Moody Hill Crystal Mountain Trail Colorado
RATING: 5-7
DIRECTIONS To Moody Hill Crystal Mountain Trails:
From Ft. Collins, CO take Hwy 14 west through Laporte. Look for signs for Rist Canyon Rd/52E. Take this west to Stove Prairie Road. Take Stove Prairie Road south a little over 4 miles and look for 44H Road heading west. 44H Road will take you to Moody Hill/Crystal Mountain (FR 513 & FR 132) as well as Ballard Road (FR 129).
On October 18, 2003 a few members of Mile High Jeep Club headed out to find and enjoy Moody Hill and Crystal Mountain. After taking a slight detour, we did a 180-degree turn and were able to find our way to the trailhead. There is a nice pull off that can easily accommodate a half a dozen vehicles to air down and disconnect. After bringing our tires down to a comfortable level and disconnecting our sway bars we started up Moody Hill and worked our way to Crystal Mountain. Moody Hill starts out with a slight incline and a few switchbacks with a couple of rocky areas but nothing a stock 4x4 can’t handle. This part of the trail was relatively relaxing and provided a nice sight seeing tour through some woods and open space.
The interesting and more difficult sections of the trail lay ahead. The first part of Crystal Mountain had us weaving our way back and forth through the woods. As we approached the first obstacle we were confronted with large moguls that would truly test our suspension.
None of our vehicles had a problem navigating this section of the trail but it sure provided some laughs. By stopping in just the right spot, one could tip a Jeep TJ on two wheels with simply the touch of a hand. As we moved on we came to the next obstacle, which had a rather formidable mountain of rock. Luckily there was plenty of room and everyone decided to go ahead and take a shot at climbing it, leaving the bypass unused.
At the top we met several gentlemen who stayed to watch us navigate the rock hillside. One by one we climbed the mountain. The first one to take the challenge was Mark and Sherri in their gold Rubicon. With lockers on they had no problem navigating to the top and made quite an impression on those watching. Next I climbed it with my TJ. Except for a few scrapes and some slipping on the rock face, this obstacle showed it could be conquered. Last to come up was Kurt in his 4 Runner. Although it was well built the lack of lower gears provided a little of a challenge on the steep rocky grade, but all made it up fine. Kurt took matters one step further by trying to navigate the rocks in reverse. A short distance up the trail we found a small place to pull over and decided to stop for lunch allowing some other off roaders to pass. While we took a break, Kurt took the opportunity to straighten out the sheet metal of his truck that was bent while trying to attempt the previous obstacle backwards. On the way up we went through a couple of rocky sections. However, with strategically placed tires we were able to climb them without much of an incident. Due to the fact that Crystal Mountain was not a loop we knew that we would have to return the way we came and these same obstacles would present an interesting challenge on our way down. As we wound around the mountain and through the trees we came to the last obstacle before we would be able to reach the top.
It was a long relatively wide section of the trail and had numerous rocks and loose dirt. This made the climb difficult, especially without lockers, but was still conquered by all. ;At the top, the view was beautiful; the mountaintop was covered in white quartz and if one climbed to the ledge the entire foothills could be seen. After several minutes of enjoying the view we began to plot our trip back down. It sure looked a lot easier coming up, going down looked liked it was going to be a little more of a challenge.
We started back down the mountain and we were really looking forward to the challenges that lay ahead. The rocky sections we came up proved to be quite a challenge as we descended. The only vehicle that made it down this rocky section with out scrapping was the 4 Runner.
As we left the last obstacle Mark had a slight problem making it through the narrow section and managed to put a few scrapes in his rim. Luckily no more damage was done and we all continued to the end without any more mishaps.
;
;
This was a nicely challenging trail and was very enjoyable for both sightseers and avid off roaders. There are bypasses for every obstacle and in fact we passed a stock Land Rover that was able to make it most of the way to the top. For individuals who are looking for a challenging but enjoyable scenic drive I would highly recommend Moody Hill/Crystal Mountain.