Elk Park Road

full-limited Icon
3.1/5 (24 reviews)
Black Hawk, Colorado (Gilpin County)
Last Updated: 07/21/2023

Trail Information

Highlights

Making an important connection from Apex Valley to Mammoth Gulch, northwest of Central City, Elk Park Road links the trails around Oregon Hill and Dakota Hill to Mammoth Gulch and Kingston Peak. Along the way,​ you will find evidence of the area’s rich mining history as you pass the ghost towns of Apex and Nugget. You also pass the old road to American City, although you can no longer take it, and you will see the old stone house standing sentinel in Elk Park. Besides the history, there is plenty of scenery to be enjoyed as you pass through the open valley of Elk Park and are treated to views of the James Peak Wilderness Area to the west and south and the Indian Peaks to the north. Because of its location, you cannot run Elk Park Road as a stand-alone trail. You can combine it with Apex Valley Road and Mammoth Gulch for an easy, scenic drive or use it to connect the Dakota Hill network with Kingston Peak and the Yankee Hill area for an extended adventure.

Trail Difficulty and Assessment

Trail Navigation

Trail Reviews

3.1/5 (24)
User Avatar
inline-aa Icon
2300
Open
Visited: 09/23/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Starts to get rocky back here and some ruts near the end to be mindful of. Air down if you can for comfort.
User Avatar
Official Crew
inline-aa Icon
47250
Open
Rated 2/5
Visited: 07/19/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Colorado has had a lot of rain this season which made the trail dust free. This was a welcome change from the typical dry Colorado July. We used this road to access Kingston Peak Road. It was a super easy way to access that trail
Impassable
Visited: 01/28/2023

Only plowed up to a house right at the start (Waypoint 2) – impassable afterwards. (We were chased by a barking stray dog all the way from Apex Valley Road, so we decided not to get out and take photos of where the impassable part starts)
Trail Review: Elk Park Road - Dominik Vereno
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 11/08/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Road is open with a bit of snow/ice. Not bad at all and easily driveable but the ice gets slippery once the sun goes down so be careful.
Open
Rated 3/5
Visited: 10/21/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

A good connector trail between Mammoth and Apex, rockier than I expected but is still nothing difficult, recommend airing down.
Trail Review: Elk Park Road - Lalo Martinez

From the Community

Start a free trial and get this level of detail on every trail guide
Start Free Trial