This can be done in a day if you are in very good shape and are acclimated to the high altitude of about 10,000 feet in elevation. We would recommend doing this as a backpack in two days with an overnight at Rock Creek.
We started our backpack from the Long Gulch Trailhead located off US Highway 285 in the town of Jefferson. Turn onto County Road 56 (Lost Park Road) and travel about 11 miles to the trailhead on your left. The road is a dirt road with a washboard surface that is passable with smaller cars but is rough. The short stretch from County Road 56 to the Long Gulch parking lot has had water run-off damage and smaller vehicles without all-wheel drive may have difficulties passing. Segment 5 of the Colorado Trail goes from the Long Gulch Trailhead to the Kenosha Pass Trailhead which is 14 miles from point to point.
The first four miles have excellent sources of water to fill up water bottles with several creek crossings. See our Instagram Reels @ https://www.instagram.com/p/ChlT_IPgzIs/ and https://www.instagram.com/p/Chn5KOdj9e3/
The first four miles have fairly easy grades, with slight ups and downs through mostly forested areas, which can help you stay cool on a hot day. During the first couple of miles, you see a pinnacle of rock jutting through the forest canopy. It is a nice view to gaze upon while walking along the path.
Right around four miles into the trail the views start to open up with stands of Aspen trees on either side of the trail. The view in the photo below is looking back behind you as you, don’t forget to do this from time to time as you may miss some good views. Also to the right of the trail, you will see rock outcroppings where we saw bighorn sheep at the tops of these rocks.
In another mile or so, the views ahead of you start opening up to the South Park area of Colorado and are quite expansive and impressive.
Finally, you will descend slightly to Rock Creek and cross the Creek where you will come to a T intersection. You will make a left to continue on Colorado Segment 5. The trail to the right brings you up the Ben Tyler Trail which makes its way back to US 285 in eleven miles. There are several good camping sites here at this intersection, some are more slightly sloped than others. There would be more sites if it was not for the cow patties occupying some treed areas that would have made ideal tent sites. The cows have free range here which is why you may encounter this situation. It is nice that the Rock Creek water source is so close by and makes for easy refilling of water bottles and getting ready for evening cooking. We meet several other friendly hikers while camping overnight here.
in the morning after having breakfast and packing up your tent you will start up the trail towards the Rock Creek/South Ben Tyler Trailhead Parking lot in just over a mile. Then in another 3/4 of a mile, you reach Johnson Gulch. This is another possible water source and just up a short distance from here looks like a nice spot for camping. This can be an alternative to Rock Creek if it is too crowded and/or you had the extra time to go a little further.
A long steady climb now begins and although not very steep, it can become a problem if it is a hot day as there is very little sun protection. There are a lot of open grassy fields and few trees. It is another 4 miles or so before you start making a descent to Kenosha Pass.
Views start to open up to the South Park area a few miles past Johnson Gulch and you can see Route County Road 56 far below you.
You start to get excellent views of the South Park grasslands when you are a mile or two from Kenosha Pass. South Park is a grassland flat formed by the Mosquito and Park Mountain Ranges of the Rocky Mountains. It is crazy to think that this low-lying area is at an elevation of 9,000 to 10,000 feet.
The last mile and a half descends into stands of Aspen Trees and brings you into the Kenosha East Campground parking lot. There are pit toilets here in this parking lot. The Colorado Trail crosses US Highway 285 and is where Segment 6 begins just to the left of the Kenosha Campground entrance. This campground has a pit toilet and potable water. This could be a viable option for night three if continuing onto Segment 6.
