Scotch Creek Trail

The Scotch Creek Trail is a 5.5 mile 4WD road connecting to the Colorado Trail and following a historic toll road route from the mining era. The trail head is east off of Highway 145 about 3 miles south of Rico in southwest Colorado.

At the trail head there is an interpretive sign explaining the history of the road. The mining riches of Rico needed a transportation connection with the Animas Valley on the east side of the mountains. The trail head elevation is about 8720 feet and the climb is about 1660 feet to 10,380 feet.
 

 The first segment of trail follows the Scotch Creek closely and passes through an area with many scree slopes below the eroding formations. The forest is thick with Aspen and Spruce and Fir. I heard the loud squeaks of the rabbit relative pikas in the scree slopes but didn’t see one.

There are a few sunny and rocky glades along the lower segment with wildflowers. In late June there were a few flowers but not spectacular. The walking surface was reasonably smooth and the grade is gradual and easy in the lower segment. There are two small creek crossings, one might get your feet wet.

After about 3 miles and 1:40 hours of hiking the trail switchbacks away from the Scotch Creek and becomes steeper. As the route climbs, there are glimpses through the thick forest of some of the peaks to the north.
 

There is a short segment where the views open up north to what I think are Dolores Mountain, Blackhawk Mountain and Whitecap Mountain, all over 12,000 feet.

A little further, some more distant mountain tops come into view. In late June the trail at the top was snow free with a few snow patches in shady spots off the trail.

It took me 2:45 hours to reach the junction with the Colorado Trail at Forest Roads 550 and 564. Looking at the map it looks like a descent to the east would arrive near the Durango Mountain Ski area.
 

The return hike took 2:30 hours for a total hike of 5:30 hours for 11 miles. It was 47 F degrees at the 8:40 AM start and 80 F degrees at my 2:10 PM finish. This was a 95 F degree day in Cortez, CO about 50 miles south. I carried and drank 3 liters of water. I saw two 4 WD vehicles during my hike but no other hikers or mountain bikers.