Just bought my first cruiser, looking for a place to wheel around fort collins.

[nautilus]

Just picked up a 100 series, and I'm looking for a place to christen it/play around.

It's 100% stock with the running boards removed, so I can't do anything too hard core, but I'm looking for a trail to break her in on.

Tried to check out old flowers road, but it was closed.
Something moderately easily like that should be ideal for my first trail with the new rig.

The closer to town the better.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[John80]

Check out Ballard road haven't played out there this spring but last year it was the only place open this time of year. Its 7-9 miles past Moody Hill off County Road 44H (Buckhorn Creek) on your left. Trail head is not well marked. Pretty tame road, muddy, some rock spots to get flexy.

cheers

j80

 

[SARCruiser]

According to the USFS site USDA Forest Service, Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests, Pawnee National Grassland - Current Conditions- Canyon Lakes Ranger District Road Status , Sevenmile is still open too. Might need some chains as it does get pretty sloppy with the snow melting and such but definitely fun. Pretty easy trail. Starts just off of the Poudre Canyon and County Road 69 and heads north and re-joins Manhattan road which you can then take back down to the Poudre Canyon or on up into Red Feather Lakes.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/arnf/recreation/travel_mgmt/mvum/clrd_back_final_071709.pdf

http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/arnf/recreation/travel_mgmt/mvum/clrd_front_final_071709.pdf

Those are the two USFS Motor Vehicle Use Maps that cover Larimer County and list all the seasonal closures as well as vehicle use allowed on different FS roads/trails.

Don't get yourself stranded, I'd hate to have a page-out to come look for a fellow mudder!

 

[nautilus]

Thanks for the advice guys, I was on my way out to check out ballard road, and my front differential exploded...
Guess I get to wait for the snow to melt now...

 

[FJ40zen]

Man, sorry to hear that nautilus. All if the answers above are true. Ballard road is the closest. We have an April club run coming up(unknown where) if you'd like to ride with someone to check a trail out. You are also welcome to meet with us Wednesday this week at IHOP on Harmony at 7PM for our monthly club meeting.

-Bob

 

[hyperboarder]

Is Ballard road the same trail as White mountain? Also, Old Flowers is good but tough in snow.

 

[nautilus]

The truck is now back in commission, with an arb up front!

FJ40zen, thanks so much for the invite. I wish I could have made it to the meeting, but I was busy with school. I'll keep an eye out regarding trail rides, and the next meeting.

Hyper: I don't know about white mountain, but I went to check out old flowers, and it was locked up.
I spoke with someone that lives off the road on my way out and she claimed they don't open it up till june!

Can anyone confirm or deny this?

 

[SARCruiser]

I spoke with someone that lives off the road on my way out and she claimed they don't open it up till june!

Can anyone confirm or deny this?

Awesome to hear that it's back up and going!

That sounds about right for Old Flowers. There's a lot of runoff in the spring on part of the road so they keep it closed to mitigate damage from people who don't know what they're doing AKA, a lot of the heep folks around town.

Check out those links I posted earlier with the Motor vehicle Use Map or go pick one up at the UFS office south of CSU on Center Ave. The map lists the "typical" closure dates for each road. Save yourself some time and gas just to find a locked gate

Edit: I just checked and the MVUM shows the "typical" open dates for Old Flowers as 6/15-11/30. That can fluctuate by a couple weeks on either end depending on the conditions.

 

[nautilus]

Just checked out those maps, very cool, thanks for the link.

Now I just need to sell my BMW so that I can get some 285 BFGs on the rig, the worn out michelins probably won't get me too far.