Saturday, August 3, 2024, driving a loop from and back to Glenwood Springs, CO by going up Transfer Trail onto the Flat Tops and then across and down at Clinetop (Main Elk Creek). Unless you go up and stay on the well maintained gravel roads (e.g. Coffee Pot Road, New Castle-Buford Road), you will run into limestone ledges that you will need to climb up or down. Some are larger than others, so make sure your vehicle has enough clearance and good tires. My FJ Cruiser has a 3” lift and 33” tires (Goodyear Wrangler UltraTerrain AT LT285/70 R17), which provide me with about 12” of clearance. On this trip, I did not scrape or hit anything, but I think I got lucky with my lines in a couple of the more challenging sections. If you are heading to the Flat Tops after recent rains or there is rain in the forecast, be prepared for a lot of mud and the probability that you will need to self-rescue. July was dry around here and there had not been any rain in over a week, so it was very dry on this trip. Overall, the trip took about 9 hours with a short lunch break and about a 1 hour hike. The roads are rough and took a lot of concentration, so it may be better to break this into 2 o 3 days and camp up on the Flat Tops (unfortunately, I had obligation the next day).
Google Map of the drive:
goo.gl/maps/xDFjRt6UT3cQ9hHM7
0:00:00 - Transfer Trail (FS-602)
0:07:26 - Glenwood Springs overlook
0:11:04 - Windy Point Bypass
0:17:08 - Back on Transfer Trail
0:20:30 - Haypress Lake
0:24:03 - Ledge and Bypass
0:41:46 - CR-142 to FS-640
0:57:11 - FS-651
1:00:00 - Bare limestone climb followed by ledges
1:02:20 - Hiked to be able to overlook Adams Lake
1:14:00 - Main Elk Creek Rd (FS-603)
1:18:17 - East Elk Creek Canyon Overlook
1:28:16 - Buford Rd
1:30:11 - I-70 (east at New Castle)