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Rocky Mountain TT Ride 2004 RMTT04 info - updated 8/23/04 (Rick Ramsey, minion) Dates: August 21-22, 2004. Location: Taylor Park, Colorado Non-organizers: Wicked_Crash and gratefuldawg (and minions)
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The ride was a success. About 15 riders showed up, and a good time was had by all. Check the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday links above for pictures of each ride. Ride motto - "It doesn't get any better than this... until tomorrow."
If you want to post some pictures or a ride report on these pages, contact me via e-mail; my e-ddress is on my home page.
Status as of Thur, 8/19/04 11:20 am
The road from Buena Vista to Cottonwood Pass was blocked by a mudslide on Wed evening near Cottonwood Hot Springs, 5 miles west of Buena Vista. The blockage will take several days to remove. The road was blocked by a similar mudslide at the same location in 2002.
There is a go-around on CR343 and 344, but vehicles with trailers and large RVs are not allowed through.
If you plan to attend the ride and will be towing a trailer or driving a large rig, you should plan to drive Highway 50 over Monarch Pass and on to Gunnison, then north to Almont, and up Taylor River Road.
We're predicted to have afternoon showers on Fri and Sat, with clearing on Sun.
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Camp Central The main camping area, Camp Central, will be at the north end of Taylor Park on Italian Creek Rd. There will be other camps, and riders may also be staying at Taylor Park Trading Post and Holt's. Directions are at the bottom of this page. |
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Primitive Campsites Camp Central is a primitive campsite. There are NO facilities. There are many other primitive campsites along Taylor River Rd (FR742) and Italian Creek Rd. Generally, once you get north of the reservoir, you can camp anywhere you want. Pot Hole #1 is a very small lake north of the reservoir. Camping is allowed. Pot Hole #2 is another very small lake north of the reservoir. There is no camping allowed here. |
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Campgrounds There are four USFS campgrounds in Taylor Park. Some campground campsites are first-come, first-served, and others must be reserved at <http://www.reserveusa.com>. Lakeview CG (south of the reservoir on paved road) River's End CG (north of the reservoir on paved road) Dinner Station CG (about 7 miles north on gravel road) Dorchester CG (2.5 miles up FR742 past the Italian Cr Rd turnoff) Mosca CG, on Spring Creek Reservoir (west about 10 miles), is very well located for trail access west of Taylor Park; 12 sites - reservations. $12/night, extra vehicle $6/night, 8 persons/site limit. |
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Taylor Park Trading Post Taylor Park Trading Post (overlooking Taylor Park Reservoir) has a store, gas pumps, cabins, and a cafe. All cabins have electricity, full kitchen, and showers. Get your reservations in now if you want a cabin. There is some tent camping allowed around the cabins. They will often let motorhomes park near a cabin for a couple of nights (for a fee). If the Trading Post is full, and you would like a cabin or site with hook-ups, try Holt's. They are 2 miles east of the Trading Post. The Nugget Cafe is open 8am to 8pm every day. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served. The Trading Post store is open 8am to 8pm every day. The store has a good food selection including soft drinks, candy bars, snacks, sandwiches, meat, produce, canned goods, frozen foods, and bread. Auto and camping odds and ends, oil, fishing supplies. Gas is available: $2.16/gal 85 octane unleaded, $2.26/gal 91 octane unleaded. Free water for RVs is available. A sanitary dump station is 5 miles east of the Trading Post. Taylor Park Trading Post |
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Holt's Guest Ranch Each cabin has a gas cooking stove, fridge, dishes and flatware,
pots and pans, linens (towels, sheets, pillows, etc) Holt's Guest Ranch |
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Legality of bikes It's an advantage to have a licensed bike but not required. If you limit your road riding to the Taylor Park area, it's usually not a problem. Colorado riders should have either a license plate or OHV sticker. Out of state stickers are honored in Colorado. If you don't have either, plan on picking up a sticker in Colorado. If you waited till the last minute, and still don't have an OHV sticker, you can get one online at the State Parks site. You must have a VISA or MC credit card to pay online. Print the temporary permit and carry it with you. |
Motorcycle parts Bring what you need. The nearest motorcycle parts are in Gunnison, 1.5 hours away. Jetting Pearl Pass - 12,725 (highest) Most trails are in the mountains surrounding the reservoir. Jetting for 10,000' at 70 degrees would be a good starting point. |
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Miscellaneous
Frenchy's in Tincup has some really great grub. Try to eat lunch there at least once. |
There is no charge to dump trash (in bags) at River's End, Dinner Station, and Dorchester campgrounds; there are metal dumpsters at each one. Trash pickup is Mon and Fri mornings, so drop off the trash Sun or Thu evenings. There is free drinking water at all Taylor Park campgrounds; hand pump. Water for RVs is available at the Trading Post. Bring plenty of Gore-Tex. Our motto in CO: God Bless Mr. Gore, and his buddy Tex. (We don't mean AL) |
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Ride Schedule The ride leaders will determine the routes for each day. The day's ride agenda will be conveyed to each rider by the Vulcan mind-transfer. The ride agenda will include a meeting place and time for each ride. Feel free to organize your own daily ride. If you use the Trails Illustrated and/or USFS maps, you'll be able to put together a reasonable loop that will suit your preferences. The trails are not hard to find (most are signed), and navigation is straightforward. The RMTT04 Rides page shows some proposed rides. |
The Trails See the RMTT04 Trails page for descriptions of trails and loops. Difficulty of trails The single track trails in and around Taylor Park should be considered intermediate to advanced. There are also a lot of 4WD roads through Taylor Park. Most of them would be suitable for beginner riders or dual-sport riding. |
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Other info and pictures Taylor Park page - info and pictures Colorado Spode Fest 2001 - more info and pictures
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 Gunnison Spur
Trailhead |
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DVD I will use my helmet cam on two rides and later make a DVD, which I will sell at cost. Depending on quantities, they will cost $5-$10 each. |
Web Page I will add a web page to my web site showing pictures from the ride and ride reports. During the non-event, I will take pictures of riders (and non-riders) if they are agreeable. |
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How to get to Taylor Park Reservoir Go to Buena Vista, CO
Go to Gunnison, CO
(CR = County Road, FR = Forest Road) |
How to get to Camp Central At the reservoir, drive north on FR742 about 10 miles to Italian Creek Rd (FR759). Turn left onto Italian Creek Rd and drive a bit, looking for the camp site on the north side of the road. (Rick note - I'll put up a marker post with pink and black ribbon on it at the campsite on Wed, Aug 18.) Click here
to see a map at 72 dpi. Camp Central is near the top, left of center; it's marked
with a red X. |
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