Jerry's Trip to Box Factory Park

A Trip to Box Factory Park
Contributed by Jerry Clark

Box Factory Park is one of the most sublime locations in the San Juans. Located at the foot of Mt. Sneffels, it may be the most picturesque 10 acres in Colorado. While vacationing in Ouray in September 1996 the high jeep trails received 4 to 6 inches of snow one night. What's to do the next day when you're paying good money to rent a Jeep and Engineer, Imogene, Corkscrew and Ophir are impassable? Look elsewhere!

Go south from Ridgway on Colorado 62, climbing up towards Dallas Divide. Keep an eye out for a sign reading "West Dallas Creek Access" on the east side of the road. Turn left onto the road. A few hundred yards off the main highway, you will come to a large gate to the Double RL Ranch. The RL is Ralph Lauren of clothing fame. Observe the sign which instructs you to leave the gate as you found it. If it was open, proceed. If it is closed, you may enter, but you are required to get out and close the gate behind you. For the next seven miles you will be on the Double RL Ranch.

Ralph Lauren's spread is magnificent. There are thousands of head of the best looking beef this side of Burger King roaming around. Although the grazing areas are fenced, this area is technically free range, so drive carefully; many cattle manage to find holes in the fence or wander through gates left open by the ranch hands to find their way onto the road.

The road through the ranch is in good condition and can easily be driven by 2 wheel vehicles. Enjoy the sights. Keep an eye out for the deep gorge formed by the North Fork of Dallas Creek. It's not easy to see because of the underbrush, but it's within 5 yards of the road at it's closest point. Pull off to have a look. Watch the edge. The canyon is reminiscent of the San Miguel Gorge outside of Telluride, although not as wide or as deep.

Past the canyon, the road continues to work its way uphill toward Mt. Sneffels. You will know when you leave the Double RL. The road enters a densely wooded area and immediately turns to a pair of ruts. When I drove it in September of 1996, a 4wd vehicle was a definite necessity to make it through. Large mud puddles and deep muddy ruts would have sucked in a 2wd vehicle quickly.

Along the way we encountered a small camping trailer with a llama tied up beside it. Nobody was home. We beeped at the llama, it spit, and we split. You never know what you'll find in a National Forest.

After rutting around for a few miles on this narrow road through the woods, we came to a fork at a shallow creek. We went to the right and wound up facing a small grassy clearing where the road ended about 40 yards past the fork. As we got out to take some pictures of a few aspen, I wandered around to the left in the clearing and found myself at the lower end of Box Factory Park, looking up at Mears Peak. I could not believe my eyes. We had stumbled on this area at the absolute peak of the fall aspen. I hope you enjoy the pictures. The left hand fork would have brought us directly into the Park on the road you see in the photos. Somehow it wouldn't have been the same. We never did follow the road through the Park to see exactly where it went. We just kicked around for about an hour and a half, burned a lot of film, and drove out the way we came.

The Box Factory Park Photo Gallery