Eagle County 4×4 is hosting our 2nd annual group camping weekend at Rancho del Rio for the nights of August 16 & 17, 2024. Plan on arriving Friday afternoon or evening. We’ve reserved the large group campsite right along the river including the covered picnic area. Campfires will be allowed, subject to local fire restrictions at the time. The registration fee (per person) includes riverfront camping, usage of the resort facilities (boat launch, picnic pavilion, etc), basic grillables on Friday evening if you’re there on time, daily breakfast, and a Saturday night cookout. Please plan out your fuel and supply needs. Northern Eagle County is a remote area. The nearest gas stations and grocery stores are in Kremmling, Eagle, and Edwards (all about 35 minutes drive). Rancho del Rio offers a small convenience store and limited regular gasoline. Expect isolated resort selection and prices. If your daily travels take you near town, it’s worth the detour. A club membership (associate or voting) will be required by the time of the event. What to bring:
camping gear
personal food and drink
GMRS radio for group communication
any recreation equipment (fishing, rafting, kayaking, etc)
extra fuel if you’re wheeling and not planning to visit town!
Optional activities:
We’ll self-organize trail runs in the area for Saturday and Sunday once we see who is attending. We’ll likely do Crescent and Mackinaw Lakes on Saturday and Sheephorn on Sunday.
Saturday night after dinner there will be live music by Ryan Balthrope & Slide Bayou.
Use of the resort property, including the boat ramp, is included.
Registration for this event requires a current club membership. For details on the property, contact Rancho del Rio directly. For club questions, contact info@eaglecounty4x4.org Location: Rancho Del Rio, 4199 Trough Road, Bond, CO 80423 Tentative Agenda:
Friday:
3pm or after arrival
6pm light the grill for an informal dinner
Saturday
10am depart Ranch del Rio for Crescent and Mackinaw Lakes
6pm dinner
Sunset (~8pm) live music by Ryan Balthrope & Slide Bayou
Saturday, July 13 the club replaced the trail sign on Old Fulford Rd. It now acknowledges that the club has officially adopted the trail. The previous trail sign was installed in 1988, so it was in desperate need of replacement. The new sign more clearly warns that it is a high clearance 4×4 trail, as many cross-over owners were attempting it.
Before and after:
Our upcoming events calendar:
Flat Tops Overlanding 8/9-11
Campout on the Colorado 8/16-18
Moab 8/30 – 9/1
As always the most up-to-date event details are on the Facebook group.
The club has been included on the upcoming Wearyman Creek Watershed Health Improvement Project. We’ll continue to attend stakeholder meetings and advocate for the best interests of our user base. Please respond to the public stakeholder survey to ensure your voice is heard.
The club meeting Tuesday, January 2, 2024 for our annual meeting. We elected a new board and began event planning for 2024. Please save the dates for the following events:
May 29 – June 2: Rock Junction in Grand Junction hosted by Grand Mesa Jeep Club June 8: Old Fulford trail maintenance July 19 – 21: Campout along the Colorado at Rancho del Rio August 9 – 11: Flat Tops Overlanding August 30 – September 2: Labor Day in Moab hosted by Red Rock 4 Wheelers
There will be plenty more events to come. This is just a preliminary list of anchor events that you’ll hear a lot more about in the coming months.
As always you can stay up to date on the Facebook group.
The club met Tuesday, October 10, 2023 at the Avon library.
We have tentatively have scheduled a ride-along with USFS staff to review this year’s work on Old Fulford Rd, and to discuss potential work for next year. This ride-along will be subject to any snow this week.
Starting next year we will likely be requiring an active club membership to participate in club trail rides. Those interested in learning more about the club will be welcome on at least one trail run as a guest before being required to join as a member. We’ll be reviewing this requirement as a future meeting over the winter.
We will be discussing dues for next year at our next meeting. Current dues are $100 for a voting member, and $50 for an associate member. These are subject to change for next year based on a membership vote.
If you are voting member, you should have access to the voting members only Facebook page. That page is used to discuss official club business. Please contact a board member if you need to be added.
Potential new trips discussed for next year: – Moab – San Juans – Benson Cabin
Effective today, all of the trail guides on the website will require you to log into your account with an active membership.
Join us for another Fall color run in our backyard! Come grab fuel first before meeting at the Eagle Visitor Center. Trails are TBD and will be set in stone after our monthly meeting.
If you are interested in putting input on what trail we do for this event please come to our monthly meeting at the Avon Libary Tuesday, August 29th at 6 pm. Hope to see you there!
Thanks to everyone who came to our Campout and joined on the trail rides. As a recap of trail activity this weekend:
1) The club cleared brush back from the edge of Wearyman on Wednesday and opened the gate on Friday afternoon. We finished the run out Ptarmigan Pass which is now clear for the season.
2) Saturday we participated in the Gypsum Daze parade, and completed Trail Gulch to Agnew Gulch to the Big McClosky.
3) Sunday we ran the Sheephorn loop. We attempted to head up to McCord Pass to run Piney Ridge, but the ascent to the pass is block by snow and debris in two spots in the avalanche chute. It’s going to need more time.
We also received a report that the drift on the Lake County side of Hagerman Pass is still several feet deep. That drift usually doesn’t melt until August, so it’s going to be some time still. In the past the Ivanhoe water bandits have cleared the road. Based on our chat with them a couple months ago, that is a thing of the past. There is an illegal bypass through the tundra that has formed around the drift. Please do not use it. This is something that we are going to have to address in coordination with Two Mile High Off-Road Club.
We have a meeting Thursday, 7/20, 6pm at the Eagle library. We’ll put some more trail runs on the schedule as we go. Our next organized event in August 5-6 overlap trip across the Flat Tops.
Eagle County 4×4 will be organizing a volunteer day for the USFS Eagle – Holy Cross Ranger District. The event starts at 10am on Wednesday, July 12 at the start of Wearyman Rd off of Shrine Pass Rd. For those who want to caravan, we will meet at 9:30am at the Holy Cross Ranger Station.
Gloves at a minimum are required. Please bring any landscaping tools and equipment that we may need. The goal is to perform drainage work and clear back brush in coordination with Forest Service staff on site.
Please note that the road does not open to the public until July 15. This will be a trail cleanup and maintenance event to prepare for the public opening.
We’ll be participating the Gypsum Daze Parade. Float preparation is June 23 at Bryan’s house. See the events page for those details. Parade line-up is 8:15am at Ridley’s.
