Type: Road/Trail, Loop
Difficulty: 5 / 10
Altitude: 10,053 ft
Elev. Gain/Loss: 2,043 ft / 2,043 ft
Dog Friendly: Yes
Jog-Stroller Friendly: Unknown
Filed Under: Cycling, Hiking, Running
A fun, long loop also suitable for mountain biking; we assume that you'll start at the Peaks Trailhead for this description, and move in a clockwise direction.
The first four miles of trail stay at roughly 10,000' and follow a long traverse along the slopes of the Ten Mile range, crossing numerous draws and seasonal streams. The trail is wide and well-marked, and well-uesd in all seasons by hikers, runners, bikers, and cross-country skiers. At approximately 4 miles, you'll come to a intersection of three trails, Peaks, Miners, and Gold Hill. Continue north along the trails through and past a meadow with lake/bogs, and after 1/2 mile turn east as the trail climbs up Gold Hill.
The section from 5.5 to 7.5 miles is a steep but pleasant downhill to the Gold Hill trailhead and the road (US9). At the trailhead, head left (south) along the bike trail towards Breckenridge for a couple of miles, turning right (west) onto Coyne Valley road (the first real road you'll encounter, and just past the dredge mining equipment). You cross the wide, flat dredge tailings field where the old airport used to be in this 1/4 mile stretch, and turn left (south), the only way you can, onto Airport road. A couple of hundred yards further on, head up the draw on the right on the obvious first road, still paved.
Continue up this road for 1/4 mile, and take the left for onto county road 911, which starts climbing more steeply and switchbacks to a T intersection. At the T, turn left, and run through the mountain subdivision to the first left, 3/4 miles ahead; this road is fairly straight, and if you hit a right-hand hairpin you've gone 1/8 mile too far. Follow this road as it winds out of the houses, down a shallow hillside across a draw, and then climbs switchbacks back to the car.
GPS information for each of these turns is located on the map. It's a good idea to take a copy of the map with you for this run, until you're more familiar with the area.
The Peaks Trailhead is located on Ski Hill Road, just north of the Peak 8 base area of the Breckenridge ski area (about 1/4 mile further on from the pay parking lots). Although you can start this loop from anywhere, this makes a very convenient starting point for the loop in either direction.
In downtown Breckenridge, take a turn west at the stoplight in the middle of town (ski hill road) and drive up past the ski area base. You'll take two more switchbacks past the parking lots, and start heading downhill; the parking area, for about 10 cars, is on the left (north) side of the road. The trailhead can also be approached through the neighborhoods as described in the run description. This parking area gives you two options - clockwise, so that you finish with a steady uphill to the car, or counterclockwise, finishing with a long mostly flat trail through the woods.
The alternate start point is at the Gold Hill trailhead, on highway 9. This trailhead is 1/4 mile north of Tiger Run (a road, small subdivision, and trailer/camping park are well signed) a few miles north of Breckenridge. From Gold Hill, the trail starts uphill both directions, but a clockwise loop gives a fun downhill for the last two miles of the run. The trailhead is signed (but very close to the tight turnoff) on the west side of highway 9.
Posted by: tradkelly and last modified on Feb 02, 2006 by thoos
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