Trailhead › North Fork Reservoir

From Poncha Springs and the intersection of US285 and US50, head west approximately 6.6 miles on US 50 to the little town of Maysville and turn north onto County Road 240 which will become FR240. It's easy driving to the Angel of Shavano Campground and the crossing of the Colorado Trail on pavement. Beyond there, the road begins to degrade and ultimately becomes a slow, rocky affair. For the next 1.3 miles, maps show it as passable for passenger vehicles, but don't count on it. Best to just bring the 4WD with better clearance that can handle the rocky surface. It's 4.7 miles from the campground to the old townsite of Shavano and a trail that heads up Cyclone Creek. This could become an exit point for a climb of Grizzly or an alternate route. The USGS map amd FS2016 show an old roadbed/trail that heads up Cyclone Creek here, but the Trails Illustrated and San Isabel NF map do not show it. It has been in disuse long enough that iot's difficult to spot any of it on Google Earth. From the old townsite area of Shavano, it's another 2.25 miles to the North Fork Reservoir Campground, on the east side of the reservoir. This is a very limited facility with only about 8 sites. We are using it for the "trailhead," though the actual start to Grizzly is farther up the road if continuing on to Billings Lake. 4WD can be driven all the way to there. The start for Grizzly we suggest is about 2/3rds of the way up to Billings Lake. Drive or hike from the campground north on the road and begin the climb after crossing an intermittent stream at these coordinates: N 38° 37' 11.27" W 106° 19' 26.82".