 |
| Huh? What are they implying? |
 |
| The Crag Crest Trail |
 |
| Butts Lake |
 |
| Indian Point Trail |
⦁ There is a visitor center near Island Lake. Dispersed camping is available away from the main roads. Posted 2022.
⦁ LEON PEAK el 11236 can be done as a short loop. The USFS topo shows a trail going from Weir and Johnson Campround to Leon Peak Res. It goes past that to ? but just get on the SE ridge and follow a hiker trail up, mostly on talus. I could look north from the summit and see easy tundra below so I dropped to it and walked that level east to where it ended and dropped down a point on dirt then moved right into trees and avoided talus. Then I had to walk level on talus a short way then down toward the lower lake at the Finney Cuts and hit the trail at el 10500 and walked it back. I didn't have my GPS but posted a phone track on peakbagger. 3 and a half hours, 800 noticeable gain. The TH has a parking fee so I parked at Twin Lakes and walked over. Twin has free camping but not many spots. There are more on the drive in. Posted 2022.
⦁ CRAG CREST TRAIL is a popular one. It runs high on a ridge no wider than a small car. As the USFS topo shows, start at the east TH and do the standard loop, a one way to the west TH which the sign says is 6.5 miles, or a one way to Cottonwood Lakes Trail then Lake of the Woods Trail to the highway at mp near Griffith Lake. I did the latter and it took me 5 and a half hours with nearly 2000 gain. Posted 2022.
⦁ BUTTS LAKE is the biggest natural lake I saw. The Crag Crest Trail goes near the east end. A hiker trail branches off and goes 5 minutes to the lake. It's a good stop for anyone hiking the Crag Crest Trail. I did it as a separate hike and it took me 35 minutes to get to it. Posted 2022.
⦁ WARD BENCHMARK el 10187 is a talus pile south of Finney Reservoir. The NE side has the least talus. FR122 is a 4wd road that runs near it. It's easy to come in from FR123 for 2 and a half miles to a trail at N39 01049, W107 58530 el 10050. There's a good spring on the road nearly a mile before the trail. The trail makes it easy to get at the NE side. FR122 goes on to the highway but tougher. This easy hike is an excuse to make a loop ride on an ebike. Posted 2022.
⦁ INDIAN POINT el 9996 has a trail #2715 to it as shown on the USFS topo. Cars can make it to the TH at Flowing Park Reservoir. Pedal bikes are allowed on the trail and it's decent to the point. About 2 miles in there is a fork on the south side of Chambers Reservoir at N38 55801, W108 07671 where there is an option to do a loop ride. Right goes to the point. A newer trail goes south from the point along the rim to Point Peninsula then goes back to the fork. I was riding a 20 inch unsuspended folding bike and did good to the point but then near Point Peninsula I was carrying it a lot on big rocks. One way to avoid the worst rocks is to just go as far as the point or possibly Mesa Benchmark then retrace back. Once back at the fork, the other trail is decent for half a mile to a view on the rim near the number 16 on the topo. It took 100 minutes to ride to the point and the app said 6 miles. The whole loop is 15 miles and took nearly 5 hours. One variable is cattle that can chew up the trail after wet spells. Posted 2022.
