B
boatingbent
Active member
Thinking about heading out there this winter...Can anyone tell me whats its like and that may some pictures from out there
Taylor Park Colorado
- Thread starter boatingbent
- Start date
It sucks, I hate riding there all winter long!!!!
Yeah dont mess up my snow. Go to Vail. 
Seriously, from Taylor Park you have access to some huge areas. Union Park, Tin Cup, Spring Creek, Italian Creek, and Cotton Wood.
Seriously, from Taylor Park you have access to some huge areas. Union Park, Tin Cup, Spring Creek, Italian Creek, and Cotton Wood.
C
colorado logger
Well-known member
Be prepared taylor park is a cold place to ride
Yeah dont mess up my snow. Go to Vail.
Seriously, from Taylor Park you have access to some huge areas. Union Park, Tin Cup, Spring Creek, Italian Creek, and Cotton Wood.
SSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Dont tell, I like that I ride all day and see anybody!!!! It is a huge area. I know I've seen 20+ people at the Trading Post and did not see anyone all day after that. You can ride all day basically in every direction and still not even come close to hitting it all.
Here are some pics, all from Taylor Park area and what can happen there!!! Pics 1,2,and 3 are basically from the Taylor Park Trading Post looking North. Pic 4 is from the South end of the Taylor Park Reservoir looking North over the reservoir. Pic 5 is from the just above Cottonwood Pass looking south on Taylor Park. The Reservoir is right over the seat. Pic 6 is from Doctors Park looking north towards Taylor Park. I think pics 7 and 8 speak from themselves. All of this riding is done from starting in Taylor Park and branching out from there.
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Taylor Park
Assuming you are coming from the Buena Vista side. Park about 5 miles west of town. Which lot depends on snow depth, but it will be obvious. Later, or after a good storm there is some riding on the east side of the pass, but mostly you will want to go on over. Near the top of Cottonwood Pass there is a large bowl. There, you can peel off left and short-cut the pass, or follow the marked route which more or less follows the road. Don't ride under the cornice at the end of the bowl - take the hillclimb to the right. Once you crest the pass (taking the "road" route), almost immediately drop off the road to the left and follow the trail markers to The Chutes. Often the weather is completely different from one side of the pass to the other.
The valley just below the chutes can be fun with deep snow, but often can just suck you into bottomless willows and stumps. About halfway down the back side there are several lefts that get very confusing, but generally lead you towards the Trading Post (Gas, hot chille, supplies, cabins, nice folks). Or just follow the road to the t-junction at the reservoir. There, a left will take you past the Trading Post and on to Union Park, Tin Cup, and other places. A right will take you toward Italian Creek, Spring Creek, and Taylor pass. All worth checking out. The main (Taylor River) valley always has enough snow to ride, but in a good year gets deep enough to become a destination in itself.
It's a good thing they sell gas at the Trading Post because a day's riding out there will put on a lot of miles. Figure 40 miles just over the pass to the Trading Post and back without any exploring. We hit it for day trips and overnighters as it is only two hours from Colorado Springs.
Wish the Forest Service would pull its head out and allow overnight parking in the Avalanche lot. We have to park our campers single file along the side of the road when there is a vast empty parking lot - absurd!
Enjoy!
Neil
Assuming you are coming from the Buena Vista side. Park about 5 miles west of town. Which lot depends on snow depth, but it will be obvious. Later, or after a good storm there is some riding on the east side of the pass, but mostly you will want to go on over. Near the top of Cottonwood Pass there is a large bowl. There, you can peel off left and short-cut the pass, or follow the marked route which more or less follows the road. Don't ride under the cornice at the end of the bowl - take the hillclimb to the right. Once you crest the pass (taking the "road" route), almost immediately drop off the road to the left and follow the trail markers to The Chutes. Often the weather is completely different from one side of the pass to the other.
The valley just below the chutes can be fun with deep snow, but often can just suck you into bottomless willows and stumps. About halfway down the back side there are several lefts that get very confusing, but generally lead you towards the Trading Post (Gas, hot chille, supplies, cabins, nice folks). Or just follow the road to the t-junction at the reservoir. There, a left will take you past the Trading Post and on to Union Park, Tin Cup, and other places. A right will take you toward Italian Creek, Spring Creek, and Taylor pass. All worth checking out. The main (Taylor River) valley always has enough snow to ride, but in a good year gets deep enough to become a destination in itself.
It's a good thing they sell gas at the Trading Post because a day's riding out there will put on a lot of miles. Figure 40 miles just over the pass to the Trading Post and back without any exploring. We hit it for day trips and overnighters as it is only two hours from Colorado Springs.
Wish the Forest Service would pull its head out and allow overnight parking in the Avalanche lot. We have to park our campers single file along the side of the road when there is a vast empty parking lot - absurd!
Enjoy!
Neil
Union Park
Has anyone tried to go from the very south east end of Union park through the trees up to Tin Cup?
Another place that I have always wanted to explore in the area is on the road north from the tradeing post to Italian and Spring creek is there any riding to the east up some of the drainages. Can you access the divide from the large drainages east of the Taylor Drainage just north of the small subdivision?
Has anyone tried to go from Ptarmigan Lake then head west over the divide and down into Tin Cup. This would get you into some real riding without having to do the 30 miles of road over to Taylor. Oh, also can you go from the east side of cotton wood pass and follow the divide down to Ptarmigan.
I have been riding this area for 15 years and I think I have been too much of a one track mind. I have always started out at denny creek or the other lot made for the East side bowl, play a bit there and on the west side of the pass. Then beelined to Taylor Park and either Union Park, Italian or Spring Creek. I would love to save the fuel and play around the divide area.
As soon as the the snow has some base to it. I will be looking at trying some of these routes? As always anyone is welcome to come along.
Has anyone tried to go from the very south east end of Union park through the trees up to Tin Cup?
Another place that I have always wanted to explore in the area is on the road north from the tradeing post to Italian and Spring creek is there any riding to the east up some of the drainages. Can you access the divide from the large drainages east of the Taylor Drainage just north of the small subdivision?
Has anyone tried to go from Ptarmigan Lake then head west over the divide and down into Tin Cup. This would get you into some real riding without having to do the 30 miles of road over to Taylor. Oh, also can you go from the east side of cotton wood pass and follow the divide down to Ptarmigan.
I have been riding this area for 15 years and I think I have been too much of a one track mind. I have always started out at denny creek or the other lot made for the East side bowl, play a bit there and on the west side of the pass. Then beelined to Taylor Park and either Union Park, Italian or Spring Creek. I would love to save the fuel and play around the divide area.
As soon as the the snow has some base to it. I will be looking at trying some of these routes? As always anyone is welcome to come along.
Would it be better to park near St Elmo and take Tin Cup Pass to Taylor?
How about the Hancock Pass route?
How about the Hancock Pass route?
Tincup Pass
It is nice to ride over Tincup and there is a ton of riding to do up there but it is far less smooth and if there is bad weather it is the worst place in the area to be. Seriously I quit going that way because of tooooo many white out situations. I'm talking cant see 10' white out. One time we were heading over the east side and I thought I was climbing over only to figure out that I was stuck and not moving and another time I thought I was on my way over only to look over my shoulder and see rocks below me. I was going across the hill.
As for Hancock it is a nice ride, You can make a nice loop out of this. You can head over Hancock Pass, take that down the Alpine tunnel road, when you get to the bottom take a right and head over Napoleon Pass, take that to Tincup and head over Tincup Pass back to St. Elmo where you started. Make sure the weather is good for this loop though.
I've done this many times.
It is nice to ride over Tincup and there is a ton of riding to do up there but it is far less smooth and if there is bad weather it is the worst place in the area to be. Seriously I quit going that way because of tooooo many white out situations. I'm talking cant see 10' white out. One time we were heading over the east side and I thought I was climbing over only to figure out that I was stuck and not moving and another time I thought I was on my way over only to look over my shoulder and see rocks below me. I was going across the hill.
As for Hancock it is a nice ride, You can make a nice loop out of this. You can head over Hancock Pass, take that down the Alpine tunnel road, when you get to the bottom take a right and head over Napoleon Pass, take that to Tincup and head over Tincup Pass back to St. Elmo where you started. Make sure the weather is good for this loop though.
I Might be interested. I've been riding this are for 12 years now and know it pretty well but know there is still more to see. My 3 Big ones this year are PEARL PASS, EYRE BASIN, and TELLURIUM CREEK in that order, all from Taylor Park.
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T
TreesAreTraction
Member
Are the Conditions Changing
Has anyone been up to Cottonwood Pass or into Taylor Park Area. It looks like to me that this storm is hitting the area and I would not want it to leave out any corner of the state.
Has anyone been up to Cottonwood Pass or into Taylor Park Area. It looks like to me that this storm is hitting the area and I would not want it to leave out any corner of the state.
Update on Taylor/Cottonwood over on BCR....
http://www.backcountryrebels.com/showthread.php?p=458907#post458907
http://www.backcountryrebels.com/showthread.php?p=458907#post458907
Any pics of eyre basin
