The Coon Hollow Jeep Trail

By Jerry Smith

May 31, 2013

Having told some friends of the reopening of the Coon Hollow Jeep Trail, I had been heartily encouraged to lead an expedition into this newly accessible bit of heaven.

Last fall, it had been brought to my attention that full-size vehicles had not used the Coon Hollow Jeep Trail for quite some time. It was also told to me at that time that this trail was quite difficult even on an ATV.

Some vistas from the Coon Hollow Jeep Trail are awesome!

As it turned out, the trail had been ignored for several years by full-size vehicles due to a deep wash near the mouth of the canyon.  Seems that most folks don’t care to provide a little work to enjoy a great trail.  Their lose!

 

ATVs had continued to utilize the trail by finding a way to sneak around this wash crossing and the way they had used would not work for a full-size vehicle.

The wash crossing had required some pick and shovel work to make it passable on that first trip. That turned out to be only the first of the considerable work required to reopen this trail.

The remainder of the work had to do with clearing miles of sagebrush and tree limbs that had grown into the roadway choking it down to ATV width.

What we were left with is one outstanding primitive Jeep trail that is cherry stemmed into an area with “Wilderness Characteristics” according to some citizen advocate groups and the BLM.

As you might imagine, being within an area with “Wilderness Characteristics”, there is considerable pressure to close this trail to all motorized travel. That fact would make this trip even more special because of the possibility we could be some of the last to be able to enjoy it by motorized vehicle.

After meeting at the Clifton City Market, we drove to De Beque.  The sleepy little town was still stretching from its waking-up though the water trucks were out making the V.2 road dust-free.

The freedom from dust stuck to the fender flares and mirrors as we headed for the V.3 Rd. turn-off.  V.3 Road was being graded so we went beyond all the activity to air down.

Proceeding to the Coon Hollow turn, Jerry lead everyone into the mouth of the canyon with the sun shining and a slight haze hanging in the air.  The potential for a great day was very high.

This tower and Hoodoos mark a fork in the road.

Reaching a tall tower with small hoodoos on top signaled a fork in the road.  Taking the left fork, we were soon at the first major wash crossing.  After allowing Wendy to take a position for photo-ops, we all slowly dipped into and through the steep-sided wash and onto a sagebrush flat beyond.

Roger entering the first wash.

Shortly we came to more lesser wash crossings where some found out the hard way that you should often “look before you leap” into a blind wash.

Some of these washes have a sharp break-over that hide large rocks at the bottom.  As you approach the wash, you cannot see the bottom over your hood and if you don’t know what’s down there, some lines are a little more “rough” than some others.

This would be the correct "line" on this wash crossing.

Having driven this trail several times, Jerry knew the proper lines and made it through unscathed.  The followers ignored a warning on the CB radio to get out and look and the hiding rocks greeted some as they missed the line by mere inches.

Mere inches can make a "line" with a totally different outcome.

“Follow the Leader” and his warnings now began to take on a new meaning.  Luckily, this lesson resulted in only a rougher than necessary ride through a wash.

I add this pic simply to emphasize the point.

The next “warning” came as we began the ascent of the ridge. 

After a short, steep climb up a shelf road, the trail takes a sharp, blind right turn into a narrow ravine. 

As you enter the ravine, the trail has a sharp “S-turn” with high-banked turns that leave you severely off camber on a loose, sandy surface that makes it very hard to hold the turn without sliding down into the narrow, rocky wash.

The off camber and loose soil has a tendency to push you into the wash.

This is where the Coon Hollow Jeep Trail gets its class 6 rating.  If you don’t pre-walk this piece of the trail, you must “drive by feel” through some dangerous places because you won’t be able to see where you are going most of the way.

Al held the off camber while Malcolm held whatever he could grasp.

Even after walking the obstacle, many don’t realize the magnitude of the off camber they are about to experience and the difficulty of crossing the loose surface only serves to make matters worse.

Levi chose the more "level" wash for access.

You can hear the stretching of seat covers as you guide people through.  Deep fingerprints can also be found in the door handles and any points of hand contacting Jeep after the first turn.

After you pass through the corners, a steep, rocky hill-climb up a narrow shelf road with a wash down one side awaits your driving skills.  Welcome to the Coon Hollow Jeep Trail!

Gathering on the steep, rocky shelf road.

From here, most of the trail is along a steep, winding, narrow ridge lined by primarily Utah Juniper, Pinon Pine, Mountain Ash, and tall sagebrush.

Much of the surrounding brush has been trimmed back for clear passage.  Some places you can still expect to hear the scraping of brush along the sides and top of your vehicle as your tires strain to hold the steep terrain.

Some sagebrush was sacrificed during the reopening ceremonies.

Twisting and turning through the trees keeps your focus primarily on your driving as you ascend the trail.  At times you will glance off the trail to enjoy a small view down into the steep canyons on either side of the trail.

This is a land with “Wilderness Characteristics” and it lives up to that billing.  You won’t see any other signs of man’s presence except the road ahead of you here.

Beauty is often near the road.

It’s a good time to slow down and absorb the experience.  Driving the Coon Hollow Jeep Trail should be held in reverence even though I have found this same experience nearly everywhere in the American BackCountry.

Appreciating the freedoms we in the American West have should always be taken in and savored every time we get the opportunity to experience them.  If you’re not, you miss the “Real” reason we all know the song; “God Bless America”.

Looking over De Beque and beyond.

John Denver often sang about his love for the American BackCountry.  We all can still learn from his appreciation of this great land and would be well advised to follow his lead.  Your well-being and demeanor will all be raised if you do.

As we approach the western end of the South Shale Ridge cliffs, the trail begins leveling to a less steep climb.  Ahead you see a shallow saddle with a tree lined crest come into view.

This is the “Top of the Trail” and near the end.  Seems like most good things must come to an end.

Dropping down onto the Lunch Spot.

As you break over the saddle, knowing the end is near can be somewhat a downer… until your eyes go from the narrow focus of the trail to the overwhelming panorama that literally stops your heart for a few beats.

In a microsecond, the world explodes before you in a way few places can.

To your left, you are looking over across the valley to the north side of the Grand Mesa… the largest flat top mountain in the world.

Panning your vision from left to right, you see the southern grand valley with the Uncompahgre Plateau behind reaching from miles to the south to the rim of the Book Cliffs and Mt. Garfield. 

Between you and the Book Cliffs, you see the majority of the Pine Ridge Wildfire burn and the Wild Horse Area.  Further to the right over the rim of the Book Cliffs, the La Sal Mountains show off their majestic peaks.

Let me tell you, this view will take your breath away.

At the end of the trail is a large flat that is perfect for a lunch spot.  As you enjoy a good lunch, the view will make everything taste better and you will relax in a new way.

When you feel the need to return, you will find that the ride going down the Coon Hollow Jeep Trail is a whole new experience compared to the ascent.

The trail has a few rocks to deal with.

Much of the way down, the panorama through your windshield is just awesome.  Coon Hollow opens before you into a long range view looking down on De Beque and beyond to the Battlement Mesa above Parachute and the Grand Mesa.

About here I had Sandra in tears fearing for her life.  Had I known, I would have asked her to get out and watch to see how safe she really was.

More appreciation for this land we call “Home” should well up in your chest as you lose elevation and get closer to the views from above.

Ah, another great day with good friends and a fabulous Jeep trail to share.

The only way that things can get better is for the following to occur; “When you come to a fork in the road… take it.”  You never know what you’ll find.

Happy Trails.

Copyright Happy Trails 4wd, 2013.  All rights reserved.

Coon Hollow Is Open

By Jerry Smith

April 27^th, 2013

Controversial Coon Hollow

The highly controversial Coon Hollow trail has been reopened to “full-size” vehicles thanks to the considerable work of members of the Grand Mesa Jeep Club.

The real awesomeness of all this work was patiently waiting for us near the very end of the trail… but I am getting way ahead of myself.

Happy Trails entering "The Ravine"

The controversy comes from the BLM Draft Resource Management Plan/Travel Management Plan (DRMP/DTMP) and the BLM's apparent wanting to close this very special and unique trail to full-size vehicles. The Coon Hollow Road is cherry stemmed into an area with “Wilderness Characteristics” which makes it an extremely unique road just from that perspective alone.

Cherry stemmed into an area with Wilderness Characteristics

Even without being cherry stemmed into an area with wilderness characteristics, this trail is unique beyond words all by itself. Finding a trail of this difficulty and length is so rare; you'd spend hours counting the zeros while calculating the odds.

Drive It While You Can

While currently open, this trail provides access to an area that in normal circumstances would not be accessible to most elderly, youthful, or disabled Americans.  The Grand Mesa Jeep Club is leading the way to changing the BLM's stance and will hopefully prevail in keeping this outstanding class-6 to 7 trail available to full-size vehicles.

Cody #2 in the first wash

Our meeting at the Horizon Safeway store parking lot put us all in anticipation of a great day of Jeeping. The sky was a brilliant blue and though the air had a slight haze to it, we expected a near perfect day in the mid-70s.

The 30-mile drive to De Beque was uneventful so we continued through town on back to the west to V.2 Road and headed north toward Pyramid Rock where we would turn off on the road to Coon Hollow.

There we aired down and then proceeded up the road that had been savagely torn up by some brain-damaged individual when the road surface had been very wet and muddy.

It was very obvious to all that this guy had no working brain cells when it comes to “proper land and trail use”.  Leaving deep ruts in a road and even into the ditches and sometimes completely off of the road is not what clear thinking people do anymore. 

Coming to the mouth of Coon Hollow, we turned in and followed the road up the valley floor crossing small washes and enjoying the view of this magnificent small valley.

Deep Washes to Cross

Arriving at the first major obstacle, we jumped out to assess the possibility of getting a long wheelbase vehicle through this deep, steep-sided wash. It was decided that Jerry and Happy Trails would cross first as he had already been through it. Then we would see if Cody #2 and his 2013 Rubicon Unlimited could get through.

Tim getting ready for "Launch"

As he dropped over the steep incline to enter the wash there was plenty of reason to believe we would need to do considerable digging to change the angles of approach and departure by “rearranging” the earth, but he was able to crawl right through with only little difficulty.

Cody #1 diving into the 1st wash

Next came Tim and his tall riding Cherokee making it look rather easy so Cody #1 next made his way into the wash with his Grand Cherokee. Cody #1 also negotiated the wash with little or no problem. All of us sighed with great relief at the thought of not having to do an hour or two of dirt work.

Further along the trail, we encountered another deep wash. Soon, except for some scuffed rear bumpers, we were through this wash with no problem.

Climbing Up the Ridge

Coming to the foot of the ridge this trail follows, we began climbing up a fairly steep shelf road that enters a small, narrow ravine by way of some tight, off-camber turns. Jerry drove through the mouth of the ravine with no problem, but before he could walk back down, Cody #1 and Tim had begun moving large rock obstacles to make the ingress to the ravine easier.  (Some people just don't like difficult obstacles).

After all had entered into the ravine, we had a steep, rocky climb out of the ravine on another rock strewn shelf road. Now we would be climbing up a narrow ridgeline for the next few miles.

Some guys don't enjoy a good obstacle

Along this ridgeline we trimmed many branches of Utah Juniper and Pinon Pine trees along with bushes like mountain ash and gamble oak that had grown into the road leaving only an ATV width trail. Except for last fall when Jerry and Harley had driven this part of the trail, it had been unused by full-sized vehicles for several years.

At one particular place where a large, old dead Juniper tree had laid down across the road for a final rest, ATVs had made a track around it. We sawed the tree into several pieces and effectively closed off the braided ATV trail and reopened the real trail.

Removing a dead Juniper Tree from the road

Coming to the place where Jerry and Harley had turned around due to large, tall sagebrush that had grown into the road, we broke trail simply by driving over the hood high or more sagebrush.

For those of you who have never attempted to cut sagebrush, I envy you. The stranded way that sagebrush grows is very difficult to cut. We found that driving over it and crushing it much easier and just as effective.

This was the second pass through this sagebrush

Needless to say, we have some new custom pin striping on the sides of our vehicles.  The smell of freshly crushed sage was actually quite nice and almost “therapeutic”.

As we made our way further up the trail, we all voiced our appreciation for the beauty of the surrounding area and the difficulty of the trail. It is truly such a unique experience that it is hard to put into words.

The “Cherry on the Cherry Stem”

As we reached a saddle between the South Shale Ridge and another small hill to the south, we had no idea of what was to come. As you crest the saddle, the panorama that opens up before you will literally take your breath away.

Powderhorn Ski Area

One moment you are climbing a steep, narrow trail, and the next you  have a nearly unobstructed  view where you can see nearly all of the rest of Western Colorado and even into Utah. Simply awesome! 

It reminded me of standing on the edge of Lands End on the Grand Mesa... just from a different perspective.

Drill rig and Pine Ridge fire burn area

Starting from the south, your view begins with the north side of the Grand Mesa where you can see the town of Mesa, the Powderhorn ski resort, and over to where the mesa drops into the town of Palisade.

Between there and where you stand; you are looking down on the Pine Ridge wildfire burn area and a drill site currently being drilled on the burns perimeter. From here, you get a much better idea of the expanse of the Pine Ridge fire and the devastation that it left behind.

Ever vigilant Hoodoos watch over Coon Hollow

Beyond the burn, some of the wild horse area and the rim of the Book Cliffs hide the Grand Valley from view. Beyond the Book Cliff rim you can see parts of the Uncompahgre Plateau with a small view of the upper La Sal Mountains shining above.

I am sure that if you could be there on a pristine air day, once you top that saddle it would be hard to breathe the pristine air for a minute.  Panoramas of this quality are mighty hard to find, but are over the top when you do.

On the return trip, we all experienced the same effect as when Harley and I did the first roughly 2/3s of the Coon Hollow road.  Due to the thick growth along most of the trail, you don’t see much else going uphill.

Coming back down, the view out of your windshield is very different.  Now you are looking over the trees and brush to where you can see the Coon Hollow area and all the way to the Grand Mesa above De Beque.  To say it’s a nice view is grossly understated.

 An "Off-Camber" moment on Coon Hollow

Overall, this trip is an 11 out of 10 for enjoyment.  If you can’t enjoy this, you are having a really bad day or life.

You might want to run this trail soon because we may lose all motorized access if the “greenies” get their wishes.  Take your camera even though your memories will overshadow any photos you may bring back.

Cosmo hoping his Master can make it

One last thing we have to cover; “When you come to a fork in the road… take it!”  Who knows?  You might find another gem like this one.

Many Happy Trails to you.

Copyright Happy Trails 4wd 2013  All rights reserved.