Pawnee Grasslands Reservoir Loop

Change of scenery from mountains. Very desolate. Huge sky!

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.

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!

Although I did not run this specific trail, the trails I did run on Pawnee Grasslands on December 26 were clear and dry.

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.

I ran the Reservoir Loop as part of a day enjoying solitude and reflection on the Pawnee Grasslands. There had been rain earlier in the week so I expected the trail to be wet and muddy but, for the most part, it was dry with only a few wet patches here and there. There was fog and then sunshine earlier in the day but it was cloudy by the time I got to the Reservoir Loop and was threatening to rain again. I ran the route backwards of how it is described and skipped the hike out to Sand Reservoir #1 due to time constraints. There were a couple of target shooters near Reno Reservoir and some folks loading their horses back into trailers at the trail end (where I started). Other than that I had the trail to myself except for a few cows and some pronghorns.