Type: Trail, Out-and-back
Difficulty: 3 / 10
Altitude: 9,667 ft
Elev. Gain/Loss: 1,003 ft / 1,003 ft
Dog Friendly: Yes
Jog-Stroller Friendly: Unknown
Filed Under: Cycling, Hiking, Running
Run east up the Boreas Pass road for 1/4 mile to the rotary locomotive, and cut through the parking lot south to the beginning of the Rodeo Trail on a little bridge that crosses the creek. Turn left (E) and run along the trail for another quarter mile to another bridge; here, turn right (S) and follow the Illinois Gulch and Blue River Bike trails as they easily switchback up the mellow slope, and eventually take you SE to overlook Highway 9 as it comes down from Hoosier Pass into Breck.
The running is mellow and easy, but steadily uphill through this section; when you hit a decent downhill, the woods will end and you'll be on the Blue River bike trail - you'll know it when you come into an open area with a round parking area (private) surrounded by a corral fence. Instead of following the trail to it's obvious conclusion (right), turn left and head up towards the driveway belonging to the parking area. After shortly under 1/4 mile, and before you hit the hardball road, you can cross the driveway (just outside the fenced area) and run up the hill on the other side of the gulch. This is the Illinois Gulch trail.
It climbs steeply for the next half mile, passing an old boiler with views of the 10-Mile Range and ski area, and then continues and turns to the right until it intersects with the Boreas Pass road above the gated winter closure. Turn around at the road and enjoy the long downhill.
This run would be great to combine with the Baker's Tank run on Boreas Pass road, giving a combined one-way distance of about 5 miles. This is a great run even when there's snow on the ground and you only have a couple of hours to kill.
Start at the Conoco station in Breckenridge, on the south end of town (the farthest south stoplight, just beyond downtown). This is the intersection of the Boreas Pass road and US9. Parking is also available a quarter mile east at the ice rink (behind the snow-cutter rotary locomotive is a great trailhead parking spot) if you're not local.
Posted by: tradkelly and last modified on Feb 02, 2006 by thoos
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