Green Mountain (Stoney Pass)

Green Mountain

Green Mountain (elevation 10,421) feet is located near the southeast end of the Kenosha Range in the Pike National Forest of Colorado. Green Mountain is accessed from the west at Stoney Pass (elevation 8,562). The hike involves a little routefinding and climbing over lots of deadfall in the forest. The area is heavily forested, but there are great views of Pikes Peak from the south side of the summit, and there's some nifty scrambling opportunities on the granite near the top.
There is no trail going all the way to the summit. A good topo map is essential for this hike. There is a jeep road (FR 545) on the left hand side just north of the pass. This road heads roughly east up to an elevation of about 9000 feet. The USGS topo maps show this road continuing east toward Green Mountain Creek. This is incorrect. The road actually goes south toward the top of hill ~9080, then east onto a ~9000 ft saddle before dropping down to the southeast. The most recent Trails Illustrated Tarryall Mountains/Kenosha Pass map #105 shows the correct location of FR 545.
Follow FR 545 all the way to the ~9000 ft saddle. Leave the road when it descends to the southeast. Continue on the ridge to the east, then contour to the southeast when the slope starts to increase. Turn northeast into the first drainage you come to. This drainage may be a little hard to find, it's not very prominent. You can see point 9648 to the north. There is a lot of aspen deadfall in this drainage. The gully turns to the east, then southeast, before you climb up to a small saddle at about 9500 feet. Pikes Peak is visible to the south from this point.
From this saddle, climb to the north up to about 9800 feet. The forest will open up, offering sweeping views of Pikes Peak and the Hayman Burn to the south. There are granite outcrops here, with plenty of opportunites for some fun and easy scrambling and boulder hopping.
The granite is a pretty imposing obstacle, and the easiest way around it is to climb up and around to the east. The forest to the east is dense with a lot of dead fall, but this section is pretty short. Once past that, there's more climbing and scrambling to the rocky summit. The summit is in the trees, but there is a nice view of Windy Peak. Total hiking distance is about 2.77 miles, total elevation gain is about 1859 feet.

Getting There

Green Mountain may be accessed from Stoney Pass. From Denver, take US Hwy 285 to Bailey.
From 285 in Bailey, turn left onto Park County Rd 68, which is alternately marked as Forest Road 543 (aka Wellington Lake Rd). This road starts out as asphalt then becomes a good gravel/clay road after about a mile.
Continue on Park County Hwy 68/FR 543/Wellington Lake Rd about 5 miles SE to junction of FR 543 and FR 549. Go right (South) to stay on FR 543 (also CR 68).
After 5.6 miles, pass Wellington Lake on right – Reach FR543/FR 560 Junction at mid point of the lake's east side. Bear right onto FR 560. The road becomes rutted and rocky past the lake. There is a small stream crossing so high clearance is highly recommended.
At 2.2 miles southeast of Wellington Lake, you will pass FR 545 to the left. Stoney Pass is just past this junction. There is no sign marking Stoney Pass. There is a place to park on the right hand side at the pass.

Red Tape

FR543 and FR560 pass through areas of private property. Respect private property and National Forest regulations.

Camping

Camping is available at Stoney Pass. There are also primitive sites along FR 545 east of Stoney Pass. Fee camping is available at Wellington Lake.
Fee camping is also available at Green Mountain Campsite, on FR 543 about 1 mile northeast of Wellington Lake.

External Links

Pike National Forest

Images

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