Displaying items by tag: Camping

Friday, 05 February 2010 02:50

Flat Tops

The Flat Tops are an elevated plateau resting in a large area just north of the I-70 corridor east of Grand Junction.  This range is a massive block of rock pushed upward and planed level, its surface punctured here and there with rare peaks rising a thousand feet above the high plateau. (Quotation from A Hiking and Camping Guide to the Flat Tops Wilderness Area - Al Marlowe, Author)

The area comprises the second largest wilderness area of Colorado, the Flat Tops Wilderness Area. This wilderness are is 235,000 acres large and ranges between 7,600 ft. and 12,994 ft. in elevation. There are 160 miles of trails in this region and wonderful views of the surrounding plateau can be found atop the rare summits here. Due to the lack of 14,000 or 13,000 foot summits, this area offers wonderful solitude for summit climbers, especially on some of the lesser known summits. Some of the more popular summits in this area are Flat Top Mountain and Pyramid Peak.

Friday, 05 February 2010 04:14

Williams Fork Mountains

Disected by the Gore Range, the Williams Fork Mountains are split into two sub-areas - east and west. The eastern part of this mountain range comprises the western edge of the Front Range, just north and west of the Eisenhower Tunnel and the western part of this mountain range is just north of the Flat Tops. The east Williams Fork Mountains are just west of the Vasquez Mountains and consist mostly of very gentle slopes and easy summits. Due to their proximity to the rugged Gore Range and because of the fact that there are very few high summits in this range, spectacular views and solitude are not uncommon here.