GC2DR7Y Black Mountain
Type: Traditional | Size: Regular | Difficulty: | Terrain:
By: Team Laxson @ | Hide Date: 10/06/2010 | Status: Available
Country: United States | State: Colorado
Coordinates: N40° 47.467 W107° 23.222 | Last updated: 08/30/2019 | Fav points: 0
           

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Black Mountain

Black Mountain is located northeast of Craig and includes the highest elevations in Moffat County, summitting at 10,815 feet above sea level.

This cache is near the West Summit. This cache will take some dedication to get to, requiring an 8 mile roundtrip hike, with just over 1,000 feet of elevation gain.



The trail begins gently, starting with a slight elevation gain as you hike through beautiful trees and overlooks. There are plenty of wildflowers, wildlife, and vistas to delight a wide variety of searchers. The trail gradually turns steep, gaining 300 feet in .25 miles at its steepest.

Getting there

The trailhead for Black Mountain (also called Trail 1185) will be found at N40 45.598 W107 20.648. To get there, take Hwy 13 North from Craig for 12 miles, then turn East on to Cr 27 (N40 40.443 W107 28.250). This should get you to the trailhead. The maps show there are other roads that connect with the main road, but many of them are closed to vehicles.

The roads to the trailhead are car friendly, but will be challenging when there's snow on the ground.

06/19/2014 By ARTISTxTOxBE
I tried to hike to get to this cache today from the Freeman Reservoir, but I think there was just too much snow melt still. There was a large amount of mud, a few snowy patches, and a lot of small streams to cross. We got about half way up the trail and ran into a huge 8 foot wide stream of water. My friend hiking with me didn't want to risk crossing, so we turned back. I will be revisiting this location and trying to make this find later in the summer when it is warmer and the trails are more dried up.

07/07/2013 By Guinness/brown dog
We hiked up from Freeman Reservoir nice hike. Took the bike tire repair kit and dropped off Waldo (TB) TFTC

10/11/2012 By gjhiker
Quickly found after hiking in from Freeman Reservoir. A nice hike and wonderful views from the top. Thanks for bringing us to this beautiful spot! T:headhones. L:bike repair kit. SL. T4TC!

08/25/2012 By Denali41
In 2009 I came to the Craig area to participate in the CITO Event in the Axial Basin. The day before that event I hiked up Black Mountain. At that time I was finishing up reaching the high points in each of the 64 Colorado counties, and still needed to summit the HP of Moffat County as one of the few I had remaining. I recall that hike with really fond memories. So when I was preparing for this cache-finding trip to Moffat County, I purposely checked to see if any caches had been placed on Black Mountain, so I'd have a specific reason to make the hike again. I was delighted to discover that two caches were now on the mountain. So last night, after eating dinner in Craig, I drove to the trailhead and slept in the back of my SUV. I got underway really early this morning and had reached the East Summit just as dawn was "breaking". It was glorious. I turned my headlamp off and continued on to the West Summit (and the cache) under the beautiful lighting conditions of the brightening dawn. And the early morning temperatures had a nice "nip" to them--not frosty, but just right. I found the cache, signed the log, and began my journey back to the trailhead. I felt just great about having gotten back up on Black Mountain again. It was this cache that compelled me to do this, and I'm really grateful. This cache represents some of the really "good" facets of geocaching. Thanks so much for it!

08/18/2012 By A & J - Adrift
We saw some great raptors from the cache location.

Nearby, is tower that has fallen over; crushing the shack at its base. When we poked inside, we found a porcupine sleeping. He was not amused.