We will still have winter conditions for a while in Colorado, but I wanted to round up some of the favorite winter hikes/snowshoe adventures for 2020-2021 so far. *Note that there is avalanche danger in many of these areas; always check out the forecast at CAIC.
Lake Agnes
State Forest State Park: 5 miles, 1000 feet elevation gain
I already covered this in my State Forest State Park Cabin entry, so head to my “Day 1” summary for details.
Ouzel Falls
Rocky Mountain National Park: 7.4 miles, 1130 feet elevation gain
This hike is so much fun that it does not feel like 7.4 miles at all. We tackled this the day after Christmas of 2020. We brought snowshoes but ended up not needing them, although I’m sure under different conditions you do need them. We did need to use microspikes to walk on some very icy parts of the trail.
Part of what makes it so fun is there a lot of landmarks along the way. For winter, you park at the road closure near Copeland Lake and walk down the road to the trailhead. We quickly came upon Copeland Falls once we got on the trail.
The hike through the forest was gorgeous to Calypso Cascades, the next landmark, a beautiful frozen falls.
From Calypso Cascades you start to head up to Ouzel Falls and get views of Mount Meeker and Longs Peak.
That first photo is Ouzel Falls themselves. We sat at a viewpoint overlooking the mountains before heading back. It’s gorgeous up there!
Vance’s Cabin
Ski Cooper, Leadville: 5.5 miles, 800 feet elevation gain
This hike near Leadville is in a beautiful part of Colorado with views of the Holy Cross Wilderness, Mount Elbert, and Mount Massive. You actually start right at Ski Cooper. The trail leads to a 10th Mountain Division Hut, but you stop short of heading down to the cabin and enjoy a gorgeous mountain panorama. We did this on a gorgeous day at the end of January. After heading down a groomed road, snowshoes were one hundred percent required (some people cross-country ski here too). We struggled snowshoeing uphill, but then snowshoed through what seemed like a magical snowy forest before getting to the open view. We saw very few people, and this was a wonderful winter adventure.
Mayflower Gulch
Copper Mountain/Leadville/Breckenridge: 3 miles to cabins, about 600 feet elevation gain
When we started this on a cold but sunny December day the temperatures were in the single digits. There are a ton of skiiers who pack down the trail, which opens up to a beautiful view and cabin ruins from a historic mining camp. We did not need snowshoes until we headed past the cabins to explore Gold Hill and watched the backcountry skiiers come down.
Fountain Valley Loop
Roxborough State Park: 2.3 miles, 324 feet elevation gain.
This is a favorite of Nick and I’s year round, but seeing the red rocks here after a good snow is pure magic! This trail is fairly flat, gorgeous with several lookouts, and has a historic cabin. You get views both through and overlooking the red rocks, and we see deer here frequently. We just wore microspikes, and I doubt you would typically need snowshoes unless there was a big, recent storm!
Well I could go on and on, but that’s it for now! I am looking forward to spring, with some continued snowshoeing but also warmer weather and flowers coming out in the Denver area in May.