Ultimate 4wd destination: Alpine Plateau
Alpine Plateau is a high mountain plateau at an elevation of 3.516m (11,535ft) above the sea level, located in Gunnison County, in the U.S. state of Colorado.
Tucked away in the Rocky Mountains, the road to the summit is totally unpaved. Accessibility is largely limited to the summer season. It is not generally snow-free until late June or even July in some years. Alpine Plateau can be open to wheeled vehicles as early as the end of April or as late as mid-July. Just depends on the how much snow it gets. There is active grazing in the summer by sheep and cows. Please be sure to close any livestock gates you go through. There is also active logging starting in the fall and last till March.
For the non-mountain folk the road is intimidating. The Forest service did add some crazy humps for drainage on the road and those will throw you if you don’t go slow enough. I tell people they can ride the Alpine in their regular car, they must be cautious of vehicle coming from the opposite direction. It is also a cut-off road from Montrose to Lake city. Alpine Plateau is a good start or finish to the Alpine Loop. The Alpine plateau is maintained year-round from HWY 50 to the Arrowhead Community, this includes plowing. In the winter the community grooms the Alpine Plateau from the southern border of the community all the way to HWY 149, for snowmobiling. Located in a beautiful alpine valley surrounded by aspen, spruce and fir forest, the road to the plateau is 1.07km (0.6 mile) long, starting at County Road 867.
There is a community of homes on the north end of the road and to be respectful to the Arrowhead Community when passing through. The community supports the Alpine Plateau with emergency first responders and a fire department as well as some lite road maintenance, snowplowing from HWY 50 to the community’s winter parking lot and grooming in the winter for snowmobiles to HWY 149. They are the first on scene when an emergency call comes from the Alpine Plateau.
Road suggested by: Jessica Amie (ArrowheadMountainLodge.com)
Pic: John Thomas
The red line is the Alpine Plateau, and it is suitable for drive in any vehicle. The purple trails are only suitable for off-road vehicles, as well as the trails in black.