RM Off
Road Series (ORS) #6: Spring Gluch Road/Trail Creek
Road
This cache is the seventh
of eight in my #6 series (plus one #6a series shared) of off-road
caches located along the Spring Gulch Road/Trail Creek Road
route. This route runs for 16 miles from Hwy 103 near Idaho
Springs, to the I70 frontage road west of Idaho
Springs.
Cache
Information
You will reach this cache after you start
descending on Trail Creek Road. This cache is located on a
short side trail that you can park on. It is a quick hump up
the hill to the cache.
RM Off Road Series #6
Complete Cache Listing (Spring Gulch East to West and back to Trail
Creek
North)
1.
Secret View
2.
Mine View
3.
Miners Quarters
4.
Miners Overlook
5.
NPR
6.
I Made It! (Part of Series
6a)*
7.
Upper Tailings
8.
Lamartine Mine
* - This cache is at the top of the difficult
Spring Creek trail and is part of
RM Off Road Series #6a which starts at the lower end of the
Spring Creek trail. This cache is accessible from the #6
series route and is therefore included as a cache in the #6
series. If you are up for a challenge and have the right
equipment, you can start out with RM Off Road Series #6a and then
do the #6 series when you reach the top of Spring Creek
trail.
Trail
Information
Rating/Description
This trail is rated easy to moderate. The suggested route is
to take Spring Gulch Road to the most western cache "I Made It" and
then backtrack to Trail Creek road, taking it back to town.
Spring Gulch Road starts out easy at the Idaho Springs end but
becomes moderate near the west end (@ N39 43.942 W105 37.852,
included on waypoints below). There are side trails to a few
of the caches and those are easy to moderate also. This is a
great route for to test out those non-modified 4x4 vehicles.
Most stock SUV type vehicles should be able to do this trail, but
you will need 4WD low range in places. Disclaimer: You need
to decide for yourself if it is safe to make the trip in your
vehicle.
Winter
Months
The trail is close to 11,000 feet elevation at the west end, so
the upper elevations portions may be blocked by snow in the winter
months. During this time, you may still be able to access the
caches at the lower elevations.
Time/Distance
The entire trail as described above is approximately 16 miles and
should take about 3 to 4 hours driving time. You will also
need to include time for finding the caches, exploring, sight
seeing, lunch, etc.
Trail
Waypoints
See waypoint list below. (Entering on Spring Gulch Road and exiting
on Trail Creek Road)
Additional Waypoints
PK13M0Z - GC13M0Z Parking
N 39° 44.281 W 105° 36.333
Pull off the trail and park here to get to the cache.
RM ORS #06-07: Upper Tailings
| Difficulty: 
| Terrain: 
Upper Tailings
10