Trailhead condition requests, questions, alerts, etc.
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Jorts wrote: ↑Thu Jan 29, 2026 8:31 am
Here is a roundtrip comparison: https://caltopo.com/m/JC1BUSR
The Kennedy Pass route is actually LESS elevation total roundtrip. And 14 miles less. It's an amazing route.
Screenshot 2026-01-29 at 8.26.46 AM.png
Screenshot 2026-01-29 at 8.27.06 AM.png
Thanks for highlighting the Kennedy Pass route. Had never heard of. What’s the road like to the presumed TH where your track begins? I have a stock 2023 4Runner. And are you implying this route is day trip-able from the TH?
while we're on the subject, how close to the TH could a low clearance 2WD car get? I took the train to get to Chicago Basin once, and between the train ticket, parking and staying in Durango the night before I decided I'd rather walk in next time.
Mark-
I included a fairly detailed driving description for this Trailhead in my Aztec TR, I stopped about 2 miles short in an Outback but there is also a shortcut trail to bypass part of the road (that I did NOT take in the dark!). Maybe another mile short of where I got to for lower clearance vehicles? The road was very washboarded the last time I did it and its over 20 miles from pavement to where I stopped, so it will likely take over an hour in a lower clearance vehicle https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=20306
"We want the unpopular challenge. We want to test our intellect!" - Snapcase
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Yes, the shortcut trail that starts at the terminus of the 2WD friendly dirt road has become well established. Although it still does not appear on most maps.
This would still be a stout day trip with that climb back over KP. When I did it, we summited Kennedy, Aztec, Jupiter on day 1. Setup a high camp on the Chi Basin side of Columbine Pass. Climbed Sunlight Spire and Peak 11 day 2. Camped one more night and came out via KP the following morning.
Really long, ambitious day trip for all 4 14ers or a fairly reasonable two dayer.
Traveling light is the only way to fly.
IG: @colorado_invasive
Strava: Brent Herring
Jorts wrote: ↑Sat Jan 31, 2026 6:14 pm
Yes, the shortcut trail that starts at the terminus of the 2WD friendly dirt road has become well established. Although it still does not appear on most maps.
This would still be a stout day trip with that climb back over KP. When I did it, we summited Kennedy, Aztec, Jupiter on day 1. Setup a high camp on the Chi Basin side of Columbine Pass. Climbed Sunlight Spire and Peak 11 day 2. Camped one more night and came out via KP the following morning.
Really long, ambitious day trip for all 4 14ers or a fairly reasonable two dayer.
The Lime Mesa/Kennedy Pass approach is wonderful. I heard rumors of it from a friend and then "did my own research" via slope angle shading on caltopo to find the correct gulley (the fall line of which which happens to be almost entirely under 27 degrees). Actually hiking it was a bit of trial and error - I got suckered into the woods by an obvious trail that disappeared and wound up descending/bashing a willow lined rock gulley. The way out was much easier to spot a better line from afar and avoid all the willows which Madmatt and Twolunches improved on. I thought about posting a trip report on it but enjoyed the experience of figuring it out and wanted to save that for other people. There isn't really another reason to keep it secret - the trailhead has plenty of parking, there's a use trail almost the entire way already and I probably won't be back anytime soon or would be all that bothered by a few people hiking it. It would be a bummer if it turned into the new purgatory train alternative since that would mean a ton of use. I think its best if it stays as something people discover by going the extra step of spending an extra 10 minutes to research alternative approaches so please no one create a new route on the chicago basin 14ers.com page for it.
I'm inclined to agree with HikerBox here, not just about the Lime Mesa/Kennedy Pass approach, but about a lot Colorado's mountains in general. There's more than enough information available for anyone to go anywhere they want to in this state. It's past time to start exercising some discretion in what we post online about these places, and trying to preserve a little sense of mystery and discovery for people.
markf wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 11:39 amThere's more than enough information available for anyone to go anywhere they want to in this state.
Other than topo maps, there are many areas in Colorado with zero info available. Yes, that's a good thing.
I'm not sure that's true in the days of Google Earth and lidar...having a 3D color model of the world at sub-meter resolution isn't exactly "zero info."
I always enjoyed the ambiguity in Gore route descriptions. “Climb up Usable Pass where you’ll see the XYZ ridge. Go up to it and you’ll be on your way to climbing XYZ.”
Here’s a little more macro beta that still leaves the minutiae a mystery. A look at the ascent to Kennedy Pass from down in Chi Basin.
IMG_9952.jpeg
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Traveling light is the only way to fly.
IG: @colorado_invasive
Strava: Brent Herring
markf wrote: ↑Mon Feb 02, 2026 11:39 amThere's more than enough information available for anyone to go anywhere they want to in this state.
Other than topo maps, there are many areas in Colorado with zero info available. Yes, that's a good thing.
I'm not sure that's true in the days of Google Earth and lidar...having a 3D color model of the world at sub-meter resolution isn't exactly "zero info."
There are still a lot of places in Colorado that Google Earth doesn't show well or have colored 3d models, especially in narrow canyons. Don't forget about caves either. Caves are places too.
I'm old, slow and fat. Unfortunately, those are my good qualities.
Other than topo maps, there are many areas in Colorado with zero info available. Yes, that's a good thing.
I'm not sure that's true in the days of Google Earth and lidar...having a 3D color model of the world at sub-meter resolution isn't exactly "zero info."
There are still a lot of places in Colorado that Google Earth doesn't show well or have colored 3d models, especially in narrow canyons. Don't forget about caves either. Caves are places too.
Good point. I suppose slot canyons, caves, and lidar shadows may indeed be the last frontier of "blank spot on the map." Of course, plenty of technical peaks and random cirque headwalls have zero climbing beta, but I was more talking about macro-scale information sensu hiking routes.
