Hockett Gulch

Total Miles
1.5

Elevation

2,128.89 ft

Duration

0.5 Hours

Technical Rating

3

Easy

Best Time

Fall, Summer, Spring

Trail Overview

Hockett Gulch is a short trail in the Hardscrabble trail system that mostly goes through a sagebrush desert landscape. From south to north, it steadily drops 400 feet over 1.6 miles, so it is mostly gradual with few steep sections. It is mostly a wide trail, but near the south end of the trail, there are lots of ravines and rain ruts, making half of the trail rutted out. You have to stick to the good half of the trail by staying high above the ruts. The trail intersects with Tick Alley and keeps heading towards the view of town under the power lines on a wide, whooped-out trail. Near the end, it drops down into a fun wash with tight curves, banked corners, and 15-foot-high dirt walls. It also passes intersections with the School House Rock ATV trail and the Plunge single track. You'll need to connect with one of these trails or be ready to turn around because this trail dead ends at a fenced private property. It looks like this trail will connect to town, but it doesn't. Overall it's an easy trail on smooth dirt with few loose rocks but is a key connector trail to The Plunge, which is one of the more difficult trails in the area.

Photos of Hockett Gulch

Hockett Gulch
Hockett Gulch
Hockett Gulch

Difficulty

This is an easy trail that is mostly flat. The difficulty includes rain ruts, ravines, whoops, and tight curves in a wash.

Technical Rating

3

Status Reports

There are no status reports yet for this trail.

Access Description

The Hardscrabble Trail System is located at the Gypsum exit from I-70 on the south side of the highway, off of Spring Creek Rd. There is a small staging area and several dispersed camp sites on the BLM land. Most of the trails in the area are of easy to moderate difficulty, and can probably all be ridden in a day. This trail system is seasonally open from 4/16 - 11/30, because the trails go from low desert sage brush to higher alpine, so have potential for snow in early spring and late fall. This is a great riding area for a day trip from Denver, or an afternoon ride for the locals.

Popular Trails

Go Farther

Try onX Offroad Elite for free for a week — no strings attached. Get access to thousands of off-road dirt trails and snowmobile trails across the nation. View your favorite zones in 3D. Send trails to friends. Start planning the trip of a lifetime now.