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The Gore Range looms high above the west side of Dillon, Silverthorne, and Frisco; it extends northward beyond Green Mountain Reservoir. The Gore Range Trail is located on the east side of the Gore Range and traverses in and out of the Eagles Nest Wilderness Area. There are number of locations where one can enter or exit the main trail. These entrance/exit portal trails make this area extremely good backpacking for Scouts. It allows easy exit in case of emergency, re-supply of food at certain locations and it offers a variety of backpacking trips ranging from 5 miles to 50+ miles and anything in between. Four shorter backpack trips in the Gore Range are included separately in this chapter. They are Wheeler Lakes, Uneva Pass, South Willow Creek, and Boulder Lake. The Gore Range Trail (FS60) starts just north of the Copper Mountain Ski Area and goes north to Green Mountain Reservoir. Due to the length of the trail; 54.5 miles, 3 maps are used in this presentation to provide sufficient detail of various sections of the trail. The Gore Range Trail detailed maps are entitled: 1. Copper Mountain to South Willow Creek 2 South Willow Creek to Lost Lake 3. Lost Lake to Lower Cataract Lake There are three locations where cars can be parked for easy food pickup. Normally a troop can carry food for 3-4 days which means only one food pick-up is required. These locations are mentioned in the text, they are: 1. Loop Road on the west side of the Wilderness Development, (P)4. 2. Mesa Cortina Trailhead, access to South Meadow Creek, (P)5. 3. Rock Creek Road and Trailhead to Boulder Lake, (P)6. Acquisitions that you should make in advance of the trip are the two Summit County Maps from the Geological Survey and The Summit Hiker, by Mary Ellen Gilliland. These two sources will give you more in-depth information before taking such an adventure. In this text the extended backpack will be from Copper Mountain north to Green Mountain Reservoir. How to get there: Take 1-70 west towards Vail. Take the Copper Mt., CO91 exit No. 195. The trailhead parking will be to the right of the exit road just before the I-70 overpass, noted on the map as (P)1. The trail is called “Wheeler Gore Range Trail” (FS60). Follow the arrows to the trailhead. Copper Mountain over Uneva Pass to Tenmile Creek Valley The trail (FS60) is a steady incline through aspens and then into a pine forest. You will reach a large meadow, continue up a more gradual incline with intermittent trees. At about 2.2 miles the trail splits, for a side trip take the right trail for a short distance (.2 mile) to the Wheeler Lakes. The Gore Range Trail continues north on the trail to the left. The only water immediately available is from the lakes; or, early in the season, runoff from small streams will be available. Other water sources can be found further up the trail and on either side of the pass. Officers Gulch on the south side, just before Lost Lake is a good water source; about a mile on the north side of Uneva Pass (11,900') there is a stream. The north side of the pass provides the best campsites. Continue down the north side from Uneva Pass, descending into North Tenmile Creek Valley. The last 1.5 miles to the valley floor are switchbacks. Eccles Pass / South Willow Creek (Lily Pad Lake alternative) When you reach the valley floor you will find a four-way intersection with the North Tenmile Trail, FS37, this trail goes east to west, the easterly direction will take you downstream for 3.5 miles to the west side of Frisco. To continue on the trail (FS60) northward there is another set of switchbacks on the north side of the valley. This is the trail that continues to Meadow Creek (3 miles) and in only an additional .5 mile to the top of Eccles Pass (11,800'). There is good camping at Meadow Creek. Actually, at Meadow Creek there is another alternative; instead of going over Eccles Pass, you can hike downhill on the trail that parallels Meadow Creek (FS33) for 4 miles to the trailhead just on the north side of I-70 and Frisco. Instead of hiking out to the trailhead, there will be a trail intersection at about 3.5 miles (north side) that goes to Lily Pad Lake (.5 mile). Take this trail to the lake. The trail will continue past the lake and exit at the loop road (an additional 1.5 miles from the lake) which is on the fringe of the Wilderness Development. Go straight, around the north side of the loop, and within several hundred feet there will be another trail known as the Buffalo Mountain Trail (FS28). Take this trail, you can go to Buffalo Mountain or hike over to South Willow Creek and the east meadows which make a wonderful camping location. Follow this trail to South Meadow Creek, you will exit along an old water canal, and follow the canal for a short distance northwest until you reach an avalanche area. Follow the trail across the two avalanche chutes; the trail descends the chute furthest north. The trail continues north through a wet area for another .25 mile and finally exits on the main trail (FS60) that descends from Red Buffalo and Eccles Passes. Go right or east on this trail, in about .5 mile you will emerge into a large meadow. This is an excellent place to camp. Now, if you want to take the high land instead of the low and trail go from the Meadow Creek intersection .5 mile to the top of Eccles Pass. This is the easiest approach for getting to South Willow Creek because after hiking the pass it is all downhill into the South Willow Creek Valley. After going over Eccles Pass there is about 1 mile of high country walking until you come across the Red Buffalo Pass Trail intersection. Go right or east on FS60. Follow the trail downward; towards the bottom, you should be on the lookout for South Willow Creek Falls. From the falls it’s about a mile further east to the meadow mentioned earlier. Distance from the Meadow Creek intersection to the South Willow Creek Meadow is 4.5 miles. South Willow Creek to Boulder Lake After a good night's sleep at the meadows, hike eastward 1 mile. At this point there are two intersecting trails; the Mesa Cortina Trail which will take you out to the Mesa Cortina Trailhead (2.6 miles), and the other trail is the continuation of the Gore Range Trail. Of course, we are heading north. This is a rolling trail with lots of forest. Since this is a fairly long trek, the distance to Boulder Lake is 12.8 miles, let us mention several places to camp along the way. In about 2.5 miles you will cross North Willow Creek, continue left at the trail intersection, and head uphill for about .25 mile. The creek parallels the trail for a little way, on the west side of the trail you will find a camp used by horse groups with hitching rails, etc. There is good water in the creek. Another alternative is to hike to the top of the hill (another .75 mile), this is where the trail (FS36) to Salmon Lake and Willow Lakes starts. There is decent camping at the lakes, but the trail is steep, Salmon Lake is 1.75 miles and Willow Lakes are an additional 1 mile. The last camping alternative before Boulder Lake is to continue north on the Gore Range Trail (FS60), it is almost all downhill to where the trail crosses South Rock Creek (nice double log bridge), about 2 miles. Cross the bridge, follow the north side (right) of the creek for several hundred feet and you will come across several campsites. Continue north for another 1.5 miles, at this point, the trail crosses Rock Creek Road. If you need to exit, hike east on the road to the trailhead (about .5 mile) and parking lot (P)6. To continue to Boulder Lake just cross the road and continue on the trail north for 1.8 miles until the trail splits in two directions. Turn left and follow the wide trail for another .3 mile to Boulder Lake. The right trail continues on the Gore Range Trail and crosses Boulder Creek in about .1 mile. There are campsites on the southeast side of Boulder Lake. Other campsites are on the west side where Boulder Creek enters the lake. A neat waterfall can be found about .10 miles west of the lake on Boulder Creek, a nice side trip. The best water is out of Boulder Creek; also, water is available out of several smaller streams on the southeast and south sides of the lake. Firewood is available but is some distance from the campsites. Boulder Lake to Slate Lake You can take the second trail exiting from Boulder Lake. This trail follows the north side of Boulder Creek. This is a narrow trail, but satisfactory. As this trail levels out you will pass a double log bridge that crosses Boulder Creek. Continue east for another .2 mile, there will be a trail to the north (left), this is the continuation of the Gore Range Trail. Our next destination is the Slate Lake area. It is about 3.3 miles from Boulder Creek to the trail intersection to Slate Lake (FS65). In about 1985 the Forest Service hanged the access route to this scenic valley. It now starts on the south side of Slate Creek instead of the north side as shown on most of the published maps. The trail to Slate Lake heads west through intermittent forest and meadows and in about a mile crosses a bridge to the old trail on the north side of the creek. There are several places along the trail where you can camp. If you go to Slate Lake it is 3 miles, the last mile is quite steep. If you continue to Upper Slate Lake it is another 1.5 miles and still steeper. There are few, if any, worthwhile campsites at Upper Slate Lake. Slate Lake to Black Creek In returning from Slate Lake you must use the same trail, at the intersection with the Gore Range Trail turn north again. It’s fairly flat hiking for the next 3.5 miles north. At this point, the Lost Lake Loop Trail appears on the west side of the trail. It is time for decisions. There are three alternatives at this point. You can continue to follow the Gore Range Trail north which is the shortest distance or you can exit at Brush Creek to a trailhead, noted on the map as (P)7, which is about three miles from CO9 on a 4 WD road. Use parking area (P)8 for normal vehicles. Brush Creek Trail is another .5 mile north on the Gore Range Trail from the intersection of the Lost Lake Loop Trail. The third alternative is to hike to Lost Lake. This is longer and steeper, but it’s a super neat area and has three or four locations for overnight camping. You can exit on a second trail on the northeast end of the lake completing the loop. This was once a road and is considerably wider and shaded with trees down. This part of the loop is a little over 2 miles to where it intersects with the Gore Range Trail. At this intersection turn left and continue northeast. In about .5 mile you will be looking over the Black Creek Valley. Have a break and enjoy the view at this point. It’s almost 1000' to the valley floor. This is a private valley, but you can camp on the north side of the gravel road that parallels the valley. There is lots of cow dung in this area so it is not desirable, but in a pinch, it will do the job. Black Creek to Lower Cataract Lake To continue, the north side of the valley is as steep as the south side. It is 3.5 miles uphill to the trail intersection to Lower Cataract Lake. Turn right and head downhill for 2.5 miles to the trailhead parking area which is located about .25 miles east of Lower Cataract Lake, noted on the map as (P)9. Quite a trip!<./br> If you want to make your trip longer you can continue to Surprise, Tipperary, and Eaglemears Lakes. This would add about another 8-10 miles to your trek and you will exit on the northeast side of Lower Cataract Lake.
Created on: 2024-09-08 13:15:26