Cross Mountain and Lizard Head Trail to Bilk Basin

The Cross Mountain Trail provides access to the middle part of the Lizard Head Trail in the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado.

It is about 3 miles with about 2000 feet elevation gain to reach the trail junction at the base of the iconic Lizard Head peak formation. A right turn heads east toward the Lizard Head Pass. A left turn heads north and descends into the very scenic Bilk Basin.

The Cross Mountain Trail Head is about 2 miles south of the Lizard Head Pass and south of Telluride along Highway 145. The starting elevation is about 10,000 ft. It took me about 2:00 hours of steady climbing to get to the trail junction. For the most part the trail passes through Engelmann Spruce forest, emerging into a tundra like area rich with wildflowers and wide views.

Starting the gradual descent into Bilk Basin I noticed a large herd of elk also heading for the basin across the shoulders of 12,703 ft. Cross Mountain. The herd of about 70 hesitated at the crest of the shoulder, seemingly because of me and another hiker and then turned and went back the way they had come, their plan for the day disrupted despite a seemingly safe distance.

The Bilk Basin is surrounded by high peaks on all sides with several creeks converging along the way and flowing north. The west side peaks include Gladstone Peak at 13, 913 ft. and Wilson Peak at 14,047 ft. Wilson Peak has an old road switch backing up the face that was access for old mines and now is a side trail off the Lizard Head Trail.

The trail descends down and crosses Bilk Creek and climbs the opposite shoulder. Looking back, from the Bilk Basin angle the Lizard Head looks more like a lizard head than the usual views of it. Just after crossing the creek there is a large rock cairn at a vague trail junction on the left and there is another smaller cairn further on. The maps of this area mention a falls and that was my goal.

Looking down the basin there are some signs of development in the distance. There is a trail head for this area ahead on Sunshine Road and some roads and small buildings are visible. In late July the wildflowers in Bilk Basin are very rich, fed by small streams flowing down the mountain sides.

The trail crosses a cascade of water tumbling down through the scree slopes and I stopped here, about 0.5 miles before the more spectacular Bilk Basin Falls. It had taken me 3:30 hours to get here and the trail crossing here looked a little tricky. The crossing is only about 4 feet wide but the water is flowing very fast and may involve a step that gets you wet up to your knee. The elevation at the cascade is about 11,100 feet and it is a climb of about 900 ft. back to the Cross Mountain trail junction.

It may be possible to bypass the cascade crossing and rejoin the trail by picking a route down through the forest and crossing the creek where the slope is more gradual. There seems to be a trail post a few hundred yards before the cascade that may mark an alternate route. The falls below are supposed to have a 300 foot drop.

My return hike took 2:40 hours for a total of 6:40 hours for about 9.6 miles. It was about 55 F degrees at the trail head at 9:00 AM in late July and got windy enough at the base of Lizard Head that I had to add a layer though it was still about the same temperature. It was about 70 F at the trail head at 3:50 PM when I finished. I carried 3 liters of water.