Moffat Tunnel (East Portal) to Winter Park

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Features Commonly Backpacked · Lake · River/Creek · Views · Wildflowers

A hike from Moffat Tunnel East up to the Continental Divide with amazing views, followed by a long descent into Winter Park. With the exception of a few miles, this descent is on single and doubletrack trails.

If you are planning to hike this as a one-way hike, you'll need to arrange for a pick-up on the Winter Park side as there are no commercial shuttles or services to shuttle you back to Moffat Tunnel. Alternatively, for the ambitious hikers, you can spend the night in Winter Park and hike back over the next day!

Start at Moffat Tunnel (East Portal). Take the South Boulder Creek Trail which has a very pleasant grade. Stay left at the trail junction and start ascending towards Roberts Peak Lake. The steepest parts of this hike are from here to the pass. Make sure to take in Heart Lake as you start the last ascent. The total distance to the top of the pass is about 5 miles. There are great views of James Peak, Winter Park, and Boulder County from the pass.

Start your descent to Winter Park along Rogers Pass Trail. The trail starts off a bit rocky on doubletrack, but turns into a nice singletrack over the 2.4 miles to Rollins Pass Road (Corona Pass Road CR80) .

At Rollins Pass Road, you'll see the Riflesight Trestle. There are a few options for travel here. 1) Head along Rollins Pass Road, 2) make your way to the far side of the Riflesight Trestle (over or under) to Trestle Trail (#77) to Rollins Pass Road, or 3) traverse down a steep slope to the Riflesight #76. Either way your goal is to get to the Riflesight #76 about 0.5 miles away.

Continue down Riflesight #76 which is a fun doubletrack for about a mile until it merges with Rollins Pass Road. Take Rollins Pass Road for 2 miles to Broken Thumb Trail. Broken Thumb Trail is shared by runners, mountain bikes, and motor bikes. Be aware, but the trail is a lot of fun.

After 3.5 miles, Broken Thumb Trail ends at Water Board Road/FS 128. Cross the road to Twisted Ankle, which is now shared with mountain bikes. Twisted Ankle is a singletrack descent for one mile. Take a left on South Fork Loop Trail. There are now multiple options within the Idlewild Trail systems for your descent into Winter Park. The trails are all well marked so plan your descent and enjoy.

This hike included a climb up South Fork Loop Trail and up Whoops Trail. Serendipity then runs along the ridge line and crosses a road before the descent along Yankee Doodle Trail. Yankee Doodle Trail meets Meadow Trail which parallels Ski Idlewild Road for a short distance. Head along Ski Idlewild Road and dip your feet in Vasquez Creek or take the paved bike path to the Rendezvous Event Center/Park in downtown Winter Park.