Illinois Gulch, CO. Trail Report and pics! 5-31-08

[REDLYNER]

Lol.. I just realized I have 5 trip reports on the 1st page of the photo section. Busy Spring!

The wife and I decided it was too pretty to stay inside! So we loaded up the dogs, water, and GPS and headed off for the mountains. Man was it a great trail. This was our 13th trail run of 2008 and probably one of the best.

Just took a little over an hour to get to the trail head then like 10 minutes to get to the main obstacle- Moab Hill. There is a huge turn around at the top and the bottom of the hill, so plenty of space to play. There's not really an easy line, but plenty of medium to difficult lines to play on. We were only on the trail for two and a half hours, with over an hour spent playing on Moab Hill.

The Hummer's wheel base, even on 35"s, still scratched all of its skid plates. This hill definitely caters to SWB rigs. The TJ did take some hits though on the front stinger and rear diff. We took the jeep up Moab Hill 6 times and the H3 up 4 times. Man did it make me miss Moab.

Here are some of the pics we snapped-

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-12/915981/jhi.JPG

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-12/915981/jhi4.JPG

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-12/915981/jhi6.JPG

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-12/915981/jhi2.JPG

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-12/915981/jhi5.JPG

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-12/915981/jhi3.JPG

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-12/915981/jhi8.JPG

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-12/915981/jhi11.JPG

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-12/915981/jhi9.JPG

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2004-12/915981/jhi12.JPG

[Dave92270]

rough hill - looks very challenging, nice pics!:perfect10s:

[ChiHummer3]

Great pics! Looks like a blast!

[frenzy1]

awesome !!!:perfect10s:

[06-H3]

Great looking pics.

I was really excited to see the subject topic as I first thought it was some off-roading in Illinois. The wife and I are moving over there in a couple months and I had hoped this was going to give something to look forward to after the move.

[timgco]

Where the hell is that trail? ...looks like fun.

I've been on Spring Creek this year so far....that's it. STill snow in teh rock garden and you do need a winch to get up to that spot. There is still drifts up there 6 ft high.

[REDLYNER]

Where the hell is that trail? ...looks like fun.

I've been on Spring Creek this year so far....that's it. STill snow in teh rock garden and you do need a winch to get up to that spot. There is still drifts up there 6 ft high.

Were you with the CO4x4 group? I was thinking about taking the jeep up this weekend.

The trail is part of the Rampart Range trail system.

Check this out for directions:

http://www.traildamage.com/trails/index.php?id=222

[Agriv8r]

looks like great care was taken to not give a "chop" opportunity...great pics though....

[BlueTJCO]

Thats a fun trail. Try winding stairs next time, you will like it!