Quartz Mountain - FS 5S040Y

This high alpine traverse is a tale of two forest service roads. It starts on the northern side as a rough, rocky scramble with lots of embedded granite that slows travel and requires focus. However, the trail smooths out beautifully into fast, packed decomposed granite as it drops down to Beasore Road (FS 5S07). The high elevation provides breathtaking regional views and fantastic dispersed camping opportunities. Reaching almost 9,000' in elevation, this road is under seasonal snowpack from early November through late June or even into July.