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High Drive s(u)
This road has a generic name,
that makes you picture suburban houses that
maximize dead air space in pine tree environment.
But actually this summit is much nicer. The hills
above Evergreen not only contain busy suburban
highways. There are also small roads with curvy
climbs that make great cycling. I think this is
the best of them. I just wish it had a more
interesting name. How about Stanley Park Pass ?
From East&North: In order to get a
long climb without intervening downhills, the
profile starts in Morrison and heads south, up
towards US285. This is definitely a feasible,
legal and safe bike ride. But I rarely see
bicycles on that portion of US285. Most cyclists
prefer something other than a 4 lane highway. This
means there is some other summit point along the
way, most commonly Dix
Saddle from the north, or Deer Creek
Canyon(sh) from south. Anyway, somehow you ride up to the start of North
Turkey Creek Canyon above Tinytown, point 4. The
next turn is about 1+1/4 miles up the canyon. The
route turns right onto High Drive. It looks like
it would just run in eternal circles between
spread out socalled ranch housing. But the little
road keeps on climbing and has some real
switchbacks near the top, that seem downright
alpine. Even if one misses the turnoff onto High Drive,
not all is lost, according to the map. South
Starlight Drive to the east, and Peaceful Hills Rd
to the west also eventually connect to lower High
Drive. The slope is very variable, which is not at
all typical of what most US roads strive for, but
it makes for interesting rolling climbing. The top
is still in the trees and still surrounded by
houses, but fewer of them.
From East&South. (also
described upwards) The profile starts at the same
point, just east of downtown Morrison, but goes up
Bear Creek Canyon instead. Just past Evergreen
comes a short section of busy and unpleasant road
on Co74. It is a relief to turn off to the left
onto little Cub Creek Rd. There are two very pleasant ways to detour this
short section by taking either Forest Hill Rd or
Independence Trail (this is a road). These are
small roads that climb into the heavily populated
hills south of Evergreen. Still, they have so many
turns that they only are used by local traffic. I
keep looking for ways to make these points summit
points in their own right, but can't find a 500ft
descend that does not double back into Bear Creek
Canyon, without climbing higher. Little Cub Creek Road, turning into Standley Park
Rd is not as steep as the other side, and maybe
the most pleasant part of the climb. Turning back,
there are some views of Mount Evans along the way.
What seems like the summit at first, descends a
few feet and then climbs just a little higher. At
this point it's time for a brake check. Out and Back on Bear Drive On the east&south side, where High Drive
changes its name to Stanley Park Rd, and out and
back leads to the top of Bear Mountain, with a
small transmission facility on top. As expected
this close to Denver, most any out-and-back road
to the top of a hill leads to a real estate area.
Access to the last homes on top of the hill is
quite steep and a home blocks any views and access
to the tower. But with a short detour on foot you
can access the tower area and you can see the view
in the two pictures below.
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Approaches
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