GC2ZX3Z RM ORS #17-03: View Time
Type: Traditional | Size: Regular | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: Team Red Rubicon @ | Hide Date: 07/08/2011 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N38° 41.529 W106° 20.750 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0

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Rocky Mountain (RM) Off Road Series (ORS) #17: Iron Chest
A series by: Team Red Rubicon.

This cache is the third of six caches in the #17 series of Rocky Mountain off-road caches located along the difficult Iron Chest Trail. The Iron Chest Trail starts out about 20 miles south-west of Buena Vista near the cool little ghost town of St. Elmo. This trail is a challenge even for most modified vehicles with a short section of large loose rocks right at the beginning of the trail and a long section of shelf road on the way to the Iron Chest Mine (a full trail description is included below).

Cache Information
At this point on the trail, you will exit the trees and be treated to an awesome view of Hancock Pass.

RM Off Road Series #17 Compete Cache Listing

1. TRR Rocks It
2. How's Your Aspen
3. View Time
4. Hangin On the Shelf
5. Alpine Moss
6. Iron Chest Mine

Trail Information

Rating/Description
Iron Chest is one of several trails that originates from the Hancock Pass trail. The trailhead is close to the start of the Hancock Pass Trail near the cool little ghost town of St. Elmo on the east side of Tincup pass. The trail starts out with a bang with a difficult rock garden right at the beginning. The rock garden is about a quarter mile long and is covered with large loose rocks. Since the rocks are loose, this part of the trail is constantly changing. After the rock garden is an easier section through the trees and then a long section of narrow shelf road before the Iron Chest Mine. You will reach the 12,000 foot Iron Chest Mine at N38 40.332 W106 20.996.

This trail is rated difficult and will require a modified, highly capable 4WD vehicle with good ground clearance. It is also a good idea to have skid plates because of all of the rocks at the beginning. The trail is rated a 6 (easiest routes) to 8 (most difficult routes) out of 10 on the traildamage website. Disclaimer: You need to decide for yourself if it is safe to make the trip in your vehicle and if you have any doubts, don't do it.

To get to the trailhead, head south on US 285 from Buena Vista. Turn right on CR-162 at N38 44.396 W106 05.044 and travel approximately 16 miles to the trailhead for the Hancock Pass trail at N38 42.349 W106 20.411. Head up the Hancock Pass Trail to the trailhead for Iron Chest at N38 42.141 W106 20.787. The return route for the Iron Chest trail is back down the mountain the way you came up.

Note: All coordinates in the above description are included on the waypoint list on the first cache page.

Winter Months
Because this trail is at a relatively high elevation, it is not accessible in the winter months. Iron Chest is generally accessible to off road vehicles from early to mid July though mid October although conditions can vary greatly from year to year.

Time/Distance
The trail is 3 miles from the start at the trailhead to Iron Chest Mine. The trail can be run in 3-4 hours if you don't make many stops, but make sure you leave a bunch of extra time to have lunch on the trail, find the caches and to do some exploring. To reach the trailhead from the Denver area takes about 2.5 to 3 hours so leave the house early.

Trail Waypoints
See waypoint list on the first cache page.

08/31/2018 By Denali41
As icezebra11's DNF log indicates, we gave this one a long search with no luck. We had hoped to continue our hike up the road to reach other caches in the series but after the extended hunt at this location we realized we needed to head down and make some miles to the point we needed to camp tonight.

08/31/2018 By icezebra11
After finding 17-02 we continued up the trail for this cache. We spent a long time looking for it but couldn't come up with the container. We searched laboriously around GZ but no luck.
There wasn't much of a view at GZ so we then expanded our search radius quite a bit. Still no luck. So after nearly an hour we gave up. And because it was getting late and the next cache was over a mile away, we headed back down to the vehicle and drove to our camping spot for the night.

09/17/2016 By WoodFamilyDTSAZE
Fun find. Tftc

05/30/2016 By MountainBear
This one was the last one we could get to on this trail because of the snow. TFTC!

10/18/2013 By LiefDawg
Last find of the day. The snow was getting deeper as the road climbed in elevation. I gave up on this cache on the way up the road, but tried again on the walk down and claimed success.

We got within a quarter mile of the next cache in the series (#17-04), but the snow was up to my knees and the toes were getting cold.

Thanks for the great series!

06/11/2013 By ginteamseekers

08/15/2011 By COpackrat
Thanks for another cache along the route!