Bunce School Road/Ironclads

On Fri afternoon I went with Charles and Eric from work to go check out Bunce School Road.  Charles was our guide since he had done the trail before, and Eric was riding along.  Charles was driving his new 2009 JK Wrangler.  We are both still pretty new to our vehicles, have about the same amount of  off road experience, and our vehicles are similar in capabilities, so wheeling together is a lot of fun. 

As we drove up from Boulder it got noticeably cooler and we started seeing more and more snow along the side of the highway.

The north end of the trail starts at the historic Bunce School off of CO-7.  Most of the trail is pretty easy – we saw a stock late model Toyota 4 Runner and a mid 90s Ford F-250 coming down the trail.  There are a few rocky sections and hills to add some challenge, and on this day we had snow, water and mud as well.

A little ways down the trail we took an optional side trail to the left. This leg is almost all down hill, loosing about 340 feet of elevation down to highway 7.  It had some rocks and the only significant mud we ran into all day.  On the way back up we stopped to play on some rocks:

Shortly after that little side trip we got to the start of Ironclads trail (FS216).  Ironclads is a steep, rocky trail a bit more difficult than Bunce School Road. 

 

 

We got right to the first obstacle, a set of rocky steps. There is a bypass on the left side but neither of us took it.

As we continued on up the snow started getting deeper and drifting across the trail plus the trail started getting steeper.  We decided to turn around at the Y, just before the steep climb with with the 2 foot rock ledge.  That obstacle plus the deep snow and steep incline looked like it was a little bit beyond our current experience level.

On the way back down we ran into a park ranger who was curious how far up we had made it.  She actually gets paid to go four wheeling every day, traveling the trails to see if anyone is in trouble or breaking the rules.  What a life!

As we continued down Bunce School Road, the snow started to get deeper again, and the puddles on the trail started getting bigger and deeper.  Eventually the snow started drifting across the trail again, and we started slipping and sliding.  Since it was getting later in the afternoon and we had a ways to go we decided to turn around and head back.

Overall, Bunce School Road and Ironclads are a blast.  It's too bad we had a huge snow storm the week before, but we'll be back later in the summer when the snow's all melted and we can hit the entire trail.

See all of the pictures: Photo Gallery

See all of the movies: Video Gallery

Read the TrailDamage.com description of Bunce School Road: TrailDamage.com

Read the TrailDamage.com description of Ironclads: TrailDamage.com