| Difficulty: | Number: | Miles: | Altitude: | Obstacles: | Time: |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Easy 2 | FR769 | 8.71 | 9,042 to 11,050 ft. | NA | 2-3 hours |
Closure:
July - Best
August - Best
September - Best
October - Early snows may close the road
FT644 - ATV.
Canyon Creek, FT481 - Motorcycle.
FT497 - Motorcycle.
From Sargents, CO. head southwest on US-50 W and go 13.3 miles. Turn right onto County Road 887 and go 8.8 miles. Continue straight onto County Road 774A and go 0.3 miles. Turn left onto County Road 774 and go 0.5 miles to an intersection. Turn right to start the Depler Park road.
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South end of Depler Park road photo by: Adam M |
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The road will be well defined as it heads up a ridge into the forest. There will be some old spurs leading off of the road. Stay with the main traveled road. After more than 2.5 miles you will come to an intersectin with a road that turns left and goes down to Stridiron Gulch. Stay to the right to continue on the Depler Park road. You will now be running along the top of the ridge that seperates Stridiron Gulch from Canyon Creek.
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Depler Park road photo by: Adam M |
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The next intersection will be a short spur road to the right that goes down Buffalo Fork, FR769.2B, for a half mile to a trailhead for FT481, a motorcycle trail. Stay to the left to continue around the head of Buffalo Fork. After about a mile plus you will come to a large intersection as you round a curve. To the left and down hill is FR774, Which goes back to where you started by following Stridiron Gulch. To the far right is a dead end spur road not on the MVUM. Take the center going up hill to stay on FR769.
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Center part of Depler Park road photo by: Adam M |
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The road will now climb around the east side of Little Baldy (11,350 ft.) and then come to another intersection on a curve to the west. To the left following the curve is North Bald Mountain, FR779. Take the road to the right to stay on FR769. This is where the road will become a full sized vehicle trail that requires an OHV permit sticker.
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"Trail" section of Depler Park road photo by: Adam M |
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The road will become much narrower and head down following Bonnie Creek. You will dow a few switch backs as you head down toward South Quartz Creek. The road will curve to the west and have a few sections of loose rock to navigate. As you continue west the road will be narrow with few places to pass other vehicles. At the next intersection you will be in Depler Park. A left is FR779 and will take you back to the last intersection. Take the right to stay on FR769. Within a mile you will cross South Quartz Creek and pass the trail head for FT483. Just after that you will cross Middle Quartz Creek and connect with Middle Quartz Creek road, FR767. A left will take you to Pitkin, a right will take you to the Middle Quartz campground.