Breathtaking vista, sledding, snow shoeing, cross country skiing near Breckenridge

To a see a spectacular view of Placer Valley and experience a massive vista of several Colorado fourteen'er mountains, take a hike on the jeep road that is easily accessible from the Hoosier Pass parking lot, 1.5 miles from PVL and about 20 minutes south of Breckenridge on Rt 9.

It is Thanksgiving weekend and Lorrie and I are enjoying the PVL with our two teens and their two friends.  It snowed a couple feet last week and while most the snow has melted down in Placer Valley, there is still several feet of powdery white fluffy snow on the sides of Hoosier Pass.

The kids left early today to snow board ati Breckenridge Mountain, which as two of its four ski mountains open already.  That left Lorrie and I and our two dogs here to relax all morning at the PVL.  We both had books that had been sitting on our too-read stack for several months.  The triple Lazy-Boy recliner at the PVL is perfect for reading and sipping tea.

But you can only sit and read so long when the snowy Rocky Mountains are calling your name, so around 2pm we took off in the car with the dogs and our new snow shoes.   We drove about 1 mile on the dirt road that leads from PVL to route 9, then about 1/2 mile to the Hoosier Pass parking lot. This location is about 20 minutes south of Breckenridge, CO.

We parked in front of the large map mounted in a wood frame on the west side of the pass parking lot.  The elevation is 11,580 at the pass. There is a jeep road that leaves from the parking lot, heading west with a very gentle uphill slope.  The entire area including the jeep trail was covered in betwen 1 - 3 feet of snow.  The trail itself was hard packed from cross country skiers and sledders.

We put our snow shoes on and started up the jeep trail.  We stayed to the side of the jeep trail to enjoy the virgin powdery snow.  After less than a quarter mile we came to a massive sled-riding hill with a family enjoying the perfect sledding conditions.  There were signs that the hill was well used the last few days.

Another 200' up the jeep trail exposed a truly breathtaking view of Placer Valley.  We could see several miles of the frozen South Platte river snaking along the valley floor.  We continued maybe another 1000' on the gentle slopping jeep trail and were rewarded with a huge view of the deep valley between two fourteen'er mountains.  We could see for miles.  We had to stand there for several minutes in total silence for to take in the view.  Wow! 

We only snowshoe'd less than a mile total, but I noted that the jeep trail continued for several miles, hugging the side of the deep valley that leads up to Climax Lake.  I can only image the beauty visible along that trail.

I know this trail is perfect for snow shoeing and cross country skiing and I'm sure it is equally excellent in the summer for hiking, mountain biking and dirt biking.