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Point Camp

Rating: 
One-way Distance: 3.3 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
MTB Skill level:
Elevation: 8,930 - 9,296 feet
Cellphone: 0-2 bars
Time: 2 hrs.
Trailhead: Greenwood/Drop Off
Fee: none
Attractions: Forest hike, deer, elk




The Point Camp trail is located in the Grand Mesa National Forest near Grand Junction, Colorado. The east end of the trail begins off of Forest Road #110 where it travels through a forest of mostly aspen trees that is interspersed with open meadows until it comes to and end at Forest Road #112.2C near the Porter Reservoirs and the lower end of the Drop Off trail.


This post begins at the east end of the Point Camp trail. We arrived at this point by descending the Greenwood trail off of the top of the Grand Mesa for 2 miles to the Bull and Brown trail. At the end of the 1.6 mile long Bull and Brown trail we followed FR #110 for 2.6 miles to this spot. (We actually hiked a couple more miles by including an out and back for the section of the Greenwood trail that is between the start of the Bull and Brown trail and the Granby Road at Little Battlement Reservoir.)


Up to this point the route that we had been following had all been double track trails that were open to OHVS that are 50 inches or less wide except for FR #110 which is also open to jeeps. The Point Camp trail is a singletrack that is open to dirt bikes.


Being open to dirt bikes is good for a trail like this that due to its remote location doesn't see a lot of foot traffic other than during hunting season. Far from tearing up the trail the dirt bikes actually make it much easier to follow by leaving a well worn path behind.


Someone even put in a lot of effort to cut up some logs and build bridges over a few of the smaller streams.


As the trail travels west across the side of the mesa it gains a few hundred feet of elevation at a very gradual pace.


There are several meadows along the way where the trail practically disappears for short distances. At the place where this photo was taken we had to zigzag a little until we picked up the trail once again after a hundred feet or so.


 In a few places there are wooden posts to mark the way but some of them had fallen over. We stood a them back up but they are likely not to stay standing for long.


A herd of elk cut across the trail up ahead giving us something to watch for awhile. We were unable to get close enough for a good picture before they noticed us and moved off through the trees.


When this day started out there wasn't a cloud in the sky and no rain in the forecast. Experience has taught us to carry our raingear anyway and by the time we reached the last half mile or so of the Point Camp trail we were putting it on as it had started to sprinkle.


The Point Camp trail comes to an end when it meets up with Forest Road #112.2C.


Following Forest Road #112.2C to the right for a quarter mile leads to a cabin near the Porter Reservoirs and the lower end of the Drop Off trail. To get back to the Greenwood trail from here requires climbing the 2.6 mile long Drop Off trail and then making use of a 2 mile segment of the Mesa Top trail. Without the 2 mile out and back to Little Battlement Reservoir the entire loop that we did came out to 14.2 miles. By itself the Point Camp trail is a pretty nice hike and should be fine for mountain biking and excellent for horseback riding and dirt biking. We can't speak to what the roads are like to get to the west trailhead from Cedaredge so we will have to leave that to someone else. If you would like to see it for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.