One of the most beautiful hikes we have ever gone on…read more Wildflowers, streams, waterfalls and an amazing lake to top it off. High elevation and quite tough going up but so worth it!! Took us about 4 hours total. Stop in Nederland on the way down for early dinner or lunch. Fantastic day

So effing beautiful. Let's just start there. Like the whole way up. Views of trees and mountainous…read moreviews. My legs hurt and I was dehydrated as shit because my moron friends didn't want to stop for food / water beforehand (big mistake). This wasn't the end of the world though due to the natural streams throughout the trek. Just dip your head in for some of the coolest most refreshing water you have ever tasted. Seriously, it beats the hell out of a bottle of Poland Spring or Fiji or whatever your posh ass is used to. I may retract that statement in a week when I have a tadpole making a nest (or whatever tadpoles do) inside of my stomach but for now ... yeah ... refreshing :) Get there early and have a car that you can beat up a little / SUV since there is about 4 miles of hilly dirt roads to get to the trail-head. I recommend hiking boots but I was fine in sneakers. Definitely take snacks / water and if your friends convince you otherwise just poke them hard in the gut with your hiking poles / stick (yes you probably want these too) until they cave in and stop the car for you. The trail is easy to follow. There is a split after about 1 - 1.5 miles up that has you chose between Apache Trail and Diamond Lake. We went for the lake. You will know you are there. If you miss it, congrats, you will probably be some giant grizzly bear's dinner that night. It was one of the more beautiful hiking sites I have bore witness to. For an added bonus and guys if you don't mind your balls retreating up into your stomach for warmth, take off those shoes and climb onto that rock in the center of the lake for some incredible panorama photos. The area surrounding the lake is great for a nap, a picnic, a read, etc. On our way down we stumbled across a man who sprained his ankle about 2 miles in. As a 9 person bachelor party we helped carry him 2 miles to the bottom. Humanitarian mission of Colorado has been complete, sites have been seen, and headache from altitude sickness is quickly on-setting due to lack of nutrients and H20. Despite hunger and a pounding headache, I definitely want to get back to the area and try a few other trails. Such an amazing escape from my normal city life.

The lakes were beautiful and the falls were also very beautiful. The hike was challenging but…read moredoable and not too hard. Good shade in a lot of places but lots of mosquitoes as well you need bug spray for sure! Really crowded but less crowded than a fourteener.

I arrived close to 8AM, and the parking lot was full but I still parked pretty close to the…read moretrailhead. The hike up was quite shaded for most of it, and it wasn't too bad until the steep section about halfway into the hike. Views were pretty with mountains in the distance and being surrounded by trees, and the waterfall was small but pleasant. The lakes were pretty as well, and there were lots of places to sit around it. Good hike! I didn't (know to) go all the way to the last lake, just went to Upper Mohawk Lake which took me 3.5 hours round-trip not including time spent at the top.

I did this as part of a larger loop last weekend. The trail conditions for this segment were really…read moregood. It's a long trail, but not too difficult for a reasonably in shape person. Usually, you can walk two abreast and the river crossings are not hard. Lots of nice campsites every mile or so, visible right next to the trail. Once you get away from the trailhead, firewood is plentiful. Some camp sites are right next to water, so you can filter it and you're good. Others, you may have to carry water there. We did have some wet weather, which wasn't bad if you have good raincoats. Naturally, if you go to higher elevations, the rain comes down as snow, or hail, even in June. If you're just doing Goose Creek, within the first 7-8 miles, it's super easy to follow. However, good maps are available for free from the USGS web site. We also had a good map for Lost Creek from Amazon. Not too hard to get to the trail head, although you do have to drive about 15 miles of windy dirt road. It takes about 45 minutes for that part, especially if you have to back up to let someone go the other way on one of the single lane parts.

When Spring hits Colorado snow is most likely still in the mountains... but towards the end of…read morespring there is one wilderness that most locals know will most likely NOT have snow, and that is why the Lost Creek Wilderness becomes so popular. People want out of their homes and into the mountains and they want it now, so they all go. This is a great trail to either take a short hike on or a trek. I did a one night day/trek and saw my first bear in person! I am still so excited to this day that I tell people about seeing my first bear in person. He saw us first and was walking away from us, but I was scared the rest of the trek. We found the most amazing camp site under these beautiful grove of Aspens and by a nearby running river. At that particular time, we were allowed to have fires, so we made a nice controlled fire, had an amazing dinner of burritos and rice and enjoyed ourselves as the night grew cooler. You better bet your booty that we hung all of our food, wrappers, and trash in a high high tree, far, far away from our tents... You are not a true hiker if you don't! Make sure to see the shaft house.. The short mile hike will grant you awesome sites of gigantic boulders and rock formations... A sure different view then the rest of the hike. * Star one for my first bear sighting ** Raise your hands tall or talk low star two is for learning what to do if a bear approaches you talk that lasted a mile *** Wow this is old star three is for the old not-in-use shafthouses that are a perfect short trek off of the main trail **** Fire fire star four is for the first mile which shows you in person how a much a forest fire rips apart a wilderness... But the star is for the new growth... I am so cheesy! 239.

This is a great hike not too far outside Denver. I found out about this trail thanks to my "60…read morehikes within 60 miles" book. An aside-- I found that book in Barnes and Noble and impulsively decided to buy it. It's been a fabulous purchase! Some of you CO natives are probably rolling your eyes at me, but I've found a ton of lesser known hikes (as well as some very common ones) thanks to this book-- the most recent of which being Hell's Hole. Hell's Hole trail leads into Mt. Evans Wilderness about 30 min into the hike. About 20 minutes prior to this, there's a little stand where you must self register for a wilderness permit. There is no fee for this, it's basically just a way for the park service to keep track of info. The trailhead is off CO-103 on a pretty obscure road, West Chicago Creek. It gets pretty sketchy towards the end (very narrow road winding up a steep mountain with no guardrails...as long as I live here I'll never understand CO's aversion to guardrails in places like this) but it's well worth it. There's a campground near the trail head as well. The hike itself is a great workout with shade in the beginning and gorgeous views towards the end. Horses and dogs are welcome on the trail; mountain bikes are not permitted. The book I have estimated the total hike time to be 4.5 hours but I was pleasantly surprised to discover it only took me 3 hours, including a 30 min break at the turn around point and a couple photo/water opps. Obviously the hike time will vary for everyone; I guess the important thing to know is that it's 9 miles round trip. Though the hike is relatively long, it's not incredibly difficult. There are definitely some fairly steep portions, but a lot of it is at a relatively gentle incline. It seems like a fairly lightly used trail-- in the whole 3 hours I ran into about 3 other couples. It was really nice to enjoy the solitude, but also somewhat reassuring to know there were people somewhat nearby-- if you're hiking alone, like I was, it's always good to be aware! The trail ends in an open field with a creek nearby. It's around the treeline and you can see a couple fourteeners towering over you in this beautiful post-glacier valley. Definitely an ideal picnic spot! This trail is out-and-back, so once you've had enough of the scenery, it's time to pack it in and do it all over again!

Absolutely beautiful. Fairly populated trail so I wouldn't feel anxious going here alone. Road up…read morethe the trail head may be a bit difficult to find, just google it, the road is a little sketchy but I made it up in my little Toyota Camry just fine.

Questions people ask at the beginning of every hike: ++ Is…read moreit long?! YES. ++ Is it going to be hard? YES, The best things always are. ++ Is it going to be worth it? ABSOLUTELY!! Chihuahua Lake was no exception. After Matt C posted some pictures of this alpine beauty, I just knew I had to go there this season. So when my hiking companion Tiffany N and I both ended up with a Monday off, I knew just the adventure to be had. So we grabbed our gear, some coffee, and took to the mountains. Located just east of Keystone, Chihuahua Lake makes for a challenging day trip. From the 2WD trailhead, you can anticipate approximately an 8-mile round-trip hike. I highly recommend a high clearance vehicle to get there. The road is super bumpy. If you park towards the bottom of the road (which appears to be the staging area for OHVs) you will be adding roughly 4 miles total to the trip. We arrived at 9:30am and there were only two cars parked at the 2WD trailhead, however there's only enough parking for maybe four cars there. So be early. There are two major steep areas - one long steady one in the beginning and one brutal final push just before the lake. There were several water crossings, so make sure to wear waterproof boots and bring extra socks, just in case. It's not a matter of if you end up in the water, but when you end up in the water. We encountered maybe five people during our hike and had the lake to ourselves for a solid 30 to 45 minutes while we snacked and relaxed. Chihuahua Lake was gorgeous! You work for it, that's for sure, but the views are out of this world! Chihuahua Lake was definitely a rewarding way to spend our day. While at the end of the hike I felt personally victimized by the trail, I can safely say I'll probably make my way back next season. **Pro Tip: Some parts of the trail are not marked the best, especially once you get to the 4WD trailhead. Download the trail off AllTrails before you hit the dirt to ensure you don't get turned around.

See Carly W's review. K thx bye…read more JK, although I felt like Chihuahua Lake owned me, I cannot give it enough kudos! This is one of those trails that is a hidden gem and I kinda hope it stays that way. I hike a lot and love some moderate hikes but this was one of the hardest I've done in awhile. The first stretch is steep and will have you questioning if it was worth driving up the bumpy road and possibly damaging your suspension if you're not blessed enough to have AWD or 4WD. Then you cross the first of many creeks and get a panoramic view of the Rocky Mountains and then something clicks in your head (besides the "Hills are alive with the sound of musiiiiiiiic")....views like the ones you see on this hike are the reason visit and move here! You won't see a lot of people on this hike and it's much welcomed, this is truly a lesser known trail and when you get to the lake, you will say "Ay chihuahua!" I think we saw five to six people the entire time, it was awesome and how I wish more hikes within driving distance of Denver were! The only animals we saw were birds, chipmunks, pika and bugs.....nothing too scary! Must Haves for this hike -Extra pair or two of socks, I don't care how waterproof your shoes are, they WILL get wet! -Poles. I NEVER bring my poles and I'm so grateful I brought them and used them on all eight plus miles of this hike! -A plethora of snacks -A positive attitude, you're going to need it!

We have been coming to this area for 20+ years and it never disappoints! 3 day backpack with our 15…read moreyear old and the most amazing campsites with huge boulders, water all along the way and moose/ dear encounters!

This was my first backpacking trip and we chose a difficult trail! We hiked this trail in 3 1/2…read moredays and 3 nights. We started counterclockwise from the lost park campground on a Monday and the campground was pretty scarce. When we finished on Thursday morning the campground was filling up and there were more hikers coming in for the weekend. Water was not plentiful the first day hiking counterclockwise. After we summited Bison Peak we couldn't find water to camp next to for the night and weren't able to get any until 2 miles in the following morning. Overall, this was a great hike with spectacular views along the entire trail. The trail was marked well and well kept. I purchased a map off of Amazon for $8 which was a great investment!

This is actually a service road that goes to North Peak around a lot of the ski lifts. Running…read moreabout 10-11 miles, I think this would be a good all day hike for families who also want to get a peak at some wildlife. Otherwise it's about 5 hours. Most of the trail goes along a creek with a ridiculous amount of beaver dams. I don't know if they're all "natural" or not but if they are, man you must have a beaver issue. F*@king beavers... The day I went up was after it had some snow, which led to some interesting pics. I don't know if it's really worth going up when there's snow on the ground (I'm sure there are way more scenic hikes in the area) but if you just want to stay close to the resort or too much a pussy to take the Fusion rental out for a drive on the snow, this is a decently rewarding hike.

Beautiful! Small parking lot with a bathroom at the parking lot. There ar no trash cans so be…read moresure to plan on packing out what you pack in, including your dog poop bags! Please dont leave it on the ground and expect someone else to deal with it!! Please try to leave things as beautiful or more so than you found them! The trail is around 9.5 miles long and 2703 feet of elevation gain. It is an out and back trail. It does continue on supposedly to mount logan i believe but from what i read on all trails it does involve some bushwhacking??? We did around 9.3 miles and turned around due to inclement weather coming in. There were some amazing fall colors as you got further in. Beautiful yellows and oranges! There was a beaver dam blocking up some of the water and it was causing one area to be really muddy.... so be prepared for that. Also some of teh crossings after that were a little tricky. the water crossings earlier on had nice logs to cross. Loved this trail and will definitely be back in the future!

Easy to get to just off 85. Easy hike/snowshoeing as well…read more Just got back from hiking the full 11.5 miles. It's a very quite lightly trafficked location. As of today not enough snow to snow shoe and not enough to wear spikes as well. So we decided to get rid of both. About eight or more short switchbacks and a gradual uphill nothing strenuous. When you enter the Pike National Forest you're about halfway to your destination. Trail is well marked and only horses and hikers are allowed here. Solitude and enough length of trail to keep a hiker happy.

Awesome trail for snowshoeing. It is well marked on Hwy 285, with parking along the road. It…read morestarts quickly on an incline with switchbacks to accommodate the climb, but levels off after a while. Within a few minutes we were far enough up the trail that we did not hear any traffic. From there on out, it was just us. No animal sightings, but we did see tracks and scat. It was a windy day, but once in the trees and after working just a little bit, we were amply warm and happy. I felt like we could have hiked for hours and never seen another person. It was the perfect first time experience at snowshoeing. I think the Lost Creek Wilderness would be great during any season. In fact I learned of this hiking/snowshoeing destination from an REI employee who helped me find the right snowshoeing shoes. He got married in this forest preserve. I envy him that beauty and experience. The Ben Tyler trailhead is at 8260ft elevation and over 11 miles in length. The link I provide is of a map. Each trail name is linked to a history and description of the trail.