{"id":301,"date":"2011-08-24T14:19:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-24T21:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/?p=301"},"modified":"2014-04-07T17:30:32","modified_gmt":"2014-04-07T23:30:32","slug":"wofr-o57-crosier-mountain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.schnizer.com\/SOTAblog\/sota-trip-report\/wofr-o57-crosier-mountain\/","title":{"rendered":"W\u00d8C\/FR-\u00d857 (Crosier Mountain) – 9232 ft \/ 2814 m"},"content":{"rendered":"

Crosier Mountain (W\u00d8C\/FR-\u00d857<\/a>) is part of the Front Range<\/em> of the Rocky Mountains – close to Estes Park<\/a>, a popular gateway to the Rocky Mountain National Park<\/a> (RMNP). According to my knowledge, there are three trails going up to the summit from three separate trail-heads along CR43.<\/p>\n

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  1. Garden Gate trail-head<\/strong>: Is located closest to the village of Drake. It is just before mile-marker\u00a0 13 and hardly visible from the road. You will find a gravel patch on the south side of the road with some sign of a wooden gate. It is a 5.1 mile trail to the summit of Crosier. The trail leads through some grassy meadows and continues via switch-backs though trees. There was a large wildfire (Bobcat Fire) in 2000 and the trail goes in and out through the burned area.<\/li>\n
  2. Rainbow trail-head<\/strong>: Located between mile-marker 10 and 9, a large gravel-pit on the left side of the road (coming from Drake) is the parking lot for the trail just across a wooden gate. It is marked as Crosier Rainbow Trail No. 981<\/em>. The early trail ascends through aspens, pines and spruce trees. It will eventually lead to an 4-way intersection of all the trails coming from the valley and the trail coming from the summit. The overall length to the summit is about 4.0 miles.<\/li>\n
  3. Glen Haven trail-head<\/strong> (No. 931-2) : I have chosen this 4.1 mi trail (see description below) because it crosses Piper Meadows – <\/em>a very scenic place – and it also provides a nice view on a previously activated SOTA summit – Triangle Mountain (W\u00d8C\/FR-\u00d882)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Trailhead: 7254 ft. \/ 2211 m
    \nSummit: 9232 ft. \/ 2814 m
    \nElev. gain: 1928 ft \/ 588 m
    \nRoundtrip: 8.0 mi \/ 12.9 km<\/p>\n

    Compare this summit with my other activated summits<\/a><\/p>\n

    How to get there:<\/strong>
    \nTake US34 from     Loveland <\/a>towards Estes Park<\/a> through Big Thompson Canyon<\/a>. Take CR43 in Drake all the way to Glen Haven<\/a>. It’s a scenic drive along the north fork of Big Thompson River. Going through Glen Haven (don’t blink) you will find a red barn on the left side of the road. The TH is just behind the stable and a gravel strip is located on the right side of the road – providing space for several cars.<\/p>\n

    Parkinglot\/Trailhead
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