Access to Huerfano

[Ed_Groves]

This topic was mentioned in the Mount Lindsey closure thread but it really wasn't explored much from what I have read. Let me know if I missed it or if it was discussed in another thread.

I plan on going to Colorado between now and the end of October to climb a few peaks, and one of the hikes would be Mt. Lindsey along with Huerfano. Looking at the maps provided on the Trinchera Blanca Ranch waiver page, the route from Lindsey to Huerfano looks like it may occasionally enter private property, especially when passing the Iron Nipple. Does anyone have information about whether I would be trespassing taking this route to Huerfano?

[Ryan987]

Their waiver is only for Lindsey and it strictly states that if you go off route (from Lindsey trail), you are trespassing.

That being said, many people summit iron nipple and beyond, so you likely will not face any charges. I didn't summit them out of principle

[Ed_Groves]

Their waiver is only for Lindsey and it strictly states that if you go off route (from Lindsey trail), you are trespassing.

I know that the waiver is for the gulley and ridge routes for Lindsey and not Huerfano. The reason for my post is to confirm if the route does indeed cross the ranch's property, and if it does, is there a way to avoid trespassing such as staying on the ridge, etc.

[Ryan987]

Their waiver is only for Lindsey and it strictly states that if you go off route (from Lindsey trail), you are trespassing.

I know that the waiver is for the gulley and ridge routes for Lindsey and not Huerfano. The reason for my post is to confirm if the route does indeed cross the ranch's property, and if it does, is there a way to avoid trespassing such as staying on the ridge, etc.

No way to summit Huerfano without trespassing. Iron nipple route is "technically" straddling the property line so you might be able summit it legally if you're dedicated to staying west on USFS property

[josephnephi]

If I remember correctly, the issue is that the boundary doesn't follow the ridge exactly, and therefore you'd have to make some interesting detours over cliff bands and other nonsense to stay off Ranch property. Further, you can see that there is ambiguity between the USGS geotif (yellow/dashed line) and the USFS shapefile (black line) as to where the boundary actually is (got to love deeds older than the US). This makes the idea of "walking the property line" not really feasible. I'm quite certain the Ranch would consider accessing Huerfano from Lindsey trespassing. I do not know if the Ranch considers accessing Huerfano from 13557 as trespassing.

As a side note, 12912 is a pretty awesome peak you should consider if in the area!

Screenshot 2025-10-11 at 9.26.26 PM.jpeg

[Ed_Groves]

Thanks for the replies, Ryan987 and Joseph. And thanks for the suggestion of 12912, Joseph. So it looks like I would have to trespass to do Huerfano from the south side. Are there any routes to grab Huerfano from the northern reaches, like using that northwest/west ridge as a route?

[josephnephi]

The north ridge from 13557 goes at class 3/3+. Here’s a trip report from a few years ago: https://stavislost.com/hikes/trail/moun ... eaks-loop/. I don’t know if the ranch considers access from the north trespassing or not.

[Ed_Groves]

Thanks for the link, Joseph!

[Scott P]

I'm leaving to go climb a peak, so don't have much time to go into a lot of detail, but I looked this up on the country, Forest Service, BLM, and land use and ownership maps. Sites such as Caltopo do show the private land boundary west of the ridgeline, but this appears to be an error. The land boundary is supposed to follow the ridge exactly. Anything showing otherwise is likely only an error.

[Jon Frohlich]

Thanks for the replies, Ryan987 and Joseph. And thanks for the suggestion of 12912, Joseph. So it looks like I would have to trespass to do Huerfano from the south side. Are there any routes to grab Huerfano from the northern reaches, like using that northwest/west ridge as a route?

We took the northeast ridge. It goes fine at Class 2. We had dogs with us. It's long and the forest goes on forever.

Slightly tongue in cheek trip report but it has pictures.

https://www.14ers.com/php14ers/triprepo ... trip=18973