Community Trips
This is the best 2-mile (one-way) hike in the area that yields some great views at the Pass. The Montgomery Pass trailhead is across (west) Hwy 14, with parking at the Zimmerman Lake Trailhead. 2-seater out-house, with plenty of parking, and well plowed and maintained through the winter.The trailhead is at 10,000' and you will climb to 11,000' at the Pass. You will be rewarded with some great views of North Park...
Although there are many trails in the Rawah Wilderness area, the West Branch Trail is just a sample of this beauiful area. The trailhead is located off CR103 (look for this road just east of Chambers Lake). This West Branch Trailhead is at 8614' and our campsite was at 10065'. The distance was around 5.5 miles.Please Note: when shown on map this is the return trip.
The hiking, backpacking, fishing, moose and bear viewing, and camping up Long Draw Road have been a favorite of ours for years and now we can add skiing to that list. We parked at the Long Draw winter parking lot and stepped out into a brisk 15 degrees and likely much colder with the wind! We quickly warmed up though as we began to ski. On the way up, we crossed the...
Cameron Peak Loop (12,127'), Rawah Wilderness
Willey Lumber Camp, Colorado, United States
11.2 miles
11.2 miles
Originally planned as a hike, an early fall snowstorm in Colorado transformed the trip into a snowshoe effort. "Be mentally prepared to turn back short of our goal" was the order of the day. I was looking forward to finally seeing Blue Lake, a goal that has escaped me on several occassions.The approach was to ascend Blue Lake Trail, and shortly after crossing Fall Creek, bushwhack up the SE Ridge to Cameron...
The Sawmill Creek Trail begins at the TH as an old logging road, and becomes a scratch trail as you ascend the drainage. Since it's an old logging road, the ascent is very gradual, and great for x-country skiing. In the winter, you'll likely pass some serious alpine skiers headed for the snow bowls in the Medicine Bows, to your west as you climb the drainage.The TH parking is at the Blue...
Not sure I'd call this "cross-country" skiing, but it was a fun day in the snow, and our first XC-ski of the season. The snow depth at the Joe Wright SNOTEL monitoring site showed an official 47" of snowpack.Be prepared to share the "road" with snowmobiles. Once off the road, for example, the trail around Lost Lake, you'll only hear the whine of their engines.
For TJ's 31st birthday, we took a trip up the Poudre Canyon to the Cameron Pass Area. After leaving the Zimmerman Lake Trail to ski The Meadows, we briefly lost the trail markers and went through some deep snow. We quickly re-discovered the trail though and were rewarded with a beautiful trip! We turned around to return back to our vehicle, making it just short of Long Draw Road.
Cassidy and Avery's first backpacking trip!
