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| This shows what is still open in the Piney Peak area. |
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| One way around that is to stay up all night. |
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| It's the life of Riley on Buffalo Mtn. Just lay around all day and do nothing. |
Kremmling has a Dollar General and high priced supermarket. Frisco has a Walmart. There is plenty of BLM land around Kremmling to camp on with cell signal and I never had a signal again but for hikes. Forest roads at Elliott Ridge and over into the Piney Peak area have spots and then the turnoff for Williams Peak has some. FR141 and FR142 at Bills Peak have some. The closest to I-70 is the Rock Creek Rd at mp 109.2 on highway 9. There are designated sites in there on a left fork but bad for trailers and cars though I saw cars in there. Posted 2025
1. WOLFORD PEAK el 9182 near Kremmling has a road all the way but is gated at el 8485. Paved county 22 goes north at the east end of town for about a mile to road 224 as the sat image shows. That,s a maintained road to a fork just before point 8035. I could have drove a car that far. A 4wd road goes west to the gate near point 8485 then it's a 20 minute walk up. The cell tower on the summit saturates campsites in the area with a Verizon signal. 5 bars, baby. Posted 2025
2. JUNCTION BUTTE el 8764 is south of Kremmling. Graded county 33 runs along the north side then at mp 2.5 a high clearance road goes south along the east side. Soon a fork goes right and heads straight for the south ridge. Or stay left on a better road to point 7716 then go north to el 7850 where the road meets with the other fork and is closed beyond there. But it can be walked up to the south ridge where it fades in rocks but easy to walk to the summit. I took a direct line back down. 90 minutes, 900 gain. The roads are good for 2 wheelers. Posted 2025
3. MERIDIAN PEAK el 12426 is at the north end of the Eagles Nest Wilderness. A trail goes the whole way on an old road on Elliott Ridge. Turn off highway 9 at mp 128.5 and follow the paved then graded Spring Creek Rd to the forest boundary in about 6 miles. Subaru types can make the remaining 6 or 7 miles to the TH at Blue Lake el 11150. The topo is correct on the roads. The trail is on tundra most of the way and there is one big dip in the ridge of 250 feet. 5 and a half hours, 12 miles with nearly 2000 gain and all easy. Posted 2025
4. PINEY PEAK el 11573 - FR401 comes in from the north and is graded to Slough Grass Lake. I came down from Elliott Ridge on FR202 which is easy 4wd. Subaru types can keep going on FR401 to FR442 at George Lake. Then it's a rocky mess on FR442 to FR784 and up to McCord Pass. I parked my 125 at FR784 and walked it to the pass but could have rode as I found out. From the pass I walked a closed road past a barrier and saw a way thru the trees to get on the ridge and up to the peak. I ran the ridge to peak 11385 then came back until I was .15 mile from a logging road at N39 48444, W106 29180. I took a gentle angle down to it and on to Piney Peak Spring. Just a dry trough there. I followed the logging roads back to the pass. I rode out on the road down 3 Licks Creek but that's a disaster. I saw God turn back on that. GRAND LOOP VERSION - walk the road up 3 Licks Creek to the pass then run the ridge to peak 11385. I saw a way off it to the old road past Chimney Rock then keep going to the eastern leg of FR441 which is still open as a map posted at a kiosk indicates. Walk that leg back to FR401 with an ebike waiting. I measured that on the computer as 14 miles for the hiking part.
5. WILLIAMS PEAK el 11617 has a rocky 4wd road most of the way. Turn off highway 9 at mp 127.5 and the road goes up to the crest and runs for miles like the topo shows. I parked at the south saddle of the peak and had no trouble to the summit. The road smooths out on to Williams BM and it has a better view. I parked at the NW saddle and walked right of center on tundra to the summit. Then kept going on the easy crest to peak 11145 at N39 50367, W106 08643 and then down to the road at 50495, 08887. A trail goes on from the end of the road maybe to Ute Pass. I walked the road back. The spring on the topo had a good flow and was the only water I saw. The Williams Peak Trail had a sign saying 6.7 miles to the lower TH. That hike took 3 hours and 7 miles. Easy one. I saw jeep tracks near the end of the road but there are long segments with no turnaround. Posted 2025
6. GREEN MOUNTAIN el 9418 has a faint road going high up the south ridge as the topo shows. Turn off highway 9 at mp 127.4 and go south on easy 4wd for about a mile then go right to logs blocking the road at just over 8000. The road goes up and fades but reappears again next to point 8525 reading N39 53802, W106 19556. It goes on to 53593, 19431 and on to the south ridge then it's easy to the summit. 2 hours, 1300 gain. Ebikes work here. Posted 2025
7. UPPER CATARACT LAKE is a scenic one. The paved Heeney Rd runs along the south side of Green Mtn Reservoir. At mp 5.5 a good road runs to the Surprise Lake TH. The trails leading to Surprise Lake and on to Upper Cataract are about like the topo shows and signs were up. 6 hours, 12 miles with 2600 gain, not steep. The first 3 miles are smooth. The only camping near the TH is a high priced campground. But if you're a cow you camp for free and when you gotta go you don't have to use the restroom. Posted 2025
8. UTE PEAK el 12303 - a one way hike can be done on a trail from Ute Pass over the summit then down the Acorn Creek Trail to a second vehicle. Turn off highway 9 onto Ute Park Rd at about mp 112.1 and stay left at the first fork then right at the second to the Acorn TH. I left my truck there then rode my cycle 8 and a half miles to the pass and walked the trail. There is only one trail up. All the others on the topo are fake. At the summit I just kept going down the main ridge to the Acorn trail at N39 46232, W106 04277 el 11300 then walked it down to my truck. 6 and a half hours, 10.4 miles with 3300 gain. Highway 9 has a wide shoulder for ebikes and the Ute Pass road has light traffic and is paved. Posted 2025
9. BILLS PEAK el 12703 can be done as a loop up the trail along Kinney Creek then down to Horshoe Lake and back on that trail. Drive over Ute Pass then past a huge mine to mp 9 then follow signs to the Kinney TH. Cars have trouble with the last 3 miles but could ebike it. Subaru types make it all the way. The trail goes roughly like the topo shows. The trail forks south of point 10785 which is where the loop begins. Left goes up to the peak. I stayed on the trail until I could get on the south ridge of the summit then went up. I resumed on the trail to N39 50933, W105 57973 el 12400 and leveled off to get on the ridge that circles the lake. An obvious elk trail SW of the lake is the way down. It reads 50545, 59056. I picked up the main trail on the east shore of the lake and walked it out. 6 and a half hours, 11 miles with a bit over 3000 gain. The first 2 miles are in a burn area that ends just before the fork. The main road goes on under a mine conveyor then FR142 is a good one lane road that goes over 4 miles to a TH with campsites along the way. It's a good road for two wheelers. Posted 2025
10. BUFFALO MOUNTAIN el 12777 is west of Silverthorne. The TH is at the end of Ryan Gulch Rd but the two dozen spaces fill up every day. So start crazy early or ride an ebike from Target. A bike path runs along Ryan Gulch Rd. The trail goes steep and rocky for 3 miles to the summit. The important thing is where the talus starts the real trail goes right and fake trails go left. A family of goats resides here. 5 hours, 6 miles with 3000 gain. Two cars were waiting to take my space when I returned. They had to shoot it out. Posted 2025
