cewtwo
New member
This was our first time to do the Spring Creek (aka Family Fun) trail. It is rated as an 8, so we weren’t sure if our equipment or we were up to it. We had set out several times to find it and this time we did. We had a slow Sunday morning. It was July 18, 2004, a beautiful hot Sunday morning. How do you beat the heat on hot weekend mornings when you live in the Denver Metropolitan area? Take the Jeep to the backcountry!
Our reference books and internet research rate this trail as an 8 (out of 10). It is close to Denver. That means that it can attract a lot of people, especially on the weekends. That was true for us.
We got off of I-70 at the Dumont exit (235). We immediately crossed the interstate and found a rock-laden hillside road. Thinking that it was the trail, we started up the road. We went about a half mile, stopped, aired down and disconnected. We then continued up the trail. As you look at the hills and mountains around this area of Colorado, you will see a lot of slag piles and mining structures. One needs to remember as you view these, that there is a road to every one of them. It is that type of road that we found ourselves on. At first, the trail ended abruptly. There was a very old mine with mine cart racks at the top of a slag pile. We got out and looked around to see if the road continued. A foot path headed straight up and away from the mine. We followed it for a bit, but this was the end of the road that we followed.
Not daunted at all, we got back in the Jeep and headed back down. We found an intersection that had a better trail coming off of it. We followed that. It seemed to head back down toward Dumont, so at the next best trail at an intersection, we branched off again heading back up. Well, this trail was not very well traveled. Weeds growing in the middle and very little wear in the tire path. We took all of the way around the hillside where it dead-ended at yet another mine. Well, that made for an interesting morning excursion, but we were still anticipating the Spring Creek trail. We re-grouped and headed down to Downieville.
The best way to find Downieville (without taking our roundabout method) is to go West on I-70 from Denver to Exit 234. Head West on County road 308. Go under I-70 and look for a road that goes over Clear Creek. Head East on County Road 306 to a rocky, wide dirt road. Follow this up the hill to a wide-open area. There are camping/trail head spots here. Look for the Spring Creek Trail sign. You are at the base of the trail.
It is here that you should air down and disconnect. Make sure that everyone is belted in and start off for the trail. This is a fun trail if you have the equipment to do it. We have a saying that we like to ‘strap’ the Jeep on. We were ready for this new experience and we were sure that our ‘strapped on’ equipment was too.
Spring Creek can be busy, especially on the weekends. This Sunday was no exception. We started alone, but it was not long until we saw a stopped Land Rover ahead of us. We stopped behind it and headed up to see what was going on.
This was (what I call) the first obstacle. I think that it is mostly a visual psyche. There was a group of 3 Land Rovers ahead of us. Ahead of us were two Jeeps (a Cherokee and a Wrangler). The Cherokee had landed his transfer case cover solidly on a boulder. The car behind him was hooking up a snatch strap (from the Land Rover group) to pull him backwards off of it. They were successful. The Cherokee took another line and continued up. The rest of the group took his second line and made it through. We watched, observed and discussed the line as they took the obstacle. As we waited, two heavily modified rock crawler Jeeps joined the wait at the back. These rock crawlers made me re-consider our desire to take this trail.
I called it a visual psyche as when you approach it, all you can see is a large rock face with scrapes and black tire marks on it. This rock face is in the middle of a line of boulders that covers the road. It is also on a curve that continues on around the mountain. We talked about the line to take and decided to place the passenger-side tire squarely on the rock face. We expected a scrape as we went across it, but we cleared it easily. The pucker factor was relieved.
The going after that was slow but fun. We always knew when an obstacle was coming as the procession would stop. There were several fun places to negotiate before we even got to the ‘Rock Garden’ near the top. There are many switchbacks on this shelf road trail. Almost all of the vehicles did 3-point turns to negotiate them. We were able to do all of them by going slightly wide then heading into the turn on the inside. What fun it was and it made us feel like we were the experienced ones.
Here is a breakdown of some of the obstacles:
Many of the switchbacks were tight turns on steep elevations. So, not only do you have to turn sharply, but you have to climb the steep afterwards.
One mogul-covered climb resulted after a tight switchback. As we are not locked, we tend to drive these differently from most. We go for RPMs and try to ride the high points. The Land Rover ahead of us did the locker thing and was mostly all the way up before we started it. The switchback was easy, but we ended up going up the hill much faster than the car in front. We were going from side to side riding the moguls and worrying about catching the car in front. Fortunately the car in front cleared the top (another switchback) and we then went up and over!
There is a deceptive turn at the bottom of the run to the ‘Rock Garden.’ The trail comes to a “Y†intersection with a smooth dirt road going on and a wicked rock-laden road to the left. We had made a quick stop lower to give the dog some water and to get some water out of the cooler for us. The rock crawlers were taking the left hand road as we approached. The group of Land Rovers had gone ahead on the smooth, dirt road. Again, at first glance, it made me think that our 4.5“ lift and the 33†tires couldn’t clear it. Not so. We even approached it incorrectly, but found a fast line, made some minor corrections and ran this minor gauntlet. Not even a scrape. If you experience it, just remember to keep your vehicle on the left-hand side. If you have the clearance (you actually don’t need much), you’ll make it. I have to say that it does not appear to be the left-hand side, but it is. When the Land Rovers came back, they followed us up and some scraping soon echoed through the forest. As I said, the line is deceptive at that point.
We stopped ½ way to the ‘Rock Garden’ for another break. Any of you travel with their dogs? Mine is Molly, an Australian Shepard. She is the 2002 Colorado Disc Dog Rookie of the Year. Frisbee is the main ‘job’ in her life. She is very willing to accompany us on any of our adventures, but the price is Frisbee time. So, we stopped and threw the Frisbee for her. We had some coffee, Molly some water, but it was one of those mandatory Frisbee stops. As we were stopped, we heard noise from further up the hill. We figured that the next obstacle was just above. It was!
We got back into the Jeep and headed onward in our journey. Just a turn or two and just ahead of us was one of the Land Rovers negotiating the ‘Rock Garden.’ We parked the Jeep behind the other two Land Rovers then walked ahead to check out the situation. It was a busy place. The two rock crawling rigs were there. Above them there were two other rigs that just finished the obstacle. There were the 3 Land Rovers.
Ever think about the Automatic Transmission versus the manual transmission debate? I have a manual transmission in the Jeep. I have a manual transmission in the Ford Ranger 4X4 I was using before the Jeep. I know how to drive a manual transmission in the backcountry. I watch as people who are using an automatic transmission negotiate obstacles like the ‘Rock Garden’ and I wonder who has it best. I really feel that rigs with automatic transmission approach obstacles too slowly and tend not to use the muscle available to them in their rigs. For instance, the rig attempting the obstacle was high-centered on a large boulder. The approach was slow and steady. I rather thought they were trying to ‘save’ the $$$$$ rig from damage while trying to take the obstacle. I don’t blame the guy for taking it slow, but there are people waiting in line. I think the driver was trying to take a difficult line to prove his worth. I don’t feel that he was taking the best line that was available to prove his ability. I stood there and watched as he was pulled from the boulder he was on. He backed off the boulder and tried a line 6†to the side of the previous one. The soil was loose between the boulders. So loose that if the tires get into it, they’ll just spin in place. As he approached his boulder again, the tires went into the dirt and just started to spin. His buddies moved rocks under his tires but it was ineffective. The tires still just sat and spun. He needed to back up hit that line with a little more oomph. Finally, he did that and made it past that boulder that stopped him.
Sometimes, the driver on an obstacle can get too much advice. There were his buddies giving him advice, myself and my friend and some others that had just completed it. Through the rest of the rock field, I stayed by his side at tire level. My advice was to give it some gas while his friend helped him to find the line. By suggesting, “Goose it a little more here,“ and “Give it some more gas,†and “Hit it hard here,†he was soon through the ‘Rock Garden.†His friends chose the bypass with its own series of smaller obstacles. It was so crowded that I chose the bypass, as well.
The bypass had two approaches to it, as was dictated by a well-placed boulder in the middle of the trail. You could go to either side of that bottom-grinding boulder. The closer approach had some minor boulders that required you to place your tires in a specific spot. The other approach required a sharp 90-degree turn with a large pine tree on the pivot point (driver’s side) after you clear the origin boulder. You make this turn while negotiating the soft soil so prevalent here. After the turn, there was another 90-degree turn and a large boulder on the driver’s side. At that same point on the passenger’s side is a rather large pine tree. I chose the second option to enter the bypass.
I made my run. I cleared the boulder at the entry to the by pass. I made my turn with slight acceleration. I cleared the tree and immediately started to make turn to the opposite direction. I cleared the boulder on the driver’s side. I did stop just short of the tree, though. I had to back up and then made the rest of the run without any problems. I got out and people congratulated me. Several gathered around and shook my hand. Most of the people that followed me took the same approach and line.
The next part was tight trees and high rocks. The land Rovers were starting that phase. It was getting late, so I did the by pass again. Not much challenge to it, but I had just walked it and had a good idea of what to do. It was up and over to the top. At the top is a trail system that runs between Georgetown (Saxon Mountain) and Idaho Springs. To get to Idaho Springs, turn to the left. To get to Georgetown, turn to the right.
Spring Creek (Family Fun) is a great trail. I enjoyed it a lot. The scenery is marvelous. The smell of the verdant pine forest was natural and refreshing. Take your camera. Just make sure that when you strap your vehicle on, it is capable of doing the obstacles. Oh yeah… Just who would name this trail, Family Fun?
Our reference books and internet research rate this trail as an 8 (out of 10). It is close to Denver. That means that it can attract a lot of people, especially on the weekends. That was true for us.
We got off of I-70 at the Dumont exit (235). We immediately crossed the interstate and found a rock-laden hillside road. Thinking that it was the trail, we started up the road. We went about a half mile, stopped, aired down and disconnected. We then continued up the trail. As you look at the hills and mountains around this area of Colorado, you will see a lot of slag piles and mining structures. One needs to remember as you view these, that there is a road to every one of them. It is that type of road that we found ourselves on. At first, the trail ended abruptly. There was a very old mine with mine cart racks at the top of a slag pile. We got out and looked around to see if the road continued. A foot path headed straight up and away from the mine. We followed it for a bit, but this was the end of the road that we followed.
Not daunted at all, we got back in the Jeep and headed back down. We found an intersection that had a better trail coming off of it. We followed that. It seemed to head back down toward Dumont, so at the next best trail at an intersection, we branched off again heading back up. Well, this trail was not very well traveled. Weeds growing in the middle and very little wear in the tire path. We took all of the way around the hillside where it dead-ended at yet another mine. Well, that made for an interesting morning excursion, but we were still anticipating the Spring Creek trail. We re-grouped and headed down to Downieville.
The best way to find Downieville (without taking our roundabout method) is to go West on I-70 from Denver to Exit 234. Head West on County road 308. Go under I-70 and look for a road that goes over Clear Creek. Head East on County Road 306 to a rocky, wide dirt road. Follow this up the hill to a wide-open area. There are camping/trail head spots here. Look for the Spring Creek Trail sign. You are at the base of the trail.
It is here that you should air down and disconnect. Make sure that everyone is belted in and start off for the trail. This is a fun trail if you have the equipment to do it. We have a saying that we like to ‘strap’ the Jeep on. We were ready for this new experience and we were sure that our ‘strapped on’ equipment was too.
Spring Creek can be busy, especially on the weekends. This Sunday was no exception. We started alone, but it was not long until we saw a stopped Land Rover ahead of us. We stopped behind it and headed up to see what was going on.
This was (what I call) the first obstacle. I think that it is mostly a visual psyche. There was a group of 3 Land Rovers ahead of us. Ahead of us were two Jeeps (a Cherokee and a Wrangler). The Cherokee had landed his transfer case cover solidly on a boulder. The car behind him was hooking up a snatch strap (from the Land Rover group) to pull him backwards off of it. They were successful. The Cherokee took another line and continued up. The rest of the group took his second line and made it through. We watched, observed and discussed the line as they took the obstacle. As we waited, two heavily modified rock crawler Jeeps joined the wait at the back. These rock crawlers made me re-consider our desire to take this trail.
I called it a visual psyche as when you approach it, all you can see is a large rock face with scrapes and black tire marks on it. This rock face is in the middle of a line of boulders that covers the road. It is also on a curve that continues on around the mountain. We talked about the line to take and decided to place the passenger-side tire squarely on the rock face. We expected a scrape as we went across it, but we cleared it easily. The pucker factor was relieved.
The going after that was slow but fun. We always knew when an obstacle was coming as the procession would stop. There were several fun places to negotiate before we even got to the ‘Rock Garden’ near the top. There are many switchbacks on this shelf road trail. Almost all of the vehicles did 3-point turns to negotiate them. We were able to do all of them by going slightly wide then heading into the turn on the inside. What fun it was and it made us feel like we were the experienced ones.
Here is a breakdown of some of the obstacles:
Many of the switchbacks were tight turns on steep elevations. So, not only do you have to turn sharply, but you have to climb the steep afterwards.
One mogul-covered climb resulted after a tight switchback. As we are not locked, we tend to drive these differently from most. We go for RPMs and try to ride the high points. The Land Rover ahead of us did the locker thing and was mostly all the way up before we started it. The switchback was easy, but we ended up going up the hill much faster than the car in front. We were going from side to side riding the moguls and worrying about catching the car in front. Fortunately the car in front cleared the top (another switchback) and we then went up and over!
There is a deceptive turn at the bottom of the run to the ‘Rock Garden.’ The trail comes to a “Y†intersection with a smooth dirt road going on and a wicked rock-laden road to the left. We had made a quick stop lower to give the dog some water and to get some water out of the cooler for us. The rock crawlers were taking the left hand road as we approached. The group of Land Rovers had gone ahead on the smooth, dirt road. Again, at first glance, it made me think that our 4.5“ lift and the 33†tires couldn’t clear it. Not so. We even approached it incorrectly, but found a fast line, made some minor corrections and ran this minor gauntlet. Not even a scrape. If you experience it, just remember to keep your vehicle on the left-hand side. If you have the clearance (you actually don’t need much), you’ll make it. I have to say that it does not appear to be the left-hand side, but it is. When the Land Rovers came back, they followed us up and some scraping soon echoed through the forest. As I said, the line is deceptive at that point.
We stopped ½ way to the ‘Rock Garden’ for another break. Any of you travel with their dogs? Mine is Molly, an Australian Shepard. She is the 2002 Colorado Disc Dog Rookie of the Year. Frisbee is the main ‘job’ in her life. She is very willing to accompany us on any of our adventures, but the price is Frisbee time. So, we stopped and threw the Frisbee for her. We had some coffee, Molly some water, but it was one of those mandatory Frisbee stops. As we were stopped, we heard noise from further up the hill. We figured that the next obstacle was just above. It was!
We got back into the Jeep and headed onward in our journey. Just a turn or two and just ahead of us was one of the Land Rovers negotiating the ‘Rock Garden.’ We parked the Jeep behind the other two Land Rovers then walked ahead to check out the situation. It was a busy place. The two rock crawling rigs were there. Above them there were two other rigs that just finished the obstacle. There were the 3 Land Rovers.
Ever think about the Automatic Transmission versus the manual transmission debate? I have a manual transmission in the Jeep. I have a manual transmission in the Ford Ranger 4X4 I was using before the Jeep. I know how to drive a manual transmission in the backcountry. I watch as people who are using an automatic transmission negotiate obstacles like the ‘Rock Garden’ and I wonder who has it best. I really feel that rigs with automatic transmission approach obstacles too slowly and tend not to use the muscle available to them in their rigs. For instance, the rig attempting the obstacle was high-centered on a large boulder. The approach was slow and steady. I rather thought they were trying to ‘save’ the $$$$$ rig from damage while trying to take the obstacle. I don’t blame the guy for taking it slow, but there are people waiting in line. I think the driver was trying to take a difficult line to prove his worth. I don’t feel that he was taking the best line that was available to prove his ability. I stood there and watched as he was pulled from the boulder he was on. He backed off the boulder and tried a line 6†to the side of the previous one. The soil was loose between the boulders. So loose that if the tires get into it, they’ll just spin in place. As he approached his boulder again, the tires went into the dirt and just started to spin. His buddies moved rocks under his tires but it was ineffective. The tires still just sat and spun. He needed to back up hit that line with a little more oomph. Finally, he did that and made it past that boulder that stopped him.
Sometimes, the driver on an obstacle can get too much advice. There were his buddies giving him advice, myself and my friend and some others that had just completed it. Through the rest of the rock field, I stayed by his side at tire level. My advice was to give it some gas while his friend helped him to find the line. By suggesting, “Goose it a little more here,“ and “Give it some more gas,†and “Hit it hard here,†he was soon through the ‘Rock Garden.†His friends chose the bypass with its own series of smaller obstacles. It was so crowded that I chose the bypass, as well.
The bypass had two approaches to it, as was dictated by a well-placed boulder in the middle of the trail. You could go to either side of that bottom-grinding boulder. The closer approach had some minor boulders that required you to place your tires in a specific spot. The other approach required a sharp 90-degree turn with a large pine tree on the pivot point (driver’s side) after you clear the origin boulder. You make this turn while negotiating the soft soil so prevalent here. After the turn, there was another 90-degree turn and a large boulder on the driver’s side. At that same point on the passenger’s side is a rather large pine tree. I chose the second option to enter the bypass.
I made my run. I cleared the boulder at the entry to the by pass. I made my turn with slight acceleration. I cleared the tree and immediately started to make turn to the opposite direction. I cleared the boulder on the driver’s side. I did stop just short of the tree, though. I had to back up and then made the rest of the run without any problems. I got out and people congratulated me. Several gathered around and shook my hand. Most of the people that followed me took the same approach and line.
The next part was tight trees and high rocks. The land Rovers were starting that phase. It was getting late, so I did the by pass again. Not much challenge to it, but I had just walked it and had a good idea of what to do. It was up and over to the top. At the top is a trail system that runs between Georgetown (Saxon Mountain) and Idaho Springs. To get to Idaho Springs, turn to the left. To get to Georgetown, turn to the right.
Spring Creek (Family Fun) is a great trail. I enjoyed it a lot. The scenery is marvelous. The smell of the verdant pine forest was natural and refreshing. Take your camera. Just make sure that when you strap your vehicle on, it is capable of doing the obstacles. Oh yeah… Just who would name this trail, Family Fun?
