Red Cone

Our friends at Colorado Off Road Enterprise report that Red Cone is open all the way through to Montezuma thanks to Mile-High Jeep Club's efforts.

Snow condition update: Multiple reports from this weekend confirm the trail is no longer passable beyond waypoint 5. The seasonal gate does not close till spring, but travel along the trail is not recommended.

Decided to do Red Cone with my friend Brian in my 1986 Toyota 4Runner. The trail was wet, and there was a good bit of snow as we got higher. Then it started to snow pretty hard. We hit a really muddy patch on a right hand switchback with big rocks in it. I tried to power through that section and took out my left front turn signal and damaged my fender and bumper pretty good on a tree, coming to an abrupt halt. When I tried to back up, the right rear tire got in a deep pit and the 4Runner started to tip right and backward. The left front tire was several feet in the air. Brian jumped out to take weight off the right side, then jumped on the hood and scrambled to the left front corner. That teetered the truck part of the way to level and got me enough purchase to move a bit and alleviate the impending rollover. A Jeep pulled up (thanks Alex and Ryan). We cobbled together my come along, my chain, their chain, and their tree strap. After some trying we got moving again. However, the right rear tire now had a damaged valve stem and was losing air quickly. Using the original equipment bottle jack was difficult, but we eventually got the spare tire on. We were pretty far up at that point, and it was getting late in the afternoon. I thought it best to turn around because of the sloppy conditions on the trail and the possible (probable) slippery nature of the descent down Red Cone. The Jeep guys advised me that in point of time continuing on over Red Cone and back down Webster Pass was probably the same without having to go through the really rutted out boulders that we bottomed out and high centered on a few times coming up. We got to tree line. Their plan was to have us follow them to the top, where they would walk a bit down the descent to see how it was. We watched them slip and slide and get high centered going up the sloppy climb above tree line to the ridge on top and realized we would not make it to the top. They dislodged their Jeep and disappeared over the top. We gave the Jeep about ten minutes and turned around to head back down the way we came up, assuming they decided to continue. It was very windy and cold with snow. Now after sunset and getting dark quickly, we struggled taking the 4Runner back down through rocks that were much more exposed than normal from trail wear during the rain and snow this past week. Eventually the Jeep guys caught up with us coming back downhill. Their story--not ours--was that at the very top there was 6 inches of snow, it was 32°F, and blowing 80 mph. Not sure how they know that last figure, but the passenger said he was unable to open his door against the wind when they got near the edge of the descent. They did show us a video on their phone of the last time they could exit the vehicle nearing the top. It was clear from the snow depth and blizzard conditions in that video that going down the Red Cone descent had a low probability of successful outcome. On the way back down to 285 my left rear bumper got caught in the mud on a tight canted left hairpin turn. That corner of the bumper slowly twisted itself apart as it acted like a keel or drag anchor guiding me through the turn. It damaged the vehicle, but it did help keep us in the turn. Lessons learned include knowing that the weather is to be respected, stay off sloppy trails, snow and Red Cone do not mix, just because someone else suggests you continue does not make it true, and ego can get your vehicle damaged and endanger your life. That seems like enough lessons for one day. Damage report includes left front bumper, left rear bumper, left front fender, left front turn signal, one tire off the bead, a new squeal/whistle possibly from the differential, and unknown damage to the bottom of the vehicle from rock impacts. In all, a pretty fun day that turned out a lot better than it could have.

Wonderful trip over Red Cone! It had been over 15 years since I last drove this trail. It seems like there has been quite a bit of errosion that was not evident the last time I was here... Our trail run was done with fellow members of the Colorado FJ Cruiser club. There were about 16 rigs on our run. We always like doing runs with this group as everyone is patient and helpful on some of the difficult portions of this trail. The views up top of Red Cone are amazing to say the least. This is one of my favorite trails in Colorado. I strongly recommend!

The plan was to hit Red Cone for sunrise and then continue on to Webster Pass to Radical Hill. From Radical Hill we would take Deer Creek to Saint John then finishing on North Fork Swan River leading us back down to Breckenridge. Starting at 4:30 am we were able to be on Red Cone for sunrise and beat all the crowds for the remainder of the trails.

Thanks to the hardworking folks from Mile-Hi Jeep Club, Red Cone will officially open for the season today. This past weekend was a work weekend spent installing new signage, removing tree debris, picking up trash, and clearing snow. Please note that you have to exit via Webster Pass into Montezuma. Webster is not yet clear to return back to 285.

The seasonal gate on Red Cone is closed for the season. The trail is adopted by the Mile-Hi Jeep Club and anticipates the opening to be the weekend before 4th of July.

Great trail, heading up through the trees and then above the tree line, to s steep climb and steeper decent on the other side of the Red Cone. A fall day with lots of colors in the trees and likely the one of the last weekends the trail will be open this year. Continue on to Radical Hill for a little more challenge with off camber short section of shelf road and a narrow area with just enough room for a Jeep to pass.

Decided to celebrate July 4th with a quick run over Red Cone Pass. We left town around 7:30 AM to hit the trailhead just about 8:45. Brought the dogs and the ladies to enjoy the views. Hall Valley Campground was packed, and Webster Pass was still closed. As we got to the summit it was evident why. The cornice at the top of Webster (very last switchback) was still about 30' deep. Red Cone Pass was dry and had some recent trimming done, making for a very easy accent to the top. We didn't encounter any other people on Red Cone until reaching the junction of Webster and Red Cone, where we found a lone mountain biker. We ate lunch on the summit of red cone where we had the pleasure of seeing 3 mountain goats that were curious what we were doing but not so interested in my dogs. I was amazed at how mellow the decent from the top was. We went down the Montezuma side where the river crossing was around 30" at the deepest point. A young group of campers approached at the crossing and asked if we had and jumper cables. We landed a quick hand to get this groups up and running again. It was around 2:00 when we made it to Montezuma to air up.