Reaching Frosty's Park -From downtown, take Nevada all the way South until you get to Lake Drive (these directions are approximate, use Google maps for better precision). Take Lake Drive until you reach the circle right in front of the Broadmoor, then exit the circle left. Take this road to the end. It goes around a golf course. At the end, turn right, heading into the hills. You will reach an intersection and Old Stage Road is there, basically straight through the intersection.
Hooray! Old Stage Road is open! It has been closed for 2 years or so due to flooding, so now lots of access to the backcountry can be had!!
Stay on Old Stage Road for a long, long time. The pavement will turn to dirt at a hairpin with a sign for Bear Trap Ranch, and then you go through a gate. (This gate has been where Old Stage Road was closed since I've been here -last year). There are not many landmarks on Old Stage Road so keep the faith, worst case scenario you will reach the next landmark and realize you passed wherever you were going. The Atlas mentions Emerald Valley Ranch but I don't know if this exists anymore, it may have changed into something like "The Stables at Broadmoor" -there is a sign for that. There is also a sign for some sort of rest stop -beer, etc. -yet to be investigated. You will pass a sign about the land regulations (see photo below). You will pass Bear Trap Ranch. You will pass lots of private residences. You will pass a sign that says you need a state license to drive any further (??) Unless they fix it soon, you will pass a post for a road that I spent a long time thinking was 379 -hunters have shot it to threads -fuckers. Its not it. Finally, you will come to a relatively clear area with a sign for Road 379 (doesn't say anything about Frosty's Park though -see below). There is ample parking across the street. Its about 10 miles in.
Old Stage Road will probably teach anyone who doesn't have a jeep or serious truck that they cannot drive up Road 379. I was thinking about trying it, but Old Stage Road with its washboards and potholes gave me enough of a bedunk a dunk jostle that I was ready to park and walk up Road 379. If you have a jeep or a truck though, driving up this road will probably make you feel cool and will shave off however long the hike up is and save you time to explore from Frosty's Park.
Whether you are driving or hiking, it will be pretty clear when you get to Frosty's Park. It is a cleared out area, with a private fenced in area on the right and an open area where lots of camping can be had on the right. When I was up there, hunters had made a rude mess of the place -leaving remnants of camping, fire pits, tons of shell casings, and lots of targets practiced on and left behind. Shame! Clean up after yourselves! They also took the liberty to shoot out almost every sign in the area. Seriously, who are these people?
Stats/Trail - I hiked up 379 to Frosty's Park. This is about 3 miles roundtrip and took me about an hour one way. Apparently, there is access to the Mount Rosa Trail, or Road 672, from somewhere before or in Frosty's Park (one website said its an opening in a gate for private land). I could not find it. I hiked past Frosty's Park to an intersection for Road 701 (the Ring the Peak Trail in one direction), the Ring the Peak Trail in the other direction, and Road 672 which leads to the Mount Rosa Trail. However, all options were snowed over, so I turned around. So based on which option you choose, you can explore Frosty's Park by itself in a couple of hours (factor in about an hour drive up Old Stage Road in addition, however), or if you hike any of the trails out of Frosty's Park, you're looking at more like a day-long ish excursion.
Other options from this route -Of course, there are many options off Old Stage Road. Once you get to Road 672 and start to hike/drive up, there are a number of options:
1) You will pass a trail off to the right a bit of the way up -this is road/trail 626 which can be seen on the Atlas. Not sure what is up there.
2) Past Frosty's Park at the intersection mentioned above, you can hike north on the Ring the Peak Trail/701. This will eventually lead to the top of the Seven Bridges Trail which I thought would be cool for full circle purposes. The Atlas also mentions passing Nelson's Camp, not sure what this is but I want to check it out one day. Also, see red iron sign photo below for more options in this direction.
3) At this same intersection, you can take the 672 trail to Nelson's Trail (who is this Nelson character?) which splits off in one direction towards Mt. Rosa (this was my goal but it was snowed over -Mount Rosa comes with high recommendations!) or you can continue and eventually reach the top of St. Mary's Falls.
4) You can also take the Ring the Peak Trail heading south (uphill), to what was at the time the Atlas was published (2009) the southernmost end of the Ring the Peak Trail (it was still a project in action at this time -not sure if it's finished yet). This would be cool because it is another point on the Atlas -38 -and looks like it might overlook some lakes/reseviors. It also passes some "high mountain parks of great beauty and isolation." You might be able to reach Almagre Mountain from this way as well (see map.)
5) See the paragraph on the Atlas for 37/38 for more options.
Notes - I was pretty disappointed about the hunter remnants, but otherwise this area is beautiful. It holds a special place for me because it was where I was introduced to Colorado when I was a mere 20 years old -12 years ago. So it was awesome and haunting to be back there and think about my life. Mount Rosa is a favorite hike of a very well experienced outdoorsman, hiker, and traveler. I did hear some people shooting target practice, and so was worried for a minute that I forgot to check hunting season and Wiley and I were going to get shot. But then the only person I saw up there -a handsome looking man in a Jeep with his friend, said it wasn't hunting season and it was just some rednecks practicing. So if hearing gunshots is not your thing, maybe this place shouldn't be top of your list but really it wasn't a big deal, and was worth it for me.
This is what the view looked like -360 from the south/uphill Ring the Peak Trail option. I think you can kind of see the cliffs near where the Gold Camp Road 4-Way/St. Mary's Fall/Seven Bridges trailheads are
This was the snow condition of the north/701 Ring the Peak Trail option. Looks like noone has been up there all winter (those are Wiley's footprints), but maybe because Old Stage Road has been closed.
This sign was right off the Ring the Peak north/701 option. Hard to see -it says:
1) North Cheyenne Creek -1 mile?
2) Jones Park -3.2 miles
3) Deer Park -some miles in the other direction (this would be the Ring the Peak north/uphill option, Deer Park must be one of the high mountain parks of great beauty and isolation) (you can also see Deer Park on the Atlas Map)
4) Rosemont -some miles in other direction
Keep in mind that this intersection is about 2 miles hiking up road 379 from Old Stage Road, which took me about an hour, so add this on to your trip if you plan to walk up 379 as well. If you have a jeep or truck, you can just drive right to this intersection.
This map was a bit scary (see below) because a lot of the trails are closed right now. However, this section is where you will be, and it is all open and far away from the closed stuff so don't worry. Also a good map to look for other trail options around this area.
There he is -the one soul I saw this whole time. Jeep fanatics come on down!
Here is the marker for trail 626, which will be a bit up as you start to walk up 379 but before you reach Frosty's Park. See the Atlas map for options up this way.
There was this random sign post about not driving motor vehicles right before you reach the T-shaped private land (see Atlas map) that I thought might be the first option for 672/Mount Rosa trail. I am still not sure, but for this point, if this is a trail its covered in snow.
The beautiful and ellusive Mount Rosa.
This is what the upper part of the 672/Mount Rosa trail looked like.
You can see the trail head for 672 and 701/Ring the Peak north option are right next to each other.
672/Mount Rosa trailhead currently snowed over
Here's the trailhead for 701/Ring the Peak north option. This is right where that red iron sign above was located. Also notice the green Ring the Peak Sign post behind it.
Here is a full view of the map above. Mount Rosa/Frosty'sPark is on the bottom. Also, all this is in the legendary Teller County! Good reference map for the area.
Cryptic closure notice.
One sign about shooting that happened not to be shot through. I gave a ride to a random stranger lady with two kids who's truck broke down on Old Stage Road. She says she always ignores these signs and loves to shoot up trees to take out her aggression. Ok.