Colorado

Rocky Mountain National Park showcases 355 miles of hiking trails, 6 campgrounds, and hundreds of backcountry camp sites. The cost to enter the park is $20.00 per vehicle, I recommend buying the annual National Parks Pass for $80.00. Cub Lake is an excellent trail for viewing wildlife. There ar...

Begin by parking at the 4th of July trailhead. This can be reached by conituing past the Eldora ski area and up a rough but passable (for all vehicles) gravel road to the trailhead. The trail is easy to find, and will continue to rise for the next 1.15 miles.At just over a mile there is a fork fo...

Some of my best nights in Colorado were spent in Stillwater Pass. There are numerous campsites with remade fire pits. I found this site when the Timber Creek Campground in Rocky Mountain National Park was full and I did not want to head back to Denver. There is a photo of a white plastic horse a...

This is an excellent place to take your family backpacking. It is a fairly easy trail and definitely a great one for kids. Take in the beautiful scenery while hiking through meadows, aspen and pine with incredible mountain views in the Indian Peaks Wilderness. 6.4 miles to Red Deer Lake with an e...

Starting from the Rock Creek Trailhead parking lot, it is an up and down trek to Upper Slate Lake. The trail map states 10 miles each way, but accounting for switchbacks it ends up being closer to 14 long, hard miles.You will be among aspens and pines for the first half as you have a few moderate...

Start at the Music Pass trail head south of Westcliffe, Colorado off County Road 119. You will need a 4x4 with high clearance to get to the actual trailhead as the last 2.5 miles are rough. Otherwise, park at the Crape Creek TH and walk the 2.5 miles up to Music Pass Trailhead.Once on the trail...

Starting from the Mt Massive Trailhead off of Halfmoon Creek Road (a half mile past the more popular Mt Elbert Trailhead), follow the excellent and easy trail into the woods. This trail is wide and abnormally flat for a 14er trail for the first three miles. During these first 3 miles the only rea...

To locate these campsites all you have to do is type in Jones Pass Road into google maps or your iPhone and it will take you straight there. There are road signs once you get off I-70 that will help you the rest of the way that say Jones Pass. Once you hit the dirt road and pass the Jones Pass Tr...

Boreas pass is a high mountain pass in the Rocky Mountains that sits on the Continental Divide at 11,481'. Forest Service Road 33 goes over the pass and has numerous campsites all along its length, with several near the summit that feature breathtaking views of the Tenmile Range and the Breckenri...

Begin at the Milner Pass Trailhead off of Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. Commonly used to summit Mount Ida, this trailhead is often popular with summer hikers. The trail climbs steeply through the trees before revealing open slopes of tundra and fantastic panoramic views. Altho...

This campground just 10 miles north of Grand Lake is a prime example of the amazing campgrounds you can find in Rocky Mountain National Park. Located along the Colorado River, Timber Creek has 98 campsites that are all first-come-first-serve. If you're on top of it and show up at a decent time, y...

Kite Lake is a beautiful little lake that is surrounded plenty of fourteeners. Just outside of Alma, Colorado, Kite lake can be accessed from Buckskin Street. Buckskin is a simple left turn after the only bar in Alma, or a right turn before the only bar in Alma... Do note, this road is not drivab...

For the extra-adventurous (my friends call me crazy for this), I recommend experiencing Rocky Mountain National Park in the off-season, when nobody else is there. Dead winter.Of course, you'll want to be uber prepared if you choose to take on this adventure, as the mountains are very unforgiving,...

The Nokhu Hut is part of the Never Summer Nordic Hut system, and makes for the perfect beginner Hut trip. The Hut has a stocked kitchen, wood shed, and small wood burning stove that keeps the tiny hut toasty warm.From the Hut, it is a short, easy hike to Lake Agnes - the trail often stays snowy u...

Ever wanted to pick a spot on the map and just GO for the weekend? That's exactly how we discovered Heart Lake. Our only recommendation is don't do it in October, when it might snow. A lot.As there's not much to do other than hike around up there, we combined the day with a morning mountain bike ...

Start at the Rainbow Lake Trailhead 1126 in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness which is 19 miles south west of Walden, Colorado off Country Road 22A.The 6.4 mile out and back to Slide lake starts out at an elevation of 8750 and gives you a total elevation gain of 1777 feet at the end at Slide Lake. You...