Wilson Mesa Trail-Sunshine Trailhead

The Wilson Mesa Trail runs mostly east and west for about 13 miles on the northern edge of the Lizard Head Wilderness near Telluride in southwest Colorado. The east trailhead is at the south end of Sunshine Mesa Road. There are two other access points further west at Silver Pick Road and near Woods Lake.

Sunshine Mesa Road connects to the South Fork of the San Miguel Road and starts out straight, wide and smooth as it climbs. This lower road segment is a part of the Galloping Goose Trail. After the point where the Galloping Goose Trail branches off and becomes a single track trail, the Sunshine Mesa Road becomes narrow, rough and twisty with a few mud holes before arriving at the trail head.
 

The signs at the trailhead say Wilson Mesa Trail and 2 miles to the Lizard Head Trail and Bilk Creek. Practically speaking this is the trailhead for the north end of the Lizard Head Trail. The trailhead elevation is about 9760 feet.

About 0.8 miles along this wide and smooth segment, the Wilson Mesa Trail turns west and the old mining road continues south. The first 2 miles of trail are through thick Spruce, Fir and Aspen forest as the trail switchbacks down about 500 feet toward Bilk Creek and an open meadow and wetlands area. Near the bottom, there are some views of the mountains to the south.
 

The Bilk Creek crossing had a ramshackle bridge as recently as August 2009 but it appears to be gone in July 2011. The crossing was up to my knees and fairly swift in mid July, but not dangerous.
 

The segment along Bilk Creek and wetlands is the most scenic of the east end of the Wilson Mesa Trail. Looking upstream, the Wilson Peak group of mountains is on the right and the Sunshine Mountain group is on the left.
 

Looking downstream, the mountains to the north are the group on the north side of Highway 145 west of Telluride.

 About 3 miles down the trail there is a junction with the Lizard Head Trail. About 1 mile past this junction, the Wilson Mesa Trail leaves the meadow area along Bilk Creek and starts to climb towards the west. There was a herd of cows grazing comfortably near this point. After about 0.5 miles of climbing there is a large pond. I noticed a valve along the trail that makes this appear to be a constructed water management pond.

After 2:15 hours and about 5 miles, I turned around about 0.5 miles past the pond at a small creek near a fence that also appeared to be engineered for water management. On the return hike I noticed a good view up Bilk Creek that showed the Bilk Creek Falls and the Lizard Head Peak.

My return hike took 2:05 hours for a total hike of 4:20 hours for about 10 miles. I saw two motorcycle riders during my hike, but no other hikers or horse riders. At my 2:40 PM finish it was starting to cloud up, but I didn’t get caught in afternoon mid-summer rain. I carried and drank 3 liters of water on a 65 F degree day.

Bilk Creek Falls Loop Trail

The Bilk Creek Falls Loop Trail uses segments of the Lizard Head Trail and the Wilson Mesa Trail and an old mining road on the northern edge of the Lizard Head Wilderness near Telluride in southwest Colorado. The trail head is at the south end of Sunshine Mesa Road.

Sunshine Mesa Road connects to the South Fork of the San Miguel Road and starts out straight, wide and smooth as it climbs. This lower road segment is a part of the Galloping Goose Trail that runs about 21 miles north from Lizard Head Pass and connects to the Telluride Valley Floor Bike Trail. After the point where the Galloping Goose Trail branches off and becomes a single track trail, the Sunshine Mesa Road becomes narrow, rough and twisty with a few mud holes before arriving at the trail head.

The signs at the trail head say Wilson Mesa Trail and 2 miles to the Lizard Head Trail and Bilk Creek, though practically speaking this is the trail head for the Lizard Head Trail also. The trail head elevation is about 9760 feet. About 0.8 miles along this wide and smooth segment, the Wilson Mesa Trail turns west and the old mining road continues south. I continued south on the old mining road as it is the shorter route to the Bilk Creek Falls, but a hiker can choose either route.

The old mining road stays on the east side of Bilk Creek and is mostly in deep Engelmann Spruce and Aspen forest with a few views to the flanks of Wilson Peak. Just before the mining site the trail crosses Bilk Creek. When I hiked there was a hiker arranged log and plank bridge to aid the crossing.

The mining ruins site is notable in that somehow a large red tractor trailer had been pulled in there. Quite a bit of old hardware is inside the trailer and scattered around the site. About 0.5 miles past the mining ruins site, the Bilk Creek Falls start to come into view.

The falls is a series of falls and cascades. The forest is thick and the falls has carved a steep rocky chute I didn’t see an easy way to get close for a good view. The trail switch backs up the slope and there are higher views but no close ones.

I climbed the trail until I was near the same elevation as the top of the falls, about 10,400 feet. The trail continues up into Bilk Basin and then continues on toward the base of Lizard Head Peak. I hiked for 1:50 hours before turning around.

On the return hike I took the longer Lizard Head Trail segment to complete the loop. The trail junction is at the old mining site and the Lizard Head route is clearly marked. If you took this longer route first the old mining road on the other side of the creek might not be noticed and there isn’t a sign pointing it out.

The Lizard Head part of the loop stays on the west side of Bilk Creek for about 2 miles and passes through meadow areas offering some views to the north. There is another small falls a short distance below the main falls. The Lizard Head Trail officially ends at a trail junction with the Wilson Mesa Trail and it is another 3 miles back to the Sunshine Mesa Trail Head, climbing through forest back to the old mining road.

The return crosses a level section of Bilk Creek over a foot bridge that is falling into disrepair but is still useable (but missing by 2011). There might be some beaver ponds along this section of Bilk Creek. My total hike took 4:30 hours for about 9 miles using the loop route. The minimum hike to see the Bilk Creek Falls would be about 5 miles. It was about 60 F degrees at the trail head at 10:00 AM on an early August partly cloudy day. I carried 3 liters of water but only drank 2.