Rusts Sawmill LoopTrail

The Rusts Sawmill Loop is an unofficial route that uses segments of the Boggy Draw Trail System in the San Juan National Forest just west of Dolores in southwest Colorado. It goes past the Rusts Sawmill Historic Site.I started at Forest Road 257 which is at the Bean Canyon hairpin turn on paved Forest Road 526. The lengthy Bean Canyon Trail crosses Forest Road 257 about 100 yards down the road.

I turned right or south and followed the Bean Canyon Trail up the scenic side canyon for about 20 minutes until the junction with the Boggy Draw ATV Trail, then left or north.

The forest up the side canyon has a lot of aspens at the bottom with Ponderosa Pine on the canyon sides.

The Boggy Draw ATV Trail follows a main power line in this area. I followed this route north, climbing out of the side canyon and looping back toward Bean Canyon.
The ATV Trail seems to split at the rim of Bean Canyon. The more heavily traveled choice seems to plunge roughly straight over the side. The alternate to the right is more of an easy switchback route that veers away from the power line, then turns back towards it.

The forest here is Ponderosa with Gambel Oak. The alternates rejoin near the junction with Road 257.

Turning left or west on Forest Road 257 leads back to the start of the loop, about a mile away. On the left is the Rusts Sawmill Site.
The interpretive sign is in ruins as is the old sawmill site. This was the first major sawmill and railroad to the western part of the forest and operated in 1905-06. Rust had his own four mile rail line connecting to the main line in Dolores.

It took me about 1:10 to walk this loop of about 3 miles.

Boggy Draw Trail

The Boggy Draw Trail is the central loop of the Boggy Draw Trail System near Dolores in southwest Colorado.

There are three other trails that connect to the Boggy Draw Trail plus a major ATV trail. The trailhead is 3 miles west of Dolores, CO and there are signs pointing it out.

Starting at the main trail head at the beginning of Forest Road 527, at the end of County Road W, and moving clockwise, the trail crosses the ATV trail that follows a major power line and it has two connections with the Bean Canyon Trail in the first 0:30 minutes of hiking. The second Bean Canyon connection is near a large meadow.

The trail is mostly deep Ponderosa Pine Forest with several constructed ponds and meadow areas. After about 1:40 hours of hiking, the trail crosses the main forest road 527.

The segment to the east of Forest Road 527 continues as a deep forest trail with a few meadows. Some of the meadows have groves of very young trees. After another 0:45 minutes the junction with the Maverick's Trail arrives. The trail junctions with the Italian Canyon Trail are off of the Maverick's Trail.

There are no ponds along this segment until near the main trailhead there is a large rock outcrop with a scenic pond. The total walking time for me on the Boggy Draw Trail was about 3:45 hours for about 8.5 miles.

Bean Canyon Trail at Boggy Draw

The Bean Canyon Trail is a major loop of about 16 miles off of the Boggy Draw Trail system in the San Juan National Forest about 3 miles west of Dolores in southwest Colorado.
  Starting at the main trail head of the Boggy Draw Trail it is about 10 minutes to the first junction, a left turn, with the Bean Canyon Trail. This segment crosses the ATV trail under the power lines twice and the terrain is park like open Ponderosa Pine forest.

In another 20 minutes there is a crossing of paved forest road 526. In addition to this crossing there are four other places to access the trail besides the main trail head.

From the road 526 crossing the route descends south into Bean Canyon and follows the floor. There was a little bit of water flow at the bottom and the canyon was deep, with sandstone rims high above.

This looked like a difficult section for biking. As the trail descended there was a transition from the Ponderosa Pine forest to Pinon Pine and Juniper on the canyon walls, but with some Aspens appearing at the bottom.

After 1 hour on this segment I came within view of the House Creek paved road 528. There is a rough forest road intersecting the trail near the paved road. This access point is 3.5 miles west from the junction of Forest Roads 528 and 526.

From the point where House Creek Road 528 is visible at the bottom of Bean Canyon, the trail crosses the creek and then rose moving north toward the junction of paved Forest Road 526 and 528. The forest changes back from Pinon Juniper to Ponderosa pine as you climb.


There are more views along this segment than the others, some views back toward McPhee Reservoir and some to the mountains to the north. There is a glimpse of Lone Cone Mountain.

There is one scenic pond along this segment. After 1:10 on this segment the trail comes very close to Road 526 at point 0.9 miles south from the 526 and 528 junction, but there is no sign along the road indicating this.

After crossing the paved 526 this segment descends back into upper Bean Canyon and crosses rough Forest Road 257 near the hairpin turn. This is another access point for hikers.

From this point at the Road 257 access, the hairpin turn, and it was 40 minutes to the second junction with the Boggy Trail and I could see Road 527. This segment followed a side canyon bottom away from Bean Canyon and there was a little water flowing.

The trail follows an old fence line as it climbs toward the trail junction. The canyon bottom had aspens along with the tall Ponderosa Pines. Near the trail junction there is a large meadow area.

From the meadow trail junction area back to the main trailhead is another 30 minutes. This segment returns along the Boggy Draw Trail. It took me about 7 hours of walking to cover the 16 miles, but I did it in several
segments.

 .