Round Trip Distance: 4-7 miles
Difficulty: Moderate-Strenuous
Elevation: 9292 - 9923 feet
Cellphone: 0-3 bars
Time: 1 hr. 30 mins.
Trailhead: Crum Reservoir
Fee: none
Attractions: Forest, vistas
The Crum Reservoir trail is located in the Grand Mesa National Forest near Grand Junction, Colorado. The trail begins near Coon Creek on the Long Slough Road, FR# 254.1A, and travels north for about 3.5 miles to the Forest Service boundary. It appears that the trail continues past that point but it crosses private property and it is unknown whether landowners allow passage. This post only covers the first 2 miles of the trail.
Getting to the trailhead requires a high clearance vehicle and during wet conditions it should probably be a 4-wheel drive depending on what you are driving. Find your way to Jumbo Reservoir near Mesa Lakes and follow Forest Road 254 for about a half mile to the junction of FR# 254.1A. Continue for another 1.5 miles and watch for the trail marker on the north side of the road after crossing Coon Creek. You could also park at Jumbo Reservoir and begin hiking from there or ride a mountain bike or ATV. All are popular modes of transportation for this area.
The trail heads north toward the edge of the mesa. As you can see it is possible to drive the first section of the road.
For the next mile the trail crosses the open meadows of the mesa traveling past groves of aspen trees. At one point the trail passes the old Beaser Homestead which is off the road a short distance on the left.
There are several small reservoirs near the road that tend to dry up early in the year.
After about a mile and a half you will come to a fence. From this point on the trail is only open to hikers, bikers, equestrians, dirt bikes and ATVs.
The road has narrowed into a smaller double track at this point as it passes through the groves of aspens and small open areas.
After about a quarter mile the rapid descent over the edge of the mesa begins as the trail becomes quite a bit steeper.
We turned around after about 2 miles and headed back.
As you can see from looking back uphill the trail is steep but not too terribly bad.
Like a lot of trails that we hike we did Crum Reservoir because it is on the map and listed on the Forest Services website. It looks like most of its use comes from ATVs and hunters. We did notice someone camping about a hundred yards off of the trail in one of the many suitable primitive camping spots as well as a couple of bow hunters near where we turned around. If you have a vehicle that can make it over the few rough spots in the road you should find the area very enjoyable with opportunities to see deer, elk and moose. If you would like to see it for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.
