MOUNT BALDY

Rating 4 - 6

Directions

Take Nevada Ave. or Hwy 115 South to Lake Avenue and turn west. At the circle intersection before the Broadmoor Hotel turn right and go around the Hotel. The CSC4W club typically meets at the St Paul's Catholic Church behind the Broadmoor Hotel before heading out to the trail together. Take Old Stage until it turns into Gold Camp road and travel about 6 more miles, then watch for signs on the right showing road FR379.

Trail Description

Mt. Baldy at 12,200 ft. is a sub-summit of a mountain called Mt Almagre. The Mt. Baldy summit is to the south of the Stratton Reservoir while the summit of Mt Almagre is to the north of the reservoir. Mt Almagre at 12,367 ft is the other peak visible from Colorado Springs that rises above timberline. Almagre is a spanish word meaning "red earth" and was the name given to the Pike's Peak area by the Spanish.

Mt Baldy is not just a single trail but is a network of many different trails. The club typically just covers the trail that connects Frosty Park with Rosemont Reservoir, Elk Park and Deer Park. Many of the trails can driven by a capable 4WD vehicle while some of the trails would be best traveled by a modified vehicle. The trails driven by Group 1 can be driven by a capable 4WD vehicle. Most of the trails have small streams that will need to be forded, some with moderate sized rocks in the trails, switch backs with loose gravel but all of the trails are scenic and are close to Colorado Springs.

Shortly after turning onto FR379 you will need to ford a small stream. In the springtime this stream can contain a significant amount of water, to just a trickle in the fall of the year. No matter the season its always a fun stream to ford with no problems for a capable 4WD vehicle. The road to Frosty Park is usually rutted with some small rocks but this should not pose any problem for a 4WD vehicle. Frosty Park is the first open meadow you come upon after turning onto FR379. The road above Frosty has some ruts, loose rock and unless there has been a significant amount of snow during the winter its not anything a capable 4WD drive vehicle can't handle.

Mt. Baldy is the trail system sponsored by the club and one that we have spent many hours over the past several years hauling out truckloads of trash, building fences, reseeding rogue trails and working with the Forest Service to keep this prized trail open. If you want the opportunity to return to the 4WD community make sure you volunteer during our work day on the Mt. Baldy trail system.

GPS Coordinates - +38° 44' 26.88" - 104° 57' 21.60"