Box of Cookies (Dinosaur)

Box of Cookies was a great surprise of fun downclimbs tucked into a tricky to get to corner of the Skull Creek Wilderness Study Area East of Dinosaur National Monument along Highway 40. A bit of minimal brush to bash through was worth it for this slot. Pay attention to the property lines and review the specific instructions in the Red Tape section.

Drive east of the town of Dinosaur, Colorado and the Dinosaur National Monument Canyon Visitor Center on Highway 40. Turn north on County Road 165 at (40.25068, -108.77781). Follow the well-graded dirt road a quick left then right and on to a ranch gate 1.75 miles away. Note the quantity of No Trespassing signs posted on both sides of the road. County Road runs through one parcel of private property to the front gate of another Park in front of the ranch gate at the end of the road. Park in front of this gate out of the way at (40.26486, -108.79989), such that a large trailer could turn around. See the Red Tape section below. Hike 0.2 miles back down the road. Depart the road to hike north through a small BLM parcel. Aim for a low point on the east side of the parcel where the ridge is lowest. Follow an animal trail down the ridge and walk across a field to the Colorado State Trust Land boundary. Hike north around the next ridge and pick up an old dirt road, which is washed out in a few places, but has a cattle trail to follow. Follow the kml track and hike the easy ridge west of Box Canyon to gain the top of the canyon. It would also be possible to hike further west to pick up a maintained two-track to accomplish the approach. This is further, but faster and probably the same overall time.

DCs: 10', then 15' DC: 40' DC: 15' then walk a bit R1: 45' two stage (20' then 15') starting under a large chockstone from webbing around a rock pinch. R2: 35' through a rabbit hole DCL from slung boulder above the chute. Several DCs Box Canyon Middle Fork enters DCL. Side Trip: Consider hiking up Box of Crumbs from the bottom rather than descending from the top. R3 can be bypassed UCL. Stop at the bottom of R2, which is a pretty narrow alcove, then turn around and go downstream. The most overgrown section of the canyon is from the confluence of the West (Cookies) and Middle (Crumbs) Forks until this drainage meets the large Main (East) Box Canyon. Shortly after this next confluence, one could escape the canyon DCR by scrambling up the slope. Several downclimbs of 10'-20' exist in the main Box Canyon.