Bunce School Road

4/5 (60 reviews)
Allenspark, Colorado (Boulder County)
Last Updated: 07/03/2022

Trail Information

Highlights

Camping
Forest
Rock
Snow Wheeling
Located in the northern Front Range, west of Lyons, Bunce School Road is a popular trail because of its close proximity to town along with the availability of dispersed camping. While dispersed camp spots may get filled quickly in the peak summer months, there are a lot of other trails in the area to explore. This trail is also a popular place for winter wheeling as the snow does not get extremely deep between snow storms and does not present any dangerous situations such as shelf roads or off-camber drop offs. Only the last mile of trail is seasonally closed, making this off-road trail highly traveled by not only 4wd vehicles, but also small OHV users such as ATVs, Side by Sides, and motorbikes. A little history about Bunce School Road. In 1888, Joseph Henry Bunce built the first area school, which is still known as the Bunce School and still exists today.

Trail Difficulty and Assessment

Trail Navigation

Bunce School Road is an extremely busy and heavily trafficked trail nearly year-round. This trail is best traveled from north to south starting at the historic Bunce School. The first 4 miles of road surface is well packed dirt and gravel with some small sections of exposed rock. You are likely to pass through many shallow water holes if there has been any kind of moisture. The trail passes several campsites and a few trail spurs including the popular Ironclads trail, before it hits a seasonal gate at mile marker 4.14. If the seasonal gate is open, you can continue down the last mile of the trail where you will pass Park Creek and the popular T-33 Plane Crash trail. This last mile of road is the most difficult section of Bunce School Road as you make your way downhill over large, round, river rock boulders making your progression much slower than it had been up to this point. Eventually, you find yourself in Peacefully Valley where there are a couple of great campgrounds. This is a great trail to check your vehicle's capabilities, and good for new off-roading as well as experienced off roaders. Most of the trail is easy with a few moderate spots with rocks and mud holes. Overall this is a great trail that is close to town.
Extremely popular for rental OHVs such as side by sides.

Trail Reviews

4/5 (60)
Partially Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 04/02/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Trail is open to just past Waypoint 11. About a hundred yards past that, the snow is just impassable. Multiple vehicles stuck trying to traverse it. The rest of the road is very passable and a nice pleasant drive.
1300
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 01/28/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

I went snow wheeling on it today a lot of fun. The area was a mess and a lot of trash everywhere, especially near the rock climbing areas.
Open
Visited: 10/29/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Something has happened to Bunce. it is much rockier than normal with more obstacles in the first part than it used to have. I'd say this is moved up to a 3 at least in the first 2 miles or so, turned around right past the end of 105 due to some ice/snow.
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 10/22/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Fun trail. Little tougher than the trail rating, but was able to make it through with a stock JL. It would be tougher if it hadn't been so dry
2300
Open
Rated 4/5
Visited: 09/03/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Completed with a Jeep Rubicon Recon - 4H required. Several spots of the trail seem to have more damage due to washouts and this made the trail harder. Just be prepared for a very bumpy ride - Tires were aired down to 22 for this trail.

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