| About Routt National Forest |
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| Big Ridge Trail |
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Difficulty:
More Difficult
Trail Number:
1,820
Usage:
Moderate
Length:
16.5 Miles
Beginning Elevation:
7,500 Feet
Elevation Gain:
2,000 Feet
Ending Elevation:
9,500 Feet
Reservation:
No
Season:
Late May - Early November
From Meeker, Big Ridge Trail are located 35 miles east of Meeker. Take State Highway 13 east out of Meeker for one mile; turn right on County Road 8 for 28 miles; turn right, cross the bridge and turn left on the Marvine Creek Road (County Road 12) for 1 mile to the Big Ridge trailhead
Location Information
You start on the trail from the Marvine Road climbing Big Ridge. Once onto the ridge top, the view to the southeast reveals the Marvine drainages, Rat Mountain, and the Little Marvine Peaks. Three miles from the road, you drop into a saddle with Red Springs on your right about 100 yards below the trail. In addition to the aspen and sagebrush parks you've been traveling through scattered lodgepole pine may be seen along the trail to the north. One and one-half miles beyond Red Springs, you enter a stand of lodgepole from which the Wild Cow Park Trail branches off to the south. Once past this stand of pine, you enter the grassy meadows of Big Park for about two miles. Sable point is the dominant land mass in front of you as you cross Big Park. Once again, you enter the forested area which has changed from aspen, lodgepole pine to Engelmann spruce and alpine-fir. Nine miles from the start of the trail, you arrive at Sable Lake. From Sable Lake, the Mirror Lake trail is 3 miles to the east. The trail enters the Wilderness about 1 1/2 miles past Sable Lake where the trail starts to drop into the Mirror Creek drainage. The Wild Cow Park Trail leaves the Big Ridge Trail and crosses a corner of Big Park. You continue on south through open parks and aspen entering the Wilderness 1 1/2 miles from the Big Ridge Trail. One mile into the Wilderness , you enter Wild Cow Park and then turn right in the middle of the park down to the East Marvine Trail 3 miles from the Big Ridge Trail.
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