Lone Cone Pass
One of the nicest things about the Lone Cone Pass route is
its peacefulness. The area is still blessedly unaffected
by the off road motor craze. In recent years it seems
that Colorado has become a testing ground for motorheads
and their latest contraptions, so that sometimes it seems
that five dollar a gallon gasoline wouldn't be such a bad
thing after all. Lone Cone Pass has the power to correct
these perceptions. The route is blessedly unaffected by
loud noise, and after traversing the pass, you may
feel at peace with the internal combustion engine again.
If you run into another vehicle up here it is likely to be
a beat up old ranch truck instead of a lawnmower engine
with wheels, and if you hear "noise", it's
probably a mooing cow.
The route is a scenic ride over a shoulder of the Wilson
Mountains. The ride meanders on a plateau between several
isolated jagged mountains. The surface for the most part
(except where noted on the southern side) lends itself to
fast aerobic climbing, ideal practice for road bikers who
have run out of new paved mountains, and are looking for
steep dirt to provide new challenges.
Lone Cone Pass is not marked on forest service maps, topo
maps or directional signs in the area. Ironically it has
been identified by Don Koch in "the Colorado Pass
Book", a publication aimed at four wheel drive
enthusiasts. However this book also contains good
photography and historical information. The pass is also
included in Helmuth's "Passes of Colorado".
click on profile for more detail
|
1.(7120ft,mile00) START-END NORTH:
Specie Canyon Road leaves Co145 towards south
2.(8040ft,mile11) low point crossing Beaver Creek
3.(8690ft,mile13) take left from Beef Trail Road
towards Lone Cone (same as point 11 in East Lone
Cone Pass profile ).
4.(9310ft,mile18) West Beaver Creek road goes right.
Stay left.
5.(9100ft,mile21) Beaver Park, stay left (same as
point 10 in East Lone Cone Pass profile ).
6.(9810ft,mile25) East Lone Cone Pass road joins on
left. Stay right.
7.(11029ft,mile29) TOP: Lone Cone Pass
8.(10650ft,mile31) Route joins with approach
described for East Lone Cone Pass. Go left. (same as
point 5 in East Lone Cone Pass profile).
9.(10160ft,mile37) East Lone Cone Pass trail joins
on left. Go straight. (same as point 8 in East Lone
Cone Pass profile ).
10.(8890ft,mile41) START-END SOUTH: site of Dunton
Guard Station
|
Approaches
From North. Many approaches are possible. The
route suggested on this profile is more of a roller coaster
than a steady ascent to the summit. This is however typical of
the area, where to peaks sit on top of a plateau. The ride
starts with a steep smooth dirt road climb, leaving from
Co145, up Specie Canyon. Once on top of the plateau, the ride
leads past large ranches on Beef Trail Road. The first
impressive background is the north side of the group of
mountains containing Mount Wilson and El Diente. In order to
pick up FR611, Beef Trail Road has to decend to Beaver Creek
and its willow shaded, densely forest area. After climbing
back up the plateau, the left turn onto FR611 is only marked
with a sign "Beaver Park". The second peak, on this
circumbikulation of three mountains, comes into sight, Lone
Cone, presenting the image of a lone isosceles triangle in the
sky. The road begins a regular orgy of switchbacks, finally
heading through Beaver Park towards the third of the
magnificent three, Dolores Peak (13290ft) in the Wilson
mountains. After spending so much time riding through open
meadows, climbing ever higher, it comes as a surprise that the
summit is densely forested. The top of the pass is marked by a
short section of exceedingly rough road surface, which
presents no problem to the cyclist but deters other travelers.
From South. The southern approach is described in a
downward direction to facilitate description of the suggested
dayride. Large switchbacks descend the south side. They look
impressive on the map but are really quite shallow and a joy
to coast. The western end of each switchback presents a new
panorama onto the San Miguel mtns. After a grand meandering
tour of the northern Fish Creek drainages at around 10000
feet, the smooth, but little traveled dirt road changes
character. With bumps and a coating of gravel it descends
steeply to the West Dolores River. Descending the pass further
leads to Dunton along the West Dolores River. This is where
the profile ends. The suggested dayride turns left here and
the description is completed in the dayrides section.
Tours
Dayrides. The two described approaches to Lone Cone
Pass can be connected into a circular dayride by completing
the route over paved Lizard
Head Pass. The description continues from the end of the
southern profile. After arriving on the West Dolores River,
two miles north of Dunton, there remains another unnamed ridge
to be crossed. This crest reaches back up to 10000 feet and
the western approach can be quite gravely and bumpy. After
that all that remains is a short climb to the top of Lizard
Head Pass, followed by a long, shallow rolling descent to
the starting point. The ride measured 87 miles, 8580 feet
total climbing and 8.28 hours, using an Cateye100A cycle
computer.
back to
Colorado Pass Tables Page
|
