Lone Cone Trail and Woods Lake Loop

The Woods Lake area is a Trailhead for the Woods Lake, Wilson Mesa, and Lone Cone Trails. Woods Lake is about 10 miles west of Telluride, Colorado on Highway 145, then 8 miles south on Fall Creek Road. There are several connecting tie trails near the campground and lake area that allow a 5 mile loop hike using the Lone Cone and Woods Lake Trails.

I started on the Woods Lake Trail and after about 10 minutes of walking turned right on the trail called the Woods Lake Tie. This segment climbs somewhat and heads west high above the south side of Woods Lake. The terrain here is thick Spruce and Fir forest. There are some glimpses of the lake but no clear views. I saw two Red Squirrels along this segment, sometimes called Pine Squirrels or Chickarees in Colorado. They scampered very close to me but were too quick for a picture.

There are two small creek crossings before arriving at a log bridge and a clearing in the forest. Across the bridge there is a trail junction with the Lone Cone Tie Trail. A right turn leads back toward the campground area. I turned left and continued on toward the longer loop options. It took me about 0:45 minutes to arrive at this junction.

This segment has some views over a meadow with Dolores Peak, Middle Peak and Dunn Peak visible. In late August many of the wildflowers looked finished for the season but there were several still in bloom.

About 10 minutes and a short distance further there is another trail junction that doesn’t appear on the trailhead map. There is a constructed water management channel with a service road along the side. The official trail continues west along the service road, but a hiker could turn back east and follow the road back to the campground. I continued west along the channel. The wildflowers were best along this watery segment.

I saw a porcupine along the channel segment. It was on the ground rather than in a tree and it didn’t run into the brush but instead turned its tail toward me and held its position, counting on its 15,000 to 30,000 quills as a deterrent. The service road segment ends at a flume and diversion structure. It is confusing at this point, but the trail crosses over some boards that are laying across the flume, and heads uphill following switchbacks.

After 1:30 hours total of hiking I arrived at the junction of the Lone Cone Trail and the Lone Cone Tie. I turned back at this junction and followed the Lone Cone Trail back to the trailhead area. The trail sign says 2 miles from the Woods Lake Trail to here but it felt more like 3 miles.

From the junction, the Lone Cone Trail looked like it was going to continue to climb through Aspen forest without any immediate good mountain views. Lone Cone Peak, the western most of the Colorado peaks over 12,000 feet isn’t visible from this loop route.

The return segment is gradually downhill through mostly Aspen forest with a park like understory. I saw a pair of Gray Jays along here. This return segment took about 0:50 minutes for a total hike of 2:20 hours for about 5 miles. It was a 72 F degree day with clouds starting to form rain showers in the late afternoon. I carried and drank 3 liters of water.