before turning on to Pratt creek road. I can't confirm the conditions past that way point because we didn't drive there, but based on the conditions of Pratt creek I would assume its completely open now with maybe a few drifts here and there towards the top. Bring a friend if you venture here soon just in case there is deep snow at the top, but I'm sure within a week it will be dry, or at least snow free, and completely open.

Confirmed still impassable. Although the snow has melted in places, I would not attempt this unless you are with a group until May.

On Sunday, 01-26-20, a couple set out for an afternoon adventure on Cherokee Park Road. Just past Waypoint 17, they got their Ford Pickup stuck in a snowdrift near the old homestead ranch. There is no cell coverage in this part of the back country. No one knew where they were and they could not call for help. They spent the night in their truck, stuck in the northern Colorado Rockies. They were miles from the closest help. Eventually, one of the parties decided to walk for help while the other remained at the vehicle. But there would be another night spent in the wilderness before searchers found the vehicle. Unfortunately, the party who left on foot was not the one who summoned help and was now lost and in danger. Search and Rescue team found both parties by Tuesday. Frost bite, hypothermia, and exposure forced one of the parties to be hospitalized. Both survived the 2 night ordeal but left their vehicle abandoned on the trail. On Wednesday, members of the Mountaineers, a local Fort Collins 4x4 group, responded to the area to recover the vehicle. Despite additional snow in the area, the team was able to reach, free, and escort the vehicle back home. The trail remains impassable.

Open and casual for the most part in winter. We tried several area trails but had to turn around due to snow. Other NFS roads were passable but just barley. Great place for spring/fall/summer.

I went on CR 80C today to get to FR 182. Road was fine with absolutely no dust and not many wash boards to report of. I will say, the intersection at CR 59 is easy to miss, be sure to veer left at that intersection. After you hit the CR 59 intersection, the road becomes significantly narrower and rougher, but is still somewhat maintained. If you run into a bind, there is an emergency call box at mile marker 16.

Fresh snow fall was simply too much of a magnet to stay home over the weekend. Cherokee Park Road was first on our list for a jaunt into the mountains. The first couple dozen mile were simple snow-packed roads. The snow started to get a little deep at Waypoint 14 (Acme Creek); however, the road was easily passable for vehicle equipped for winter snowy conditions. We did pass a few trucks pulling campers off the mountain as the hunting season draws to an end and winter conditions set in.

This road goes and goes and goes! Surface was pretty good, but heavily washboarded in places, mostly further west after the county has stopped spraying the road. The scenery varies greatly from very arid, to rolling grasslands and big, beautiful ranches to forest. Great access to all of the excellent trails Roosevelt National Forest has to offer further west. Heading out to US 287, at waypoint 18, it seems easy to take the wrong turn -- if you are suddenly heading north, you know you did what I did.

Cherokee Park is a well-maintained dirt road without much to mention as far as challenges go. We saw many crossovers, and even small cars like a VW Beetle on the main Cherokee Park Road outlined by the GPX files given on this website. The scenery is great, especially on the West end of the road. There is some gnarly washboard in a few of the uphill places between waypoints 1 and 3, but since the road is maintained, the washboard may be fixed by time you drive it. Instead of sticking straight to the dirt road, we aired down and took a hand full of turnoffs and adventured some of the small offshoots that are not outlined by the map. One such offshoot is Halligan Reservoir and Cherokee Run at way-point #4. I would definitely recommend this turnoff if you want a bit of a challenge. I had 32" tires, about 3" lift on my Frontier and made it over all the obstacles with no issue. We had to stack a couple rocks in 1 spot for the stock 3rd gen 4Runner on about 30" tires, although taking an easier line would have been possible. The rocks and whoops were a fun challenge to navigate and many of the obstacles have multiple lines to take, so have fun. By taking all the side routes, we made a longer trip of it and had a much better time than just simply driving the road.

With the Badger Creek forest fire burning near Woods Landing, Wyoming, a little trip across Cherokee Park Road seemed in order to determine the road and forest conditions in north central Colorado. Cherokee Park road was in great shape. The first 11 miles of the road was freshly graded with magnesium chloride applied to the road surface to mitigate dust. It works pretty well. Although some Roosevelt National Forest areas remain closed because of the fire, Cherokee Park Road is open. Near the Sand Creek Pass area, you can look northwest and see the billowing smoke from the fire. The fire is some 10-12 miles north of Cherokee Park Road and so far not in danger.

This has been a dry winter for the front range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. A quick snow storm finally came through the area over night and throughout the day on Sunday January 21, 2018. About 8" of snow fell making the trip enjoyable. At waypoint 8 we continued north on County Road 59 which ends up at Tie Siding, Wyoming. As we approached the Wyoming State line, the wind caused a bit of drifting which made finding the road difficult at times. If the winds persist, drifts could make the road impassible soon.