Arapahoe-Roosevelt National Forest - Scouted sites
Church Park
The only photo I took
of Church Park is a little dark as I arrived there just before
dusk. This was the secondary USFS recommended site in this national
forest. A Topo
map is here. The main meadow looks to be about 10,000 ft.
Cons
- Has a major road running through it.
- No firewood, the area has been mitigated and logged!
- Has an improved and maintained gravel & dirt road running through
the meadow.
- No separate parking meadow.
Pro
- Has plenty of water from the creek, although it's also full of
beaver dams.
Ute Pasture
This entire area is marked the "Henderson Industrial Area", and
appears to have limited public access. This was the primary
USFS recommended site in this national forest.
The only photo I took of the one meadow
is here. I didn't
really bother getting out of my truck here, as the active mine, active
highway, and active train tracks, along with the lack of public
access was discouraging.
A Topo
Map is here. Looks to be about 9000ft.
Red Dirt Res
This is up CR19/FS100 from Kremmling. There is a huge meadow below the
dam, but no apparent parking area meadow with road access at
all. There were lots of large meadows, but alot was very swampy.
The photos I took are here:
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6
Cons
- Downstream from an earthen dam.
- Obvious cattle grazing area.
- No obvious parking area. (yet ?)
Pro
- Huge meadow with no roads running through it.
- Huge flow of water in the stream.
- Under 9,000 ft.
Buffalo Park
Here's a Topo
Map of the area.
This is the only
photo I took. I attempted to drive in, but the melting snow and mud
made the 4x4 road impassable. As the road I had used to get into this
site was also quickly turning into mush, I neglected hiking around for
a fast exit.
This site bears futher scouting though. Buffalo Park would be a great
parking area (it's already full of 4x4 roads), and one could hike into
the next large meadow north of Buffalo Peak.
Cons
- Potentially too close to private land on the north end of the
basin meadow.
- Too close to a unimproved dirt road.
Pro
- Large main meadow.
- Large level parking area.
- Under 9,000 ft.
- 45 minute drive to the nearest town.