This alternate route to the trailhead above Cascade Creek for Grizzly Peak B and V.10 brings you in from the Purgatory/Durango Mountain Resort & Ski area. It is the approach we would recommend for climbing Grizzly Peak B. From Durango, drive north on US550 about 28 miles to the Durango Mtn. Resort and turn west on Hermosa Park Road. (From Silverton, drive south on US 550 for about 22 miles. Follow this dirt road (so it was in 2002) to where it intersects a paved road that's part of the resort and take a sharp right, go a short distance and keep going straight onto a dirt road. This is still the Hermosa Park Road #578. Proceed on a series of switchbacks that climb above, overlooking the resort. At the next intersection, a sign mentions a campground, the Hermosa Creek trail and Ebert Creek Road. Go right. In about another half mile, go right, turning onto the Relay Creek Road (CR38 or FR578) After a quarter mile, stay left. A mile and a half later, turn right for the Cascade Divide Road, FR579, instead of continuing on Relay Creek. You should now be on the correct road - FR579. (On Google Earth this is designated as the Cascade Divide Road.) In a few more miles it passes through a gate and from there it's 8 more long miles to the road terminus. The road becomes much rougher after the gate. Higher clearance is preferred. The road is slow enough to drive that biking it on a mountain bike would not be much slower. It took us around 1:20 to drive in the 15 + miles to the abrupt roads end. If these directions do not work, you could try the last edition of G & M and follow the directions for Grizzly Peak B. On the San Juan National Forest map, this clearly shows as FR579, which is shown connecting to the Colorado Trail. The same road does show on the Trails Illustrated map # 141, but only the last few miles. You would nee TI #140 to see the rest of the road from it's start at Durango Mtn. Resort. This road does not show at all for most of its last eight miles on the older USGS quad. If using our CalTopo maps, use the FS2016 version to see the entire road approach.
The road ends at these coordinates: N 37° 43' 31.26" W 107° 51' 42.46". Elevation is 11,230 ft. In the last two miles, the road goes through twpo pairs of switchbacks. You can primitive camp here or back down the road a short distance, or at other spots along the drive in. The end of the road constitutes the trailhead, but it should be noted that if you hiked up the hill to the west about 100 feet in elevation, you would intersect the Colorado Trail. The better way to get to that trail is to hike from the end of the road NW along a trail that in a couple tenths of a mile will intersect the Colorado Trail without climbing up the hill. Once northbound on the Colorado Trail, you are headed the right direction.
As noted above, it's easy to car-camp here or set up a tent nearby, or go back down to one of the switchbacks where you may find more room to park and set up a tent if desired. We also utilized a campsite near what was either Graysill Creek or EZ Creek - not sure exactly which one.