Posted by: DanL
The Dempsey Connector is an infuriating situation for the entire user community. There’s not only zero way out for riders short of Skull or the ‘other’ routes but there’s zero way out for hikers who are shown a green/beginner hike at the trailhead with no warning that it ends abruptly and to turn around.
Out of all the plans and ideas, I wish that there was a good solution to this for everyone who wants to connect up the dots on this mountain
According to the DNV, the Dempsey connector to Coleman idea which has so much merit and makes such an obvious, connection, is never going to happen. That entire section is zoned for 6 parcels of land to be sold at some point in the future and is not under park’s jurisdiction.
The original road plan was to connect Coleman through up to Braemar but I think it got stymied by huge sections of granite and small creeks - there’s a set of stairs at the end of Coleman that go nowhere but mirror the pedestrian access from Kilmer to Dempsey. Last year there were DNV surveyors doing site work with theodolites etc and confirmed to me that it’s usually about 5 years from that to ground breaking.
Just continuing the Dempsey connector along the 350m topo line to the yellow gate at the top of Mtn Highway would go a long way to close the loop. Create a flat track from Braemar Dempsey and the bottom of Skull to the main gate.