Johnny Park Road
Somehow, this trail kept falling through the cracks. We kept intending to do it and then we'd run out of time, or a trip would get canceled. This time, we made it our priority. We met at the Walmart in north Longmont, and we happily joined up with three new members: Alan, Brian, and Cal. We actually left early and traffic was pretty light.
We used a pull-off just before the trailhead to air down, which was good because the trailhead was pretty full. So we just headed right into the trail. It was green and lush right from the start, from all of the rain we'd been having.
It had been such a long time since any of us had seen the trail, but we remembered it as little more than a dirt road. But years of use had dug up the rocky sections, and little bumps had turned to fun, rocky areas. It got rockier the farther west we got.
We stopped to check out a few of the campsites, especially the ones with the big views. the day was perfect. Then we checked out the side loop that we'd never seen before. We wouldn't recommend it, but you can check out the trail information to get the details if you want to see it. Three of the six of us made it to the top, and one of us almost slid off the trail while backing down. It's a slippery hill.
After that, the trail was all fun. We stopped at the Poser Rocks, taking photos of everyone and testing our suspensions. It was about noon when we finished playing, so we decided to have lunch. It got a little overcast at that point, so the weather was perfect for sitting outside and getting to know each other.
The parking area where Button Rock Road joins Johnny Park Road was packed, and the trail was busy from that point on. it was busy in both directions, but we figured it out and didn't have to do any backing up.
We all took our own lines through the Playground, and no one had any issues. There were some really good lines through that section as well as some of the other, many rocky sections.
It was a bummer when the rocky, bumpy stuff changed to a dirt road, but then we were rewarded with the big views of Mount Meeker and Longs Peak. There was a bit of snow in all of the cracks in the mountains, still, and the weather was even cool. After such high temperatures in Denver, it was nice to cool off and see some mountain snow.
The trail ended too soon, and then we were off to our next trail.
Reports from Other Days: 6
Use the arrows or dots to flip through the previews of the other reports for Johnny Park Road. Click one of them to read more and see all of the photos from that day.
