Bunce School Road

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4/5 (73 reviews)
Allenspark, Colorado (Boulder County)
Last Updated: 07/21/2023

Trail Information

Highlights

Camping Category Icon Camping
Forest Category Icon Forest
Rock Category Icon Rock
Snow Wheeling Category Icon Snow Wheeling

Located in the northern Front Range, west of Lyons, Bunce School Road is a popular trail because of its close proximity to town along with the availability of dispersed camping. While dispersed camp spots may get filled quickly in the peak summer months, there are a lot of other trails in the area to explore. This trail is also a popular place for winter wheeling as the snow does not get extremely deep between snow storms and does not present any dangerous situations such as shelf roads or off-camber drop offs. Only the last mile of trail is seasonally closed, making this off-road trail highly traveled by not only 4wd vehicles, but also small OHV users such as ATVs, Side by Sides, and motorbikes. A little history about Bunce School Road. In 1888, Joseph Henry Bunce built the first area school, which is still known as the Bunce School and still exists today.

Trail Difficulty and Assessment

Trail Navigation

Bunce School Road is an extremely busy and heavily trafficked trail nearly year-round. This trail is best traveled from north to south starting at the historic Bunce School. The first 4 miles of the road surface are well-packed dirt and gravel with some small sections of exposed rock. You are likely to pass through many shallow water holes if there has been any kind of moisture. The trail passes several campsites and a few trail spurs, including the popular Ironclads trail, before it hits a seasonal gate at mile marker 4.14. If the seasonal gate is open, you can continue down the last mile of the trail, where you will pass Park Creek and the popular T-33 Plane Crash trail.

The difficulty of this trail is very dependent on how far you travel and what time of year you travel it. The north end of the trail to the seasonal gate is relatively easy throughout but does have a few moderate spots, including steep sections with loose dirt and protruding rocks. The last mile of the road is the most difficult section of Bunce School Road and is consistently moderate. Drivers must make their way downhill over round, volleyball-sized river rock boulders making the progression much slower than it had been up to this point. Eventually, you find yourself in Peacefully Valley, where there are a couple of great campgrounds.

This is a great trail to check your vehicle's capabilities, and good for new off-roaders as well as experienced off-roaders. Overall this is a great trail close to town and suitable for any stock 4x4 with good ground clearance.

Trail Reviews

4/5 (74)
Open
Rated 4/5
Visited: 09/16/2023

Ran in conjunction with T-33. Trail was very rocky, all of the way through, due to the rain from the last week.
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1600
Open
Rated 4/5
Visited: 09/14/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Took out 2006 Toyota Sequoia (2" lift on 33s) down this trail, running north to south. Did most of it in 2WD; only needed 4 HI over one rock obstacle that I probably could have done in 2WD with a better line choice. If you aren't careful in picking your line you could damage your vehicle on a couple of the obstacles, especially if you don't have a lot of ground clearance. But overall it's not too bad of a trail. Nothing very steep or seriously off camber. There were a few large puddles that were maybe 12-18" deep, and lots of smaller, shallower ones. The views from the trail weren't anything spectacular, but it was still a fun little drive. Parts of the trail are pretty rocky, so definitely air down. We ran it at 18 psi which seemed adequate. There was a camper trailer around halfway through the trail; by the look of their setup I'm guessing they've been there for more than the legal 14 days. Kinda surprised they got a camper that far down the trail. Overall I think the 4/10 difficulty was accurate, though maybe an easier 4.
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40450
Open
Rated 3/5
Visited: 07/19/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Nice little drive, nothing challenging but enough to slow you down. I only ran a portion to access other trails. Didn't run into anyone, but it was a Wednesday.
Open
Rated 4/5
Visited: 06/24/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

We ran this backwards down from T-33 on Saturday. The hill down from Park Creek has been heavily eroded and is far rockier than I remember. Nothing terrible but it's slower going than previously. The standing puddles were fun.
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2300
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 06/19/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Bunce School Road now is fully open. Bunce School Road The recent rain has created several deep-standing pools of water. Prior to waypoint 3, heading east to west, there is the first standing pool of water. This pool of water is a good example of what you will find later on the trail, particularly between waypoints 12 through 14. There are several stretches of road that are bumpy and may require prudent adjustments in steering. I aired down to about 20 PSI and it was sufficient for the entire trail. The Trails Offroad details are accurate for the rest of the trail.
Trail Review: Bunce School Road - Tom
Trail Review: Bunce School Road - Tom

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