THE GUNNISON TO CRESTED BUTTE TRAIL

Gunnison Trails is proposing to build a singletrack trail from Gunnison to Crested Butte. This trail would be about 40-45 miles in length with around 5,000 vertical feet of elevation gain. The alignment is paramount to its success.

The trail would begin at the WSC/Signal Peak trailhead. Staying in the lower sage county making its way north from BLM to Forest Service lands, the trail will arrive on the east bank of the Gunnison River about a mile south of Almont. Utilizing a pedestrian/bicycle bridge over the river and then crossing Hwy. 135, the trail would climb, gaining and then traversing the western flank of Flat Top Mountain. Passing through Alkali Basin between Flat Top and Red Mountain, the trail, continuing north,would wrap around Red Mountain’s west side in a clockwise fashion. Staying high on Red Mountain’s north face, the trail will cross upper Carbon Creek accessing the historic alignment of Forest Service trail 436 on the western flank of Whetstone Mountain. Finally, the trail would be in the area of Gibson Ridge, Splains Gulch and Kebler Pass. Several options exist in these areas for getting the trail to within a mile or two of Crested Butte, most likely on Kebler Pass road.

IMPORTANT NOTE: In the most recent version of the proposed Forest Service Forest Plan (temporarily withdrawn by legal action), these northernmost Forest Service lands have been designated as a Recommended Wilderness Area. This area is also shielded from the public by private holdings and the Wilderness designation would be wall to wall, between the Forest Service boundaries on both the east and west sides rendering a trail using the above alignment impossible.

Alignments east of Hwy. 135 and west of Ohio Creek Road would be less practical as they would be infinitely longer with significant elevation gain for human powered use. This trail, having Crested Butte at one terminus, would become internationally known and have a significant and immediate economic impact on the county. And, once again, with activities that are low-impact on natural resources.