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    Hiking Trails of Southwestern Colorado, Fifth Edition
    Hiking Trails of Southwestern Colorado, Fifth Edition
    Hiking Trails of Southwestern Colorado, Fifth Edition
    Ebook396 pages3 hours

    Hiking Trails of Southwestern Colorado, Fifth Edition

    By John Peel and Paul Pixler

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    About this ebook

    Now with a fresh design, this fifth edition of the bestselling authoritative guide for hikers in Southwestern Colorado features new and updated trails, clear maps, and beautiful color photographs.

    Used by beginner and seasoned hikers alike for years now, Hiking Trails of Southwestern Colorado shares the best nature-walking excursions around Durango, Silverton, Vallecito, and the Colorado Trail areas. Taking you everywhere from the refreshing waters of Ice Lakes Basin to the glorious views of Engineer Mountain, this new edition of the guidebook includes:

    • More than 60 trails and climbs plus 12 new hikes, accompanied by corresponding maps and color photographs
    • Distance, elevation, difficulty rating, and duration for each hike
    • General overview of the trail as well as quick but important details on the route
    • Options to other paths and trails for the wandering adventurer

    Enjoy the natural landscape and wild beauty of Southwestern Colorado with this comprehensive guide to Southwestern Colorado’s favorite trails.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWest Margin Press
    Release dateJun 23, 2020
    ISBN9781513262987
    Hiking Trails of Southwestern Colorado, Fifth Edition

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      Book preview

      Hiking Trails of Southwestern Colorado, Fifth Edition - John Peel

      HIKES IN & NEAR DURANGO

      Its obvious Durango is enthusiastic about trails. That enthusiasm started long ago, but the formation back in 1990 of Durango Trails 2000, the local trails advocacy group, really got things cooking. The nonprofit plans routes, energizes the community, and, with mostly volunteer labor, has built or maintains more than 300 miles of trails.

      Thanks to the foresight of Durango Trails 2000, the Durango Parks and Recreation Department, La Plata County, the San Juan Mountains Association, and the San Juan National Forest and Bureau of Land Management (and perhaps others I’ve missed), Durango-area residents can hike—sometimes right out your back door—into the nearby hills and beyond into the high country on your way to explore a diversity of ecosystems. Durango Trails 2000 continues to be at the forefront of trail development, and serves as a model for similar organizations around the region.

      If you are wondering why Durango is such a well loved and popular place, trails are a huge reason.

      CITY TRAILS

      The Telegraph Trail System is one popular option. It’s covered later in this chapter in the Raider Ridge hike (page 53) and the Meadow Loop/Telegraph Trail hike (page 56). Plenty of other trails exist, and the maps that accompany those hikes show many of the various trails.

      There is a mile-long trail up Smelter Mountain, accessed near the start of CR 210. To get there: As you’re leaving downtown heading south on US 550/160, after crossing the Animas River take a right at the next light. Then quickly take a right onto CR 210, then another right onto a paved access road that leads to the Animas-La Plata intake facility. Go 100 yards and park in the dirt lot on the left (N 37 15.200, W 107 52.726, 6,520 feet). Start hiking downhill briefly to cross a ravine, then steeply uphill to the northwest. Go 1 mile to reach a nice viewpoint just before the mass of communication towers and just as you hit the access road coming from that direction (N 37 15.763, W 107 53.354, 7,560 feet).

      A couple of notes on Smelter: Between December 1 and April 15 it’s only open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and dogs are not allowed; this is to protect deer and elk. At all times, dogs must be on a leash to keep them from harassing wildlife. Parks and Wildlife asks humans and dogs to both respect wildlife from a distance.

      Just north of the Smelter trailhead, the approximately 10-acre Durango Dog Park lies under the north shadow of Smelter Mountain, just west of the Animas River where US 550/160 crosses it. There is room for a few cars in a dirt lot near the park entrance (N 37 16.086, W 107 53.210), which is south of US 160 and just west of Roosa Avenue. It’s also possible to access the dog park from the Smelter trailhead; follow an old road north about a half-mile to the park.

      Several trails, or trail systems, appear on the map on the facing page. Here is a description of most of them:

      Centennial Nature Trail is used by many Fort Lewis College students because it connects the lower town areas with the college campus and the Rim Trail. The Nature Trail can be found near the junction of East Sixth Avenue and Tenth Street. Through a series of switchbacks, the trail moves up some 250 feet to the campus mesa, coming out on the west side of the campus just south of the little chapel on the rim. At this same junction at Sixth and Tenth you’ll find the Sky Steps, 530 steps that go straight up the mountainside and are a favorite for athletes in training. At the top, you can catch the Rim Trail.

      The Rim Trail takes a little sleuthing to follow, particularly on the southern end, but you can make a complete 2.7-mile loop around campus. If you go counterclockwise from where the Centennial Nature Trail meets it, you’ll cross Eighth Avenue (N 37 16.385, W 107 52.181), go south and then northeast, paralleling Goeglein Gulch Road for a while. You’ll pass by the eleventh hole at Hillcrest Golf Club, cross Rim Drive near a three-way intersection (N 37 16.877, W 107 51.943), take a left, and then walk by the top of the city’s Chapman Hill Ski Area. (Another good way to access the Rim Trail is to come up the Lions Den Trail from Chapman Hill.)

      The west and northwest parts of the Rim Trail offer excellent views over town and the La Plata Mountains across the valley.

      Chapman Hill–Lions Den Trails can be reached by going northeast 0.5 miles on Florida Road from the intersection of East Third Avenue and Fifteenth Street. Park in the Chapman Hill recreation area lot. Look for a trail just north of the skating rink; that’s the Lions Den Trail (N 37 17.050, W 107 52.040). Take it about a mile uphill, then veer right at an intersection to contour the hillside (a left takes you up to the actual Lions Den and you meet Rim Drive at the golf course clubhouse).

      It’s another quarter-mile south, paralleling Rim Drive just west of the golf course, to the intersection with the Rim Trail. If you take the Rim Trail west from here a couple hundred yards, you can get back down to the Chapman Hill parking area via a steep road closed to traffic.

      The Animas River Trail is an asphalt and concrete route that follows the river closely all the way from the north end of town to the south end. Planning and construction took twenty or thirty years, depending on who’s counting, and it was ceremoniously finished in 2005. However, extensions on both ends and new crossings and connections remain in the works.

      The River Trail is a bit over 7 miles long but will grow. On the north end, it starts at the intersection of Thirty-Second Street and East Third Avenue (N 37 17.702, W 107 52.203) on the north end of Memorial Park. A restroom open during warm-weather months and parking are available at Twenty-Ninth Street. In less than a half-mile, the trail crosses the river over a good footbridge. It continues south along the river around the east side of the high school grounds, crosses a bridge over Junction Creek, and goes behind the Durango Public Library. Then it crosses another footbridge, goes past a gazebo at Rotary Park, and heads under Main Avenue (N 37 16.838, W 107

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