Pawnee Grasslands Reservoir Loop

4.3/5 (6 reviews)
Briggsdale, Colorado (Weld County)
Last Updated: 12/27/2020

Trail Information

Highlights

Sprawling across the plains northeast of Greeley Colorado, the Pawnee Grasslands are criss-crossed by a network of gravel county roads and two-track dirt Forest Service Roads. These easy roads offer an alternative to the usual mountain ‘wheeling of the Colorado Rockies, especially from late fall to early spring when many of the mountain trails are snowed in. You can imagine how important water would be on the arid plains of the grasslands. This offroad route takes you past three small reservoirs constructed to conserve this vital resource. The trail also crosses Crow Valley Hill, the highest point in this area of the grasslands, past the Crow Valley Hill Communications Tower.

Trail Difficulty and Assessment

Trail Navigation

Trail Reviews

4.3/5 (6)
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 09/15/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Change of scenery from mountains. Very desolate. Huge sky!
17350
Open
Rated 3/5
Visited: 04/22/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Trail is open and dry. Nothing hard to overcome but had some areas that needed a lot of clearance if staying in the tracks. Interesting wheeling and different scenery then the mountain shelf roads that you normally get in colorado.
Open
Visited: 09/16/2021
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Went out to the grasslands for a change of pace. This was a fun trail although not technical at all. A lot of the road on the southern end is pretty rutted and a few washouts, but nothing you can’t get through. Reno reservoir is completely dry 🤷‍♂️. I can see in wet conditions there could be some problem areas. I did use the new Trails Off-road app for navigation and it was awesome. Loved having the waypoints accessible as you drive!
Official Crew
40050
Open
Visited: 12/27/2020

Although I did not run this specific trail, the trails I did run on Pawnee Grasslands on December 26 were clear and dry.
Official Crew
40050
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 05/23/2020

Went out to Pawnee Grasslands to get pics and data for a refresh of the trail guide. My friend, Ken, came along as support and back up. We had a gorgeous day with sunshine and just enough clouds to make for a beautiful sky. The temperatures were warm but not overly hot. The trail was mostly dry with a few slightly muddy spots here and there. It was crowded by Grasslands standards as we met 3 or 4 other rigs, passed another 3 or 4 groups enjoying some target shooting and a rancher putting out salk licks for the cattle but we still found plenty of solitude. We saw lots of birds; the lark Bunting and Northern Harriers were especially plentiful. Overall it was another enjoyable, relaxing day on the prairie.

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