Dice Hill (9,853), Grouse Mountain (10,362), & Elk Mountain (11,424) by Brian Schultz Sunday July 23, 2023

Dice Hill:
Roundtrip mileage: 0.62 miles from pullout south of the peak
Elevation gain: 235'
Start to finish: 40 minutes

Dice Hill is a short hike from CR 1830 just south of the peak. From Highway 9 north of Silverthorne, turn west on Miller Road (CR 10), right on CR 23, and right again on CR 1830 to a large pullout south of the peak. CR 23 is fine when it's dry but I wouldn't drive it if it's wet because the dirt road will become a muddy mess and getting stuck would not be pleasant. Although dry today, there were still deep ruts from a truck driving it recently.

I began on what looked like a trail at 9:00 AM but that was short-lived. It's a bushwhack to the summit over lots of deadfall but doesn't take long and I was on top in 15 minutes. I departed after a few minutes because the mosquitoes were voracious and was back at my truck at 9:40.

Grouse Mountain:
Roundtrip mileage: 0.60 miles from Corral Peak road
Elevation gain: 305'
Start to finish: 45 minutes

After finishing Dice Hill, I drove to Kremmling and turned east onto US 40. A left turn on CR 21 led to the very winding Corral Creek road (CR 216, also marked as CR 262) to a nice pullout east of Grouse Mountain. I began at 11:20 AM on a trail that I departed when it turned south. A crazy steep bushwhack commenced to get to the ridge above, with the need to grab tree branches to help with upward progress. I arrived on the flat top (photo 1, photo 2) at 11:40, stayed a few minutes, and on the descent once again hung onto branches to keep from slipping.

Elk Mountain:
Roundtrip mileage: 2.35 miles from gate on FR 111
Elevation gain: 840'
Start to finish: 1 hour 40 minutes

It was a short drive up the road from Grouse Mountain to FR 111. The gate was open, which I didn't expect, so I drove the road as far as I could to another gate. This is where I began at 1:00 PM. I hiked the road for a ways, looking for another road that my map showed leading to the summit but didn't spot it at first. I had to backtrack and soon found a very faint track, which became more defined as I followed it. It was easy hiking up gentle grassy slopes all the way to the summit (photo 1, photo 2). There are nice views from the large flat summit. On the drive out, I had an uneasy feeling that some official might've been checking something in the area and locked the gate behind them but fortunately it was still open.