2nd Annual Colorado Winter Hang - 14-16 Jan 2011 - Rampart Reservoir

[Cannibal]

The reservoir should guarantee some cool temps. Gotta love a breeze off the water in winter.
Although, this year we may need the water to cool off in the way temps have been so far.

[Just Jeff]

Seriously - looks like almost 50F for Christmas this year.

[Cannibal]

Seriously - looks like almost 50F for Christmas this year.

Colorado Winter Hang proposed rule:
No thongs are to be worn in a manner in which said thong is visible to others. This rule stands regardless of seasonal warmth.

[OutandBack]

Both of these places sound great. I am in for either.

I frequent Rampart Res about 4 times a year to hang and mtn bike the trail around the lake during summer and fall.
IMO, The best hanging trees are in the Thunder Ridge Campground. It also has the only view of the lake.
I've never camped at Meadow Ridge Campground or the overflow camping area.
From either camp ground it's about 400 yards to the water.

Here's a sat view of the two camp grounds. I wish I knew how to attach a thump to a larger image, sorry about the size.



From my GPS data.


Summer view for those that have not been there. The place is beautiful...

[Just Jeff]

If we do the Reservoir, I might just hike in. It's only ~4.5 miles from the AF Academy, which is right on I-25. Haven't hiked that trail before so I don't know how tough it would be in the snow, but it may be a good alternative to driving in, especially for people who don't trust their cars up there.

The hike is over the ridgeline, and there are no roads there. The best road access for most people would probably be thru Woodland Park to Rampart Range Road.

[OutandBack]

Benefits to this one - very easy to find on a maintained dirt road (the gate is on Rampart Range Road), short hike in from the cars, great views of the Reservoir/Pikes Peak/etc, hikeable trails all around, fishing, benefits of an established campground w/o having to pay (should have picnic tables but bathrooms will be closed).-JustJeff

Hi Jeff,
I am not quite sure where this closed gate is.
For those of us that might be looking for a shorter hike from the car. Do you know how long the hike would be from the gate to the campground?

[Just Jeff]

The closed gate is on Rampart Range Road. Here's another view of the map where you can see the intersection. (The intersection is right above the copyright 2008 symbol on the map in Post 40, but you can't really tell it's an intersection b/c of the writing.)

It's about 1.5 miles from that gate to the middle campground. There's an undeveloped parking area at the gate.

[ringtail-THFKAfood]

I think we should car camp. This time of year there will not be anyone around.

Reverends Ridge Campground in Golden Gate Canyon State Park would be good.

[KefWalker]

As soon as a spot is settled on, I'd like to join you guys for the MLK weekend. I can drop my wife off at my sister's in Westminister and then go on to the hang. Car camp or short hike in would be good--I can bring some NM goodies then....:-)

[Just Jeff]

Just got back from Rampart Reservoir. The road from Woodland Park is paved most of the way. There's a dirt section a few miles long, then from the gate to the campground (and on to the boat ramp) it's paved again. I only had time to check out the second campground, Thunder Ridge. Looks like a great little setup for our group at sites 12 and 13...plenty of trees, two fire pits (we'd probably congregate around the one at 13), and right next to the trail down to the Reservoir with a good view of it.

It took me ~30min to walk from the gate to the campground, and I wasn't walking fast b/c the family and little dog was there. There was no snow on the roads driving in, and only a little bit of snow in the shadowed areas of the road once I got into the campground.

Thunder Ridge campground has two permanent restrooms, and one is close to 12-13, but both are locked. There's another pit toilet near the entrance (probably 1/3 mile from the sites) that is still open.

One possible issue - there were no signs on the first campground, but on Thunder Ridge one sign said it was closed for the season and another one said, "Closed for All Use." The FS lady said we could still use the campgrounds, so I'm not sure if this means we can ignore that sign or if we need to choose another of the campgrounds. If y'all are interested in Thunder Ridge, I'll call. I can also make it up there again later this week and check out the third campground (Promontory, I think). Based on the Google images above, it looks like it'll have suitable trees as well. It's probably only another 10-15 minute walk from the gate.

Here's a pic of Site 12...each site has a fire pit with grill, hook pole for food/garbage, and a picnic table. There's a water spigot next to these sites but it's turned off. The view from 12 is pretty good; you can see part of it here. (I got dibs on the two trees next to that table!) Thirteen's view is similar, but the reservoir is a bit more obscured b/c it has more hammockable trees than 12.

The low hooks kinda surprised me since this is bear country...we'll probably be ok since it's winter, but it's a really warm winter so I wouldn't be completely surprised if we saw tracks somewhere. I didn't see any bear cables or anything. Actually, I've never seen bear cables in Colorado.

The other pic just shows the kinds of views from the campground. The views really open up once you get down to the Reservoir where you can see Pikes Peak, though.

I'm not tied to this area so I won't get my feelings hurt if we decide on somewhere else. Just wanted to provide some info since it's pretty close.