Lenado Trailhead
ELEVATION: 8,640 feet
HUTSKI.COM FREE TOPO MAP: Lenado
GPS: 348 792 E, 43 45 474 N
HUTS ACCESSED: Margy's, McNamara
USGS 7.5 min map: Aspen
10th Mountain Huts map: Smuggler Mountain
From Glenwood Springs and Interstate Highway 70, travel east on Hwy 82 approximately 32 miles and turn off on Smith Way. If you're starting from Aspen, drive 8 miles downvalley (toward Glenwood Springs) to Smith Way. Note the Smith Way intersection is located .8 mile west of the turnoff for Snowmass Village/Snowmass Ski Area.
Drive north on Smith Way for .5 mile, cross a bridge over the Roaring Fork River, and continue to a 3-way intersection just past the bridge. Turn left (north) at Upper River Road, (CR 17) and travel north for 1.5 miles to the sharp right turn (east) onto the Woody Creek Road (CR 18), also known as the "Lenado Road". Proceed approximately 8.4 miles to Lenado, a group of homes and various mining and logging ruins. Continue through Lenado .4 miles to the marked 10th Mountain winter hut parking area on your right. A sign, and a chain with a lock, mark the parking area. The combination for the lock on the chain is the same as the hut combination.
Depending on snowplowing, you may be able to driver farther up the road. If so, feel free to drop off people and gear, but park at the designated 10th Mountain parking area unless it happens to be a season or time of year with very little snow. In that case, if you drive quite some distance up the road simply park at any pullout that looks appropriate.
The Woody Creek Road begins as a paved road then soon becomes narrow and unpaved. It is fine for 2-wheel drive in good conditions, but it is one of the last roads the county plows and may have areas of slick mud or ice, so beware after storms. In the summer you can drive the road past the winter closure. It switchbacks about 5 miles to 10,910 feet, just below the summit of Larkspur Mountain: a good starting place for hikes and bike rides.
Spruce Creek trailhead is a short distance farther along the road from 10th Mountain Huts parking. It's indicated by an obvious signboard.
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