Trail Adopters
Kate and Travis serve as both trail adopters and route historians for Rollins Pass. Join us as we actively preserve the history and legacy of Rollins Pass:
N76 TRAIL ADOPTION
Since 2016, we’ve participated as trail adopters of N76, a 1.73 mile Class 2 Trail known as Riflesight (named for the famed Riflesight Notch Trestle), on the west side of Rollins Pass as part of the Adopt-A-Trail Program (AATP) administered under the auspices of Headwaters Trails Alliance (HTA) and the United States Forest Service (USFS)—all work is done on a volunteer basis.
This section of trail, while open to bicycles and hikers, is closed to all forms of motor vehicle traffic, and parking at the trailhead is exceptionally limited (2 vehicles maximum—although 4 vehicles may be possible if a larger group is travelling together in multiple vehicles and could “block” in the first vehicle). Per Stay the Trail Colorado, Motor Vehicle Use Maps (MVUMs) are the legal trails you can recreate on—anything off that is out-of-bounds. Please abide by these limitations for the benefit of our continued access.
Additionally, per the US Forest Service, please don’t block gates, “make sure to pull fully off roads, even gated closed roads, to ensure you don’t limit service and emergency access.” A recent scenario proving the importance of not blocking gates was in July 2021 at the trailhead to N76; a lightning strike started a forest fire and emergency crews needed urgent access to this part of Rollins Pass. Thankfully, the rapid response ensured the fire was contained and extinguished at just a quarter-acre in size.
The trail skirts the edge of timberline at 10,600-10,950 feet in elevation and follows the original railroad grade—the width is perfect for walking next to a hiking partner. If you’d like to pitch in to help or would like to keep us company while discussing the 12,000 years of history on the pass, please contact us!
ROUTE HISTORIANS
We’re providing route history for Segment 4 and Segment 5 to the Indian Peaks Traverse team as they seek to utilize Rollins Pass as a crossing over the Continental Divide for their 66-mile hiking and mountain biking trail that meanders from Boulder over the Rocky Mountains and into Winter Park.
The primary purpose of our work is to inform the public.
