Ruby Jewel Road

Ruby Jewel Road is the working thread that ties the park roads of State Forest State Park to the start of the Ruby Jewel Trail. It's a road, not a footpath — COTREX marks it as a mix of dirt track and rough forest road, about 3.3 miles from the lower junction up to where the trail takes over — and it climbs steadily northeast through spruce and lodgepole in the northeast corner of the park, gaining ground the whole way toward the Medicine Bow high country. You may share it with high-clearance and 4WD vehicles, so keep an ear out and step aside on the blind corners.

For walkers and bikepackers it earns its keep as a connector: park lower down and make the road part of the day, or drive as far as your rig and nerves allow and stitch it straight into the 1.3-mile Ruby Jewel Trail at the top, where the footpath climbs the last stretch into the glacial cirque below Clark Peak. Either way it's high, quiet country — a Colorado State Parks pass is required to enter, and it's worth checking current road conditions with State Forest State Park before you commit to the drive up.

Trail Facts

Getting There

Ruby Jewel Road is in the northeast corner of State Forest State Park, off CO-14 west of Cameron Pass near Gould. From the park's interior roads, pick up Ruby Jewel Road at its lower junction and follow it northeast; it's a rough, high-clearance/4WD route that ends at the Ruby Jewel Trailhead. A Colorado State Parks pass is required. Confirm the junctions on the map and check current road conditions with the park before heading up.

Know Before You Go

• It's a road, not a trail. COTREX lists it as dirt track and rough forest road open to motor vehicles — expect high-clearance and 4WD traffic and share it courteously on foot or by bike.
• Walkable connector. Roughly 3.3 miles from the lower junction to the trailhead, it links the park roads to the Ruby Jewel Trail — good for stitching a longer day or parking low and walking up.
• State park rules apply. This is inside State Forest State Park — a Colorado State Parks pass is required, and the park, not the Forest Service, manages the road.
• Check conditions first. It's a rough high-country route; check current road and trail conditions with State Forest State Park before you drive or walk up.