About

Here are the directions and maps for "The Colorado Trail Relay", an awesome way for a group of runners to trade off running from the town of Buffalo Creek (near Denver) to Breckenridge on the Colorado Trail. The result is a fantastic running relay of about 80 miles with legs ranging in length from 5 to 13 miles. The course is intended to be run over two days, and there are some spots for camping along the route.

Our goal was to create a singletrack relay route that did not require elite ultra-runners. So, this means no legs longer than ~12 miles. Also, we wanted the route to require only one vehicle for car shuttles. We were generally successful in meeting both requirements, with a few exceptions.

Originally, we wanted to begin the course at the start of the Colorado Trail. However, this requires two beastly 12+ mile legs at the start. Instead, this course begins at the town of Buffalo Creek and most of the legs should be fun for intermediate runners. Leg 5 and Leg 10 are tough, about the equivalent of a half-marathon but with serious elevation gain and sometimes rough trail. The abundance of campgrounds along the route means that a team of motivated hikers could break the relay up over 3 or 4 days.

The car shuttles are also generally easy, with two exceptions. Driving from the start of Leg 5 to the end of Leg 5 requires a long detour around Lost Creek Wilderness and takes about 2.5 hours. This leg will take many runners over 2.5 hours, but some will go faster. Luckily, this leg is the end of the suggested first day, so quick runners can simply carry a jacket and wait for their friends at the North Fork Trailhead, which offers some nice camping. The dirt road up to the North Fork Trailhead is fairly rough, but my Subaru Outback made it with no problem.

Driving from the start of Leg 10 at Jefferson Lake Road to the end at Swan River Road, requires driving over Hoosier Pass and through the town of Breckenridge and takes over 1.5 hours. However, only very fast runners will be able to tackle the 12.5 miles and more than 2,000 vertical feet of climbing over Georgia Pass before the car makes it around.

The relay is designed to be run by a team of 5 runners, basically because this is the number of people that can fit in once car. Also, there are about 40 or 50 miles of trail each day, and 10 miles is a nice amount of trail for one person to run in a day. Nevertheless, ultra runners could obviously run the course in smaller teams. Some sections of trail pass through remote areas, so running in pairs is a good idea, making teams of 10 reasonable.

The course is also excellent for a mountain bike adventure, with a few exceptions: Leg 5 and 7 pass through Lost Creek Wilderness and are closed to bikes. Bikes cannot even be carried through Wilderness Areas. Leg 8 is easily detoured on Lost Park Road, but detouring from the start of Leg 6 to the start of Leg 7 would require about 50 miles of riding via US-285 or 75 miles of riding on the Tarryall Detour. So, those wishing to mountain bike should consider leaving the bike and running/hiking/skipping Leg 7.

These directions are provided with no warranty and they probably contain many inaccuracies. Double check everything with your own maps and good judgement. Be sure to check that all of the dirt roads are open. While researching this course, we forgot to check that Lost Park Road was open for the season and ended up running Leg 5 and then walking 10 miles along Lost Park Road in the dark to get to the closure gate. Don't let the same happen to you!

We ran the relay course in 2012 and again in 2013 and it was lots of fun! So go grab a few friends and have a great weekend!

If you have questions on the route, comments, or suggested improvements, please leave a comment below.

Running through the aspens on Leg 8. Get some!