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Johnny Park Road/Big Elk Meadow Rating Trail Photos  Return to Trail List   
Boulder, CO: Trail Head: N 40?13.907, W 105?28.551  Trail End: N 40?15.462, W 105?24.357
Delorme CO Atlas & Gazeteer pg: 29, 7-B
Nearby Trails: Coming Soon.


Access: From Estes Park, CO take Highway 7 south for 12 miles to CR 82 in Meeker Park. Reset your odometer here and take CR 82 East. Within a mile you'll reach an 'T' intersection where you'll veer right. At 1.5 miles you'll reach a sign denoting Private Property/Stay on Trail. At 2 miles you'll reach a sign that points left to take Pierson Park Rd., continue straight on CR 82.. At 3.2 miles you'll reach another split: left leads to Parachute Hill, right begins Johnny Park Rd. and shortly after a seasonal gate. At 4.1 miles veer left. At 5.6 miles, veer right to stay on FR 118/Johnny Park. At 6.3 miles is the spot I took the first panorama photo. At 6.8 and 7.0 miles veer right. At 8.0 miles, the trail is essentially done. At 8.6 miles you'll reach pavement again and at 11.6 miles you'll reach Highway 36 between milemarker 10 & 11. Take a right to get to Boulder and a left takes you back to Estes.




Trail: Johnny Park road is great beginner's trail allowing nearly any sport utility the chance to climb some hills and even flex things out a little bit. I took this trail in mid-May from Highway 7 East towards Highway 36. There are a number of side trails that looked to offer some more difficult lines as well as some nicely secluded camping spots. Heading East from Meeker Park, CR 82 is a simple dirt road. The trail does offer a few spots for scenery, but most of the trail has you within the trees, unable to see much of your surrounding. It's not until you're about 6 miles out of Meeker that things get at all exciting. At 5.8 miles you'll see the first seasonal gate. Most of the action after this point was going downhill. I imagine the trail might be a little more amusing if taken heading West. There are a few hills (at 6.6 miles) that might get a little slick if wet and also some nice rocky climbs (at 7.6 miles) that could challenge a stock vehicle. A majority of the trail can be handled by most stock 4x4's and even some passenger cars (to a point). At 8.6 miles you reach the end of FR 118. Follow this road and at 11.6 miles you've reached Highway 36. Take a right to Boulder or a left back to Estes Park. Estimated Drive time: 1.5 hours.
-Scott Brayshaw


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