GC13M40 RM ORS #06a-06: Rock Garden
Type: Traditional | Size: Regular | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: RM, n0wae, Zoltig, Joe Friday & Ivy Dog Parents @ | Hide Date: 06/09/2007 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N39° 44.343 W105° 38.511 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
         

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RM Off Road Series (ORS) #6a: Spring Creek Trail

This cache is the sixth of seven in my #6a series (counting Joe Friday's cache at the staging area) of off-road caches located along the difficult Spring Creek Trail route. This route runs for 5 miles from the I70 south frontage road near Idaho Springs, to Spring Gulch Road. The suggested return route is via Spring Gulch Road where my #6 series is located, but you can also return via Saxon Mountain Road where my #2 series is located.

Cache Information
This cache is located near the beginning of the Rock Garden. The rock garden is a long stretch of boulders that you must traverse through to get to the top of the trail. There are many possible routes through the rocks, but most are difficult. If one line doesn't work, try another. Good luck getting through the rocks.

RM Off Road Series #6a Complete Cache Listing (I70 Frontage Road to Spring Gulch Road)

1. Joe's 4-Wheeling Cache (Staging Area, By Joe Friday)
2. First Obstacle
3. Second Obstacle
4. Lunch Spot (aka OOPS)
5. Third Obstacle
6. Rock Garden
7. I Made It!

Note: List edited 7/30/07 to add Lunch Spot (aka OOPS)

Trail Information

Rating/Description
This trail is rated difficult and make no mistake about it, it is difficult. You will definitely need a capable off road vehicle with a minimum of a lift, large tires and skid plates. To get over the first obstacle, you will probably need lockers or a winch assist although you can bypass the first obstacle. Disclaimer: You need to decide for yourself if it is safe to make the trip in your vehicle.

The trail starts at a small staging area at N39 45.777 W105 38.015 (on waypoint list below). Shortly after the trail starts, you will come to a "Y" at N39 45.752 W105 37.780 (on waypoint list below). If you go straight, you will be headed to the first obstacle. If you go left, you will bypass the first obstacle, meeting up with the trail right above the obstacle. You can walk down a short distance from where the trail connects and check out the first obstacle at N39 45.654 W105 37.618 (on waypoint list below). From the first obstacle, you will be driving on shelf roads and will meet up with the second obstacle (relatively easy) while on the shelf roads. The third obstacle is more difficult than the second, but is not as difficult as the first (I did it without lockers). After passing the third obstacle, you will eventually come to the Rock Garden which will take a while to get through because of the numerous rock obstacles. Once through the rock garden, it is only a short distance to the top of the trail.

After you reach the top of the trail, there are numerous ways back to the highway, but it recommended that you take a left on Spring Gulch Road and do the RM Off Road Series #6 caches. You can also take a right to Saxon Mountain Road and do the RM Off Road Series #2 caches along that road.

Winter Months
This trail is probably closed in the winter months, but it is not advisable to attempt this trail in the winter if it is open.

Time/Distance
The entire trail as described above is approximately 5 miles and should take about 3 to 4 hours driving time plus 1.5 to 2 hours to get back to the road from the top of the trail. You will also need to include time for finding the caches, exploring, sight seeing, lunch, etc.

Trail Waypoints
See waypoint list below. (Entering from the frontage road on the North end)

07/26/2016 By Back Country Horsemen
Finally starting to feel cooler up here. Was 80 degrees & cloudy down in Lawson but with the long steep uphills it's been plenty warm. Also very quiet now out of the I-70 influence. On my way back down I passed a FJ Cruiser making its way up. It was slow going through the "garden".

06/30/2016 By TTO2
This series was one of the primary targets of this trip as I just bought a new shiny Rubicon and wanted to see how far it would go stock. Not far, at least on this trail, is the answer. We made it up to the 2nd obstacle and had to go on foot from there as not having a solution to get extracted if something happened was not smart business. Adding to the issues were an inexperienced 4WD, 105 pound, partner that couldn't move some heavy rocks with me, and no mods. On this trail you have to have mods.

We did mange to get 5 of the 7. The first at the base of the hill we believe is missing, and decided at the Rock Garden that we didn't need Number 7. We hiked 2 -7 and did Team Red Rubicon to the Rescue. After seeing the Rock Garden, so glad we didn't tempt fate.
Photo

Photo

09/05/2015 By jpit
Having a fun day checking out the trail and some caches.
TFTC!

This entry was edited by jpit on Sunday, 08 November 2015 at 04:37:57 UTC.

07/04/2015 By Denali41
My puppy Orizaba joined icezebra11 and me (I guess I’m “daddy” to Zaba) on a wonderful day of hiking, cache-finding, and great weather along this “jeep” trail. Well, “jeeps” can make it if they are constructed of the right composition, but I can say that the 4X4 that we encountered was a lot more than a “jeep”. The owner must have fully mortgaged one or more homes to pay for his baby, and he had a nice young gal with him who had to be more than impressed with his equipment and skills (as a driver, I must importantly add). They passed us near the second obstacle and we passed them at the third, as we proceeded higher on foot. They eventually drove by us again, but we easily caught up to them as they worked their way through the Rock Garden. We were having the fun of finding caches. They were having the fun of negotiating some remarkable obstacle problems--it was really informative to watch how the spotters and driver worked together so well. Now, folks like Rocketman who do BOTH, and the guys/gals who do this with him, are pretty special: 4X4 wheeling and cache-finding/placing/maintaining at the same time!

Our day was marvelous, and we found six caches along our 10-mile out-and-back hike. The elevation gain was significant, too. The five caches having a 1.5/4.5 D/T combination were the motivation for hiking this fine course. That’s been my nemesis D/T combination in order to reach the challenges I long ago began working for–I had found and signed the field cache log for the 13X Fizzy Challenge in Iowa several years ago, and a year ago right now kenyansherpa and I signed the field log of the 14X Fizzy Challenge in Ontario. So today I completed these special challenges that make geocaching so very special to me and to many others. Wow! And this comes just 3 weeks after my completing a 4X Jasmer grid. What a sport we have...

Thanks so much for these great caches today, Rocketman!!

07/04/2015 By icezebra11
Denali41, puppy Orizaba, and I had a great day hiking up the jeep trail and finding 5 of the 6 ORS caches and the Team Rubicon cache. The only cache we couldn't locate was ORS 1. We parked at the wide spot across from the driveway and right where the trail got rough. We didn't think the sedan would fare too well. So we set of in 2 wheel (foot) drive up the trail. Zaba had the advantage because she is full time 4x4. This was a special caching day for Denali 41 as he completed his 13X and 14X Fizzy challenges today with the 1.5/4.5 caches we logged. We watched as one jeep navigated through Obstacle 2, it was a pretty good show! Sat at the rock garden and had a bite to eat before heading back down. Thanks Rocketman for this great series of caches!!!

08/17/2014 By CowwFace
Found this on a nice day of RZR'in. I sure know why they named them the "Rocky Mountains". There was a jeep Cherokee here with busted U joints today. Great Cache, in great shape. TFTC!

07/11/2012 By kitt5
One of our favorite areas as we traversed to the top, picking up caches along the way. Nice hike through the woods to get this one. T-soccer ball, L-bubbles. TFTC.

10/02/2011 By Goldfinger17
2:00PM. This was definitely my favorite part of the trail! TNLNSL. TFTC!
-Jake, Sara and Makenzie

08/20/2011 By TandemCachers
Made this our lunch spot, one in group was overheating and one got a flat...so why not eat and cache? I did have a little trouble making it up, but finally did it without any assist. TNLN TFTC

08/20/2011 By MontyPyFly2
Great Swag! To good to take anything.... had nothing of equal value left :-)
One in our group got a flat tire in the middle of the Garden, but we had no trouble today.
TFTC (and Series) it was a fun day.
MontyPyFly&Y