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Browns Pass Rating Trail Photos  Return to Trail List   
Park, CO: Trail Head: N 39?10.001', W 106?3.515'  Trail End: N 39?9.620', W 106?5.863'
Delorme CO Atlas & Gazeteer pg: 48, 2-C
Nearby Trails: Coming Soon.


Access: As described here, Breakneck and Browns Pass are run in succession. From Fairplay, Colorado (south of Breckenridge on Hwy 9) take Hwy 285 south to a sign marking CR5 and Weston Pass. Take this road west for about a mile till a sign on the right marking Breakneck Pass. This marks the beginning of the trail. To run the route in the opposite direction, you would take the turn for CR20 off of 285. This turn is about a mile north of the turn for CR5 & Weston Pass.




Trail: As described here, Breakneck and Browns Pass are run in succession. The trail starts out going through private property and will lead you to a gate marking Breakneck Pass. The beginning of the trail goes through a meadow that was pretty muddy due to the recent rains. There wasn't enough to slow me down though!
After the muddy section, you get into some trees and you'll see a sign 'High Clearance Four Wheel Drive Vehicles Recommended.' Most of the trail is a long easy hill climb that doesn't actually require high clearance.
The clim up to Breakneck pass was fairly simple with no obstacles to report of. Here you'll see signs that mark FR175 straight ahead, or FR 426 to the right of left. I chose to take 426 to the right to head over to Brown's Pass. The left route was marked as being closed 1 mile ahead, so you're only options are straight or right.
The overlook of the trail was hard to determine with the overcast skies, but the trail itself is full of Aspen. This trail would be a great beginners trail to get the feel of climbing hills and slightly bumpy roads.
As you head along 426 to Browns Pass, you'll run into a burnt out cabin. There appears to be a road the continues on but we took the left marked as FR 426. This trail brings you down to Sheep Creek. At this 'T', you'll take a right to head over to Browns Pass.
The climb up and over Browns Pass is a little steeper than Breakneck and could be a tough if it got too muddy. The trail was still quite wet on this occasion, but we didn't have any trouble.
As you come down the east side of Browns Pass, you can see Fairplay off in the distance. This area of Colorado is very beautiful with scenes of both rocky peaks and open plains.
There are a few simple stream crossings at the end of the trail just before you reach a dirt road that will lead you back out to Hwy. 285. Overall, this loop isn't difficult and doesn't have any real obstacles, but the scenery makes the loop worthwhile.
-Scott Brayshaw (7/15/00)


G.P.S. Coordinate List:
No Extended G.P.S. data for this trail is available.