Colorado · Cross-country skiing

Powerline Connector Road

Powerline Connector RoadPhoto: John Sowell, CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
1.7 mi
distance
175 ft
climb
8,259 ft
high point
Moderate
difficulty
Jun–Sep
best months

Powerline Connector Road is a cross-country skiing route in Colorado's Gunnison Field Office, managed by the Bureau of Land Management. It is a short outing of about 1.7 miles, with a total climb of 175 feet and a moderate difficulty rating. The road runs between an elevation of about 8,070 feet and 8,259 feet, and the steepest stretch, a 14% grade, comes around 1.1 miles into the route. Winter is the natural season for skiing here. Typical averages from a nearby weather station in Gunnison show January highs around 26°F and lows near -6°F, while April runs warmer, with highs in the mid-50s. That station sits several hundred feet lower than the road, so temperatures on the route run cooler. The Dirty Socks Connector Road lies just 0.1 mile away, and the Skyline mountain biking trail is about 0.4 mile off. Climbers can head to Hartman Rocks, roughly 1.7 miles away, and the Gunnison KOA campground is about 3.9 miles from the road.

Local outfitters

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  • Best time to go · Jun–Sep

    Best time to visit Powerline Connector Road

    Best months: June–September. Best months have typical highs of 55–85 °F, lows of 30 °F or warmer (32 °F where the station doesn't record snow), at most one snowy day and no more than 12 wet days.

    1. Jan

      26° / -6°

      7 wet

    2. Feb

      30° / 1°

      6 wet

    3. Mar

      44° / 14°

      5 wet

    4. Apr

      56° / 23°

      5 wet

    5. May

      66° / 30°

      6 wet

    6. Jun

      76° / 36°

      6 wet

    7. Jul

      80° / 44°

      10 wet

    8. Aug

      77° / 43°

      11 wet

    9. Sep

      70° / 34°

      9 wet

    10. Oct

      60° / 22°

      6 wet

    11. Nov

      44° / 11°

      5 wet

    12. Dec

      28° / -3°

      7 wet

    Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Gunnison 3sw, CO, 3.5 mi away at 7,622 ft. The station sits about 600 ft lower than this place, so expect it a little cooler here. This station doesn't record snowfall. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.

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