Name: Vasten Trail
Rating: 4.5

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Recommended Direction is Clockwise, east to west. However, this remains a two-way trail, be on the lookout and yield to uphill traffic!

Description

The Vasten Trail is a big jug handle, up and down trail accessed from (and south of) the Buckhorn Traverse. The eastern end is located where Buckhorn Traverse starts at the top of the Glassier OS Trail. Find the western end of the trail at a small three way intersection along Buckhorn Traverse. Although it's a two-way trail, the recommended direction is clockwise, east to west. Go with this flow of traffic to enjoy the longer descent on the west side!

The trail winds through sage fields and oak brush, offering views of the upper slopes of the Crown as well as views of Basalt Mountain and the middle of the Roaring Fork Valley down below. The west side of the trail roughly parallels and then crosses over BLM Road 8324.

Vasten now offers access to the newly (2023) built Imperial Gardens, an ultra-enjoyable singletrack route to the top of the Crown where one can choose to descend back down the east side on Upper Crown Royale or head down Undie to Father of Ginormous on the west side (ultimately ending at the Prince Creek trailhead).