Paradise Divide

Total Miles
27.2

Elevation

3,443.67 ft

Duration

2.5 Hours

Technical Rating

2

Easy

Best Time

Summer, Fall

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Paradise Divide 4

Trail Overview

Wildlife, wildflowers and stunning scenery surround you on this relaxing trail. Camping is available. Portions of the trail are closed between March 1 and June 30 depending on seasonal conditions.

Photos of Paradise Divide

Paradise Divide
Paradise Divide

Difficulty

Easy. Slate River Road is a wide graded road. As it climbs towards Paradise Divide, it becomes a narrower shelf road, but there is still plenty of room to pass. Any high-clearance vehicle can reach Schofield Pass via Gothic Road when everything has dried out. In early summer, however, Gothic Road can be blocked by snow below Emerald Lake. Call ahead to find out if road is passable.

History

Along the eastern half of this loop, you'll go through the town of Gothic. Although a significant number of buildings remain today, at one time, the town consisted of over 200 buildings with a population around 3,000. Gothic was established in 1879 as a result of a large silver strike in what is now part of the Maroon Bells- Snowmass Wilderness. Many of the buildings have been restored, and today part of the town is occupied in the summer by students and scientists of the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory

Technical Rating

2

Status Reports

Bill Craig
Jul 22, 2024
2014 Jeep Wrangler
Open
Dusty
We drove the loop clockwise. The road was dry and dusty with areas of loose rocks and a couple of shallow water crossings. The road on the east side of the mountain downhill from Schofield Pass was badly rutted from traffic during muddy weather. There was enough traffic on the one lane sections that required backing to a wide enough spot for passing. Took about three hours round trip including stops for photos and enjoying the views.
Ryan Hunt
Jul 20, 2024
2018 Chevrolet Colorado
Open
Dusty
Muddy/Wet
Direction: Counter Clockwise Vehicles: Colorado ZR2, Tacoma Off Road, Ram 1500, Outback Wilderness, Forester Difficulty level of 2 for the road felt accurate. The main obstacle is navigating other vehicles, bikers & hikers in narrow sections. The road was mostly dry & dusty with a few shallow water crossings & small muddy sections. Neither of these caused any significant loss of traction. This loop provided endless views & several welcoming locations to pull aside for photos. There were sections of exposure, but it never became too narrow, even for the full-sized truck in our group. We detoured up Schofield Pass to the parking lot before the Devil's Punchbowl waterfall. Due to the map showing increased trail difficulty for this section, it deterred most of our group from attempting the drive. The section of the trail from Emerald Lake to the parking lot (39.04075, -107.06535) is no more difficult than the Paradise Divide drive up to Emerald Lake. We parked & enjoyed a 2-mile RT hike to the falls & back.
James Dean
Jul 16, 2024
2006 Lexus LX
Open
Trail was mostly peaceful with a couple of large muddy divets which had formed due to recent rain. We took a short hike down past the Schofield pass trailhead to view a nice waterfall.
Anthony Bonanno
Jul 15, 2024
2024 Yamaha Tenere 700
Open
Great ride!! Highly reccomend it. Rode it clockwise. The climb up after Oh Be Joyfull campground requires 4wd and I am guessing a full size truck will have issues; there is a bit of washout. Once over Paradise divide there is one shallow easy water crossing and two abrupt washout that cut fully across the road. Coming down from Schofield Pass the amount of people greatly increased and the road conditions decreased. Mostly rutted out and dry mud with a few places still wet: avoidable on moto and saw some Subarus struggling.

Access Description

Take Hwy. 135 north 0.8 mile from the visitor center in Crested Butte and turn left on Slate River Road 734. To drive the loop in the opposite direction, follow signs to the Mt. Crested Butte Ski Area and continue on to Gothic and Schofield Pass. Just after the pass, turn left on F.S. 519.

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