Johnny Park Road

4.7/5 (45 reviews)
Estes Park, Colorado (Boulder County)
Last Updated: 07/03/2022

Trail Information

Highlights

Johnny Park Road lies on the outskirts of the majestic Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, providing stunning views of the towering Longs Peak rising into the sky at 14,259' and the smaller peak, Mount Meeker at 13,916'. As you venture through the forest, you will experience patches where the trees give ways to the sky, exposing quite a few scenic vistas as well as dispersed camping opportunities. It's proximity to Boulder, and the Front Range makes this trail hard to beat if you are on a time constraint - as it offers beautiful sights and sounds, and a bit of challenge for all drivers.

Trail Difficulty and Assessment

Trail Navigation

Trail Reviews

4.7/5 (45)
Seasonal Closure
Visited: 12/07/2022

Went up on Sunday and the gate was closed at the trailhead.
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 10/22/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Very fun trail, just a couple obstacles lead to a ton of amazing camp sites.
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 10/15/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

An excellent trail, perfect to start really working your line choice, especially with lower clearance vehicles. This is most certainly no longer a 3. A solid 4. You absolutely need clearance of 11 inches or more if you don't want to have any concerns of possible underbody scrapes. Rock garden bypasses are doable with lower clearance, with time and line choice. Made it through in a Bronco Sport Badlands. The hardest mandatory part seems to be near waypoint 6 towards the western point of the trail, where it has become quite eroded with lots of loose rock, steep, and decent rock obstacles sticking up in spots that make it very difficult to pass over without better clearance. Did not come across any 4x4 stock vehicles on this trail, all modified and lifted.
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 10/12/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Great trail with plenty of camping. Clear sky’s with minimal cloud cover. Saw two other vehicles on the trail for a Wednesday. Completed this mostly in two wheel drive except for a couple of rock gardens.
200
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 09/19/2022

Really fun! Took less than the estimated time. I went on a Monday afternoon and hardly saw anyone else, only issue was driving into the sun. I was taking the bypasses, but the bypass at the second rock climb wasn’t significantly better than the main obstacle and might be closer to a 4 at that point, but probably works as a good gatekeeper.

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