Hiking Trails of Southwestern Colorado, Fifth Edition. John Peel
sweep upward to the rocky high peaks, forming a majestic view.
The sights from atop the rim on Barnroof Point, looking down on Dry Fork Road.
COLORADO TRAIL: JUNCTION TO GUDY’S
DISTANCE: 8.6 miles round-trip to Gudy’s Rest
ELEVATION: Start at 6,960 feet, Gudy's Rest at 8,000 feet (1,040-foot gain)
RATING: Easy
TIME ALLOWED: 4 to 5½ hours
If you hike much around these parts, it won’t be too long before you bump into the Colorado Trail, a 486-mile tread that connects southwest Denver and the Durango environs. There have been pushes to lengthen the trail into downtown Durango, but those haven’t gained traction, so for now it’s about 4 miles by paved road from the town to the trailhead.
Southwest Colorado is fortunate to have a high percentage of these 486 miles, because the trail must do a lot of winding to get through the rugged San Juan Mountains. There are 78 miles of the trail in the Animas District (where Durango is located) of the San Juan National Forest alone.
This hike begins at the Durango trailhead. Other hikes on the Colorado Trail or parts of it are scattered throughout this book: Dry Fork Loop (page 45), Sliderock Trail to Kennebec Pass (page 68), Grizzly Peak (page 143), Hermosa Peak (page 149), Molas Trail (page 161), Sultan–Grand Turk (page 163), and Colorado Trail/Molas Pass (page 166). Another option is to take 5 to 7 weeks and backpack the whole darn thing—Denver to Durango, or vice versa—but that’s not what this book is about.
The Colorado Trail was conceived, and actually started, in the 1970s but soon languished. The idea nearly died until three groups got together and combined sponsorship: the US Forest Service, one of the originators of the concept; the Friends of the Colorado Trail, a group organized specifically to plan and promote construction of the trail; and the Colorado Mountain Club.
Gudy Gaskill (1927–2016) was appointed chairperson of the Club’s Huts and Trails Committee. The plan was to use existing trails as much as possible and to work out new connections between them. Progress was still slow and doubt grew over the next decade that the trail would ever be completed. In 1985 the project received a huge boost from Richard Lamm, then governor of Colorado and an avid hiker and jogger. He and Gudy Gaskill got together and planned to complete the trail within two years with all-volunteer labor. Gudy put a prodigious amount of effort into organizing work teams and assigning them to trail sections. In the last full summer, nearly a thousand volunteers were at work. Those volunteers included old-timers such as Donald Peel (father of this book’s author), a longtime Colorado Mountain Club member and president of the club in 1955.
The trail was completed and ceremonies were held to mark the event in Durango and Denver in September 1987. Work has continued since then. Former longtime Durangoan Bill Manning has been director of the Colorado Trail Foundation since 2006. For more information, visit ColoradoTrail.org.
APPROACH: Take Main Avenue to Twenty-Fifth Street and turn left (west). At the edge of town it becomes Junction Creek Road. Follow it 3.5 miles from Main to the San Juan National Forest. Just as you cross the cattleguard that marks the forest boundary, and just as the road turns from pavement to gravel, there’s a parking area and outhouse to the left, and the trail begins there (N 37 19.881, W 107 54.165, 6,960 feet).
Or to shorten the trip to Gudy’s Rest, continue on the gravel Junction Creek Road for 1.2 miles, where there is a sharp switchback to the northeast; not too far beyond this is the Junction Creek Campground, so if you get there you’ve gone too far. You can begin hiking west here at this switchback, and in 100 yards (N 37 20.267, W 107 55.194, 7,200 feet) you will strike the Colorado Trail.
HIKE: At first the trail follows closely alongside Junction Creek. This is a popular spot for families and dogs, who have plenty of places to cool off on a hot summer day. At 1.2 miles the trail connects with the spur trail coming from Junction Creek Road (mentioned in the Approach to shorten the hike) and then begins to rise away from the creek. It continues to rise gradually as it contours above—sometimes dizzyingly high above—Junction Creek.
Then at 2.2 miles (N 37 21.024, W 107 55.626, 7,520 feet) the trail begins its descent downhill toward Junction Creek. At 2.7 miles it crosses the stream over a good Forest Service bridge (N 37 21.291, W 107 55.668, 7,410 feet). It then begins a series of switchbacks up the steep canyonside. From the bridge, it’s 1.6 miles until the trail tops out at a nice rest area called Gudy’s Rest (N 37 21.185, W 107 55.900, 8,000 feet); there’s a bench there for you to take a break. It’s a popular spot to enjoy views down the valley toward Durango and the college mesa above town.
OPTIONS: The trail past Gudy’s Rest climbs gradually for 6.2 miles to what’s colloquially become known as High Point (9,550 feet). From there it descends 4.1 miles and 1,000 feet back into Junction Creek canyon and crosses Junction Creek at a nice bridge (8,520 feet) that looks out of place in what is basically backcountry. From here on, there is quite a bit of up and down (mostly up); you’ll arrive in 4.7 more miles at Champion Venture Road, the next possible road access. This is the beginning of the Sliderock Trail (see page 68).
A wintertime view down Junction Creek from the bench at Gudy’s Rest.
DRY FORK–HOFFHEINS LOOP
DISTANCE: 8.5-mile loop
ELEVATION: Start at 7,390 feet, high point at 8,680 feet (1,290-foot gain)
RATING: Easy
TIME ALLOWED: 3½ to 4½ hours
This loop trail starts along a drainage, then splits and moves up through big timber. The upper portion has a much different feel to it—thick woods with big timber—than the lower, drier portion.
This is a very busy trail in nice weather and is used by hikers, bikers, and horseback riders, with bikers predominant. It is a pleasant hike on a good trail and is shady most of the way. It’s close to town, and the added elevation takes a little edge off the summer heat.
If anyone’s curious, Don Hoffheins is a former Forest Service employee who helped facilitate the building of his namesake trail.
APPROACH: Drive west of Durango 3.5 miles on US 160 to a right turn on Lightner Creek Road (CR 207). Follow it 1 mile north to where Dry Fork Road, a gravel road, veers off to the right (north). Continue 2 miles north on Dry Fork Road; where the road splits in a Y, go right. Take the right side for 0.8 miles and make a left-hand turn toward the trailhead; there should be a sign directing you to the Hoffheins Connection or Dry Fork trail. In 100 yards you’ll come to a large parking area (N 37 19.870, W 107 56.316, 7,390 feet), suitable to turn around a truckload of whatever you may be hauling (bikes, horses, cattle, etc.).
HIKE: Start by crossing through a stock fence over a cattleguard. It’s 0.7 miles of mostly uphill trail to a second cattleguard, then uphill another 0.1 mile to a three-way intersection (N 37 20.355, W 107 56.717, 7,650 feet). Your choice—you can go either way. The Dry Fork Trail was built with the mindset of having a relatively easy grade; Hoffheins is steeper in places. For this description we’ll go clockwise, heading up the mellower Dry Fork Trail.
Climb gradually, up through aspen and pine forests. At 3 miles you’ll join an abandoned road that comes up from your left. At 3.5 miles there’s a fork in