Segment 5

Introduction
Segment 5 runs from near the Long Gulch TH to Kenosha Pass. Nearly half of this segment is in the Lost Creek Wilderness and bikes are not allowed. Segment 5 passes through the Lost Creek Wilderness from roughly the Long Gulch TH to the Rock Creek TH. Segment 5 is a great place to see wildflowers in the summer and amazing aspen in the fall.

Trailhead Access
Start - Near Long Gulch TH
From Denver - From the intersection of HWY 285 and C-470, drive about 45 miles to Kenosha Pass. Continue driving over the pass for 3 miles to a well marked left turn onto Lost Park Road. This is a grated dirt road. Follow this road for 11.5 miles to a left hand turn at FS 817. Proceed 0.2 miles up this road to a dead end that is the Long Gulch TH. The CT is still a 0.2 mile hike up the trail from the TH.
NOTE: Cars can easily drive to this TH - even the 0.2 miles up FS 817
NOTE: Only the first 2 miles of the Lost Park road are maintained in winter

Here is a photo of the turnoff for FS 817 - it is marked with a FS marker

Here are photos of the Long Gulch TH:

Alternate - Rock Creek TH
From Denver - From the intersection of HWY 285 and C-470, drive about 45 miles to Kenosha Pass. Continue driving over the pass for 3 miles to a well marked left turn onto Lost Park Road. This is a grated dirt road. Follow this road for 7.5 miles and there will be a turn to your left for the Colorado Trail/Ben Tyler Trail. Drive on this 4x4 road for 1 mile to the Rock Creek TH (on the right)
NOTE: The 1 mile you drive up to the TH off of Lost Park Road is NOT a maintained road. Its a rougher 4x4 road. In July 2009 -  I did drive my Subaru Outback up it without any issues but there are ruts and places where you need to pay attention to wheel placement.

Trail Details
The beginning of segment 5 is 0.2 miles north of the Long Gulch TH. This trail intersection is very well marked (see photo section). Starting at this intersection (10,190) hike and reach a stream at 0.5 miles. The next 2 waypoints you reach are signs at 0.25 and 0.30 miles. You are now entering the Lost Creek Wilderness. Although I don't have a waypoint for it you will reach the highpoint of segment 5 at 2.1 miles and 10,700 ft. Continue hiking through the forest and reach a nice campsite on the left side of the trail at 2.5 miles (waypoint 5). At 2.9 miles there is a stream with a nice campsite just up the trail on the right. Shortly after this campsite you will reach another small stream, the first of 5 that you will encounter over the next 2 miles. There are photos of these 5 streams in the photo section. These are marked as waypoints 8-12. At 6.28 miles in you will come across the back of a wilderness regulation sign on the left side of the trail. Continue 0.75 miles more and you will cross Rock Creek. This crossing has a few different markings which include a wilderness permit register, a signpost, a sign for Rock Creek and different trail signs. One of these signs also tells you that this is an intersection with the Ben Tyler trail. Just past the register find another CT trail sign pointing you off to the right. Just up this trail find waypoint 16, s red forest service gate. You are now less than 1/2 a mile from the Rock Creek trailhead. Reach the well marked Rock Creek TH at 7.60 miles and continue on the obvious trail. Just after you pass the Rock Creek TH you will come across a sign stating that Kenosha Pass is 6 miles away. Here is a photo of this sign:

Hiking along you will reach Johnson Gulch, the low point of segment 5 at 9,510 ft. Johnson Gulch is a half mile after leaving Rock Creek TH. This gulch is marked with a sign. Waypoint 19 is a cross-like CT sign on the left side of the trail at mile 9.50. Reaching mile 10.35 begins a series of 3 close waypoints that I marked. First reach a CT signpost, then a large rock cairn with a CT trail marker, then cross a small 4x4 road with another signpost. These are marked here as waypoints 20-22. If you watch closely through this area you will start to catch glimpses of the Lost Park RD to your left. This road leads out to HWY 285. If you are day hiking this segment from the Long Gulch TH this is most likely the road you drove in on. Reach another signpost 0.55 miles after crossing the 4x4 road. In summer the wildflowers from here to Kenosha Pass become much more abundant. At 12.20 miles get a great view of South Park to your left (west). Re enter the forest and come to a signpost and small foot bridge at 12.45 miles. Reach a trail directional marker at mile 13.43. This is kind of a pointless marker as there dont appear to be any spur trails or anything in this area that would require a directional sign to keep you on trail. I suppose it would be beneficial in winter. At 13.55 miles you will reach an interpretice sign on the left and you will also be passing under some small power lines. Just past this sign there is a nice bench to the left of the trail. This bench is marked here as waypiont 28. Also, fro this bench you are now only 0.8 miles from the end of the segment. Continue into the aspen and reach a small gate at 13.75 miles. Continue on crossing a small wooden bridge at waypoint 30, just before reaching the Kenosha Pass day use area. When you reach this day use area you will need to make a left and hike down the dirt road and cross over HWY 285 (paved) to reach the end of the segment. There are restrooms at the day use area. The end of segment 5 is just inside the day use/Kenosha Pass campground area on the north side of Kenosha Pass.