Qs about Pole Hill Rd

[Pgopinath]

My wife and I drove Pole Hill Rd trail this Sunday. The entry portion of the trail was interesting and the steep downhill after the notch caused a few puckers. But other than that it was an extremely scenic and relaxing ride with great weather and fantastic views.

We had some difficulty finding the main trail after the steep downhill dropped us into a wide open meadow. The trail map shows the main trail heading NW but the only trail we could find was a well worn dirt path that headed due west and connected back to the trail that we had taken while heading up to the notch. There was a fence and some sort of gate blocking the supposed direction of the main trail. I got out of the Jeep and cast around for about 50m and didnt find any other route.

My trail map says that FDR 247B comes down the steep and is supposed to bear to the NW as FDR 247D.

Has the trail been changed? Anyone have any recent experience with Pole Hill?

Thanks
Prabha

[Tom]

Once upon a time, before I ever ran it, there was an old wagon road that is now gated coming up ifrom near loveland iirc. I cannot remember its name, but from time to time there are inquiries to get it opened. And after the 2013 floods an entire stretch on the eastern side of the a section running almost due north was closed.

[Jim]

The below annotated MVUM / map is what is current for Pole Hill (as I recall in 2018).

If you question where you're at on a trail I recommend going out with others that have been on the trail before (feel free to start a thread in "Planning" to see if there's interest) and/or GPS enabled maps. Avenza's PDF Maps is popular.

EDIT: Updated the map to include the Panorama Peak gate and remainder of Pole Hill Road gate.

[Tom]

122 is the gated stretch I mentioned and 247D the 2013 flood section.

[Maverick1872]

If I remember correctly from when I last ran it (been about a year) all the trails were very clearly defined and there wasn't much room for interpretation. That being said it's been over a year and some things could have potentially changed quite a lot.


EDIT: Updated the map to include the Panorama Peak gate and remainder of Pole Hill Road gate.

Is there any talks about opening either of these gates for use?

[Tom]

If I remember correctly from when I last ran it (been about a year) all the trails were very clearly defined and there wasn't much room for interpretation. That being said it's been over a year and some things could have potentially changed quite a lot.



Is there any talks about opening either of these gates for use?
Nope. Panorama Peak goes to an old fire lookout they are attempting to preserve. The other has serious private property issues iirc.

[Jackie]

I remember a mud pit (that was not optional - no bypass) from a few years past) as well as some optional spurs. As of this year, they are all blocked. Rob and I ran it in September this year and he led. He got confused as well. The route has changed, but easy to figure out your choices. Still a fun trail to run!

[Pgopinath]

Thanks all for the replies. Jim, the annotated MVUM map you posted is exactly how i ran the trail. We use a 10 year old copy of Peter Massey's book "Backcountry Adventures - Colorado" with a current download of AllTrails and Gaia GPS on our phones and tablets. Massey is quite outdated but the history and descriptions he gives are fascinating. I will look for Avenza's PDF maps - thanks for the reference.

Prabha

[Bob]

I also like the Avenza MVUMs.

In my experience their search function for finding maps doesn't work too well. Sometimes you need to try a few different search terms.