Lizard Head Trail to Wilson Meadows

The Lizard Head Trail crosses through the eastern part of the mountainous Lizard Head Wilderness Area in southwest Colorado south of Telluride along Highway 145.

From the trail head at Lizard Head Pass, at 10,250 feet, the route starts north, cuts west behind Black Face Mountain and then north again. About 1.5 miles along the trail, a side trail descends into a basin area called Wilson Meadows. It is about a 6 mile round trip to visit this scenic spot.

The Wilson Meadows Trail runs more or less parallel with the Lizard head Trail. In late June there was still too much snow in the spruce forest to follow the Lizard head Trail to its junction with the Cross Mountain Trail and make a loop hike. The Lizard Head Peak is 13,113 feet.

The first mile of the Lizard Head Trail heads north to a point that overlooks Trout Lake through the aspen, spruce and fir forest. The trail then has several switchbacks giving higher and better views. There are several scree slopes on the west side of the trail. The road that runs along the north side of Trout Lake is part of the Galloping Goose Trail, a 21 mile route from Lizard Head Pass to Telluride that follows the old railroad grade.

At about the 2 mile point there is a trail sign pointing left and down and unlikely clay hill. From above it doesn’t appear that the trail could possibly go this way, but it does. This is about 20 minutes of hiking before arriving at Wilson Meadows. I’ve followed what appears to be the more likely trail straight ahead and it leads to a sloping meadow area that is scenic but not as good as Wilson Meadows.

Wilson Meadows receives snowmelt from many directions and is soggy in the bottoms area, and rich with wildflowers. The area is a basin surrounded by peaks on all sides. The peaks to the immediate northwest of Lizards Head aren’t named on the map I had but are about 12,000 to 13,000 feet high. Wilsons Creek drains the meadows, flowing to the north.

This might be San Bernardo Mountain on the north side at 11,861 feet. It took me about 2:00 hours to arrive at Wilson Meadows where I lingered for about 1:00 hour.

My return hike took 1:30 hours for a total hike of 4:30 hours. I carried two liters of water on a June day that was about 55 F when I started at 9:00 AM and 68 F at 1:30 PM. It was a clear day with some wind gusts in the exposed spots.

Bear Creek Falls Trail

The Bear Creek Falls Trail is a popular 2.2 mile climb up along Bear Creek on the south side of Telluride Town in southwest Colorado.

The Trailhead is on the south end of Pine Street and is right off of the San Miguel River Trail that scenically flows through town.

I started my hike from the free parking lot on the southwest side of town and walked for 10 or 15 minutes along the River Trail before arriving at the Bear Creek Trail Head. There is an interpretive map of the trail posted near the Trail Head that describes some points of interest. The trail climbs a little more than 1000 feet.

There were quite a few hikers on the wide trail in early June, also joggers, dog walkers, families with children and one mountain biker. I’m always impressed in Telluride by how many nice looking dogs there are here, and how well behaved they all seem to be. Not mentioned on the interpretive map is the view of the in town beaver pond that is along the River Trail.

The forest along here is mostly Aspens and Engelmann Spruce and there are mountain views in both directions. Some of the points of interest are related to the mining era, but these are mostly sites without much remaining. The remains of a flume run across the trail and there are a few cables visible here and there.

Just below the falls one of the points of interest is called The Big Rock. Among the mountains visible back to the north along the trail are Greenback Mountain and St. Sophia’s Ridge.

Just before the Bear Creek Falls there is a trail junction with the Wasatch Trail for those who want to keep going higher. The Wasatch trail is a single track trail rather than an old road. It switchbacks steeply along a side creek for about 0.5 miles then turns south, still climbing but not as steeply.

The map I had showed a possible loop route off the Wasatch Trail into Mountain Village. Otherwise, the Wasatch Trail continues toward the Ophir area.

I went about one mile up the trail before running into snow patches that were somewhat hazardous without technical equipment and met two climbers who said it got worse further up, so I turned back. I was able to get across the snow patches pictured here but I did it awkwardly and didn’t like it.

The snow patches had flowing water below them and besides the danger of skidding several hundred yards down the steep slope, there was also a danger of a snow bridge collapsing.

From my starting point it took me 1:15 to reach the Bear Creek Falls and I continued about 1 mile further in another hour. Going down took me about 1:40 hours for a total hike of nearly 4 hours for about 7.5 miles.