Category: Trip Reports
Hallett Peak (12,713′), Front Range
Hallett Peak, in Rocky Mountain National Park, is very distinctive when viewed from the east side of the park with it’s slanted square structure towering over the landscape. As you near the summit, however, the square melts away and you Read More …
Hanging Lake (7,290′), Glenwood Canyon
Hanging Lake, located in Glenwood Canyon, was formed when an acre and a half of the valley floor sheared off from a fault and dropped to what is now the shallow bed of the lake. This travertine lake is extremely Read More …
Picket Wire Canyonlands Tracksite (4,403′), Eastern Plains
Picket Wire (Purgatoire) Canyonlands, in the Comanche National Grasslands, is home to the largest dinosaur track site in North America. Read More …
Lake Helene (10,630′), Front Range
There is no signage and you must follow a social trail to get to the lake, but despite it’s obscurity, Lake Helene is a spectacular destination. Read More …
Garden of the Gods (6,400′) Front Range
Garden of the Gods 480 acre park is geologically unique, having one of the most complete and complex exposures of earth’s history anywhere in the country. It is popular for hiking, technical rock climbing, biking, and horseback riding. There are Read More …
Mills (9,965′) and Jewel (9,990′) Lake, Front Range
Located within Glacier Gorge, Mills and Jewel Lake provide dramatic views of the surrounding peaks. Mills Lake is named in honor of Enos Mills (1870-1914), who is considered the father of Rocky Mountain National Park. The view from Mills Lake Read More …
Mirror (10,325′) and Crater (10,400′) Lake, Front Range
Mirror and Crater lakes are found deep in the heart of the Indian Peaks Wilderness. Cascade Falls, found along the trail and a popular destination, is about 4.5 miles in and comprises of multiple waterfalls. The destination, Crater Lake, sits Read More …
West Spanish Peak (13,625′), Sangre de Cristo Range
West Spanish Peak (13,625′) and East Spanish Peak (12,684′) have world class geological features that made the two peaks a National Natural Landmark in 1976 and designated as a Wilderness Area in 2000. The peaks rise 6,000 ft from the Read More …
La Plata Peak (14,336′), Sawatch Range
La Plata Peak is the 5th highest summit in the Rocky Mountains and is known for it’s distinctive Ellingwood Ridge . For a winter attempt the standard winter route was used but I was turned back at treeline by wind. For Read More …
South Colony Lakes (12,000′), Sangre de Cristo Range
South Colony Lakes Basin lies in the heart of southern Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo Range. Surrounded by Crestone Needle (14,197′), Humboldt Peak (14,064′) and Broken Hand Peak (13,573′), the basin is one of the most beautiful alpine settings in the Read More …
Almagre Mountain (12,360′), Front Range
Almagre Mountain is the second highest peak, after Pikes Peak, when viewed from Colorado Springs. Located in the Pike National Forest just south of Pikes Peak, this hike is rated easy, but getting there can be a challenge. In order Read More …
Mt Rosa (11,500′), Front Range
Mt Rosa is located in the Pike National Forest just south of Pikes Peak and is the only cone shaped summit in the area. This provides rare unobstructed 360 degree views from it’s small but lofty summit one mile above Read More …
Blue Lake (11,360′), Front Range
Blue Lake is accessed from the Mitchell Lake trailhead in the Brainard Lake Recreation Area. Brainard Lake itself is a small lake at the junction of two major valleys in the east central Indian Peaks Wilderness. The northern of the Read More …
Cheyenne Mountain (9,565′), Front Range
Cheyenne Mountain’s geological summit lies on the southwestern portion of the mountain. The mountain always intrigued me because the front range seems to fall away after Cheyenne Mountain.There are no trails leading to the summit, so it is necessary to Read More …
Lake Haiyaha (10,244′), Front Range
Located in lower Chaos Canyon, Lake Haiyaha is unlike other lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park because it is surrounded by enormous boulders on all sides, left behind by a retreating glacier. Since my trip was in winter, with substantial Read More …
Longs Peak (14,255′), Front Range
Iconic Longs Peak (14,259′) is the highest mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park, and the northern most 14,000′ peak in the Rocky Mountains. The peak is guarded by granite cliffs and does require Class 3 climbing, although the first 6.5 Read More …
Mt Evans (14,264′), Front Range
Mt Evans can be accessed via the highest paved road in North America, reaching an elevation of 14,130′. The Mount Evans Scenic Byway offers easy access to Colorado’s inspiring high mountain environment, which is why it is included on this Read More …
Mt Sneffels (14,150′), San Juan Range
Mt Sneffels is located in the Mount Sneffels Wilderness of Uncompahgre National Forest in the San Juan mountains. Views from the mountain are some of the best in Colorado. GPX The GPX track is longer because of a road closure Read More …
Huron Peak (14,003′), Sawatch Range
Huron Peak is known as one of the most beautiful hikes in the Sawatch Mountain Range of Colorado. It is the most remote peak in the range, and offers views of wilderness in every direction from it’s small peak.The views Read More …
St Vrain Mountain Trail (12,162′), Front Range
The St Vrain Mountain trail straddles the border between the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area (south) and Rocky Mountain National Park (north). It stands just east of the Continental Divide with views across the Middle St Vrain Creek drainage and Wild Read More …
La Plata Peak (14,336′), Sawatch Range
La Plata is located in the Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains. It is considered one of the more challenging hikes in the Sawatch range due to the steep trail. GPX Know when to turn around. I turned around near Read More …
Nymph (9,705′), Dream (9,905′), and Emerald(10,110′) Lake, Front Range
Starting at the Bear Lake Trailhead in Rocky Mountain National Park, the trail passes Nymph and Dream Lakes on the way to Emerald Lake, with prominent views of Longs Peak, Glacier Gorge, Flattop Mountain, and Hallett Peak. If you have limited Read More …
Great Sand Dunes National Park (8,700′), Sangre de Cristo Range
The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve contains the tallest sand dunes in North America, rising about 750 feet (230 m) from the floor of the San Luis Valley on the western base of the Sangre de Cristo Range, Read More …
Zapata Falls (9,250′), Sangre de Cristo Range
The Zapata Falls Recreational Area is approximately three miles south of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve entrance. The falls have a 25 foot drop that freezes in the winter months, but water can still be heard flowing Read More …
American Basin to Sloan Lake (12,920′), San Juan Range
The Handies Peak trail to Sloan Lake offers views of American Basin, one of the most scenic basins in the San Juan Mountains. Sloan Lake is home to the threatened Colorado cutthroat trout. Hiking can continue up to Handies Peak, Read More …
Carpenter Peak (7,166′), Front Range
Carpenter Peak is located in Roxborough State Park, which is a Colorado Natural Area and a National Natural Landmark. The parks 4000-acres is filled with dramatic red-rock formations, distinct plant communities, and a host of wildlife ranging from black bears Read More …
Estes Cone (11,007′), Front Range
Estes Cone is located about 3 miles from the Longs Peak trail-head on the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park. Hiking from Longs Peak trail-head takes you through the abandoned Eugene Mine area (although the ruins are hard to Read More …
Devils Head Fire Lookout (9,748′), Front Range
Devils Head Lookout, the last of the seven original Front Range Lookout towers still in continuous use, is over 100 years old and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Bill Ellis and his wife have been operating Read More …
Paint Mines Park (6,791′), Eastern Plains
Paint Mines Park is located in the high plains near Calhan, Colorado. The 750 acre park features geological formations including spires, chasms, overhangs, and carved walls that were formed through erosion that created gullies and exposed layers of clay and Read More …
Spruce Mountain (7,635′), Front Range
Spruce Mountain is located on the Palmer Divide near Palmer Lake, Colorado. It offers great views of the Palmer Divide with interesting sandstone formations on the mesa. A nearly flat trail, the Eagle Pass Trail, takes you along the edges of Read More …
Sky Pond (10,900′), Front Range
Begin at the Glacier Gorge trailhead in Rocky Mountain National Park and follow a well maintained trail to Timberline Falls. The trail ends there and you must scramble up the side of the falls to continue past The Lake of Read More …
Mt Elbert (14,433′), Sawatch Range
Mt Elbert is the highest peak in the 3,000 mile long Rocky Mountains, a mountain chain which stretches from Canada to Mexico. Mount Elbert is also the second highest peak in the contiguous lower 48 states after 14,505-foot Mount Whitney Read More …
Mt Sherman (14,036′), Mosquito Range
Mount Sherman, Colorado’s 46th highest peak, is a great first 14er. It is possible to park as high as 12,000 feet, leaving only a couple thousand feet of elevation gain to the summit and a round-trip hike of under five Read More …
Twin Sisters (11,428′), Front Range
The Twin Sisters ridge runs nearly two miles along the east central boundary of Rocky Mountain National Park. From the summit there are panoramic views of the eastern plains, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Longs Peak. The trail travels through heavily Read More …
Alberta Falls (9,400′), Front Range
Alberta Falls, located in Glacier Gorge, is one of the more popular hiking destinations in Rocky Mountain National Park. The scenic 30-foot waterfall thunders down a small gorge along Glacier Creek, and offers excellent views. The falls are fed by Read More …
Mt Morrison (7,881′), Front Range
Mt Morrison stands above Red Rocks park, home of the famous Red Rocks amphitheater. The mountain can easily be identified for the large outcropping rock that forms the summit called The Dome, and the adjacent antennas to the north of Read More …
Grays(14,270) and Torreys(14,267) Peaks, Front Range
Grays and Torreys are the only two 14er’s situated on the Continental Divide and provide great views of the area. Grays is considered the highest point on the Continental Divide. The peaks are in close proximity to each other so Read More …
Mt Bierstadt (14,160′), Front Range
Mt Bierstadt is a few miles east of Guanella Pass, in the northernmost part of the Pike National Forest. This is one of the best maintained trail-heads for a 14er and is close to Denver, making it one of the Read More …