Willow Divide Trail

The Willow Divide Trail is a 30 mile loop ATV trail, and Forest Road 727, that climbs about 2000 feet to the high mesa area between the West Fork of the Dolores River and Fish Creek in the San Juan National Forest in southwest Colorado. This area is just to the southwest of the Lizard Head Wilderness Area.

I started at the south trail head along Forest Road 535. Traveling from the south this is about 25 miles north of the town of Dolores along paved roads. From Telluride, Road 535 intersects with Highway 145 a few miles south of Lizard Head Pass and is marked as the Dunton Road.
The trail is a 4WD drive road that climbs steadily with switchbacks. The lower part of the route has good views to the south down the West Fork valley and across the valley to Stoner Mesa. There are other trail heads nearby, the Goble Trail and Fish Creek Trails are just to the south and the north end of the Stoner Mesa Trail is across the valley on top of the mesa. Further up the views open up to the north toward the Rico Mountains. I was hoping to see the high peaks of the Lizard Head area but no luck. The lower trail forest has Ponderosa Pines and Aspens and Gambel Oak and a few Narrow Leaf Cottonwoods.

After 2:00 hours and about five miles I arrived at what I took to be the loop junction. I stayed to the right, still on Road 727, which seemed to continue to climb slightly.

The route to the left is narrower and seems to stay along a level contour. The forest here is dominated more by Engelmann Spruce and there are views to the west over Fish Creek to Black Mesa.

I continued on for another 40 minutes and there were a few glimpses of Dolores Peak and a distant glimpse of El Diente but the views were mostly obscured by the thick forest.
I think that the north end of this route has the second hut on the Durango to Moab hut to hut mountain bike route but I didn't go that far. The first hut is near Bolam Pass at the east end of the East Fork Trail. I turned around after 2:40 hours and returned for a total hike of 5:00 hours.

Groundhog Stock Trail-East

This east five mile segment of the Groundhog Stock Trail starts at the Cross Mountain Trail Head, about two miles south of the Lizard Head Pass in the San Juan National Forest in southwest Colorado. There is also a western segment near the Navajo Lake and Burro Bridge Trails.

After about ten minutes on the Cross Mountain Trail, the Groundhog Stock Trail branches off to the left and travels to the southwest along the edge of the Lizard Head Wilderness Area. This area has three of the Colorado 14ers, plus the unique Lizard Head formation.

The first mile of the trail passes through thick spruce and fir forest. There were some mud holes and some spots where the trail is a little vague through this area.

 After about 45 minutes the trail arrives at a flower filled moist meadow, then exits the thick forest.

After the forest meadow the route opens up giving good views and descends steeply down to Slate Creek where there is a footbridge.

 Slate Creek flows down and becomes an early contributor to the Dolores River near the Cayton Campground. There is the second smaller Coke Oven Creek a little further on.

After Slate Creek the trail grade is reasonably flat through a long area of meadows with islands of spruce and fir. There are good mountain views both ahead and behind and lots of summer wildflowers in the meadows.

The last segment of trail passes along the north side of a very wide and long meadow area. There was a confusing spot where an old road section of trail appears to dead end when entering the meadow. The inconspicuous single track trail continues to the right around the shoulder, avoiding the mushy spots below.

The trail ends at the east end of The Meadows along Forest Road 535, and the south flanks of Mount Wilson come into view. I took about 4:30 hours to walk this 10 mile out and back route.

East Fork Trail-Lizard Head Pass

The East Fork Trail climbs up toward Bolam Pass along the East Fork of the Dolores River just to the east of the Lizard Head Wilderness in southwest Colorado. The trailhead is along Highway 145 about two miles south of Lizard Head Pass.


At the start of the hike there are good views to the west to the Lizard Head and Cross Mountain and to the south down the Dolores Valley.

The trail is well above the stream and passes through islands of mostly Engelmann Spruce and open meadows. The trail is used quite a bit by horse riders and some mountain bikers. It seems to part of the hut to hut Durango to Moab bike route.

I spent a few minutes telling a struggling rider what I knew about the route from the Bolam Hut west past Lizard Head to the next hut. The first four miles of the trail has a mild grade, with some mild rolling up and down.
About 2.5 miles along the route there are two creek crossings back to back, deep enough to get your feet wet. These are the North Twin Creek and the South Twin Creek, flowing down from the Sheep Mountain group of peaks that form the east side of the valley, but are hidden from view by the forest.

There aren't many long views along this trail. There are views down to the East Fork River below and across the meadows and many sections pass through the islands of tall spruce. The meadow areas along the trail are thick with wildflowers. After four miles the grade gets a little steeper.

I was looking for a marker that said Bolam Pass but didn't see one. At the end of my route I was on a rough road that had a small sign indicating it was part of the Colorado Trail.

I turned around after 3:20 hours at a point where I could see mountains both to the east and the west and the road seemed to be leading back down hill. Going back was a little quicker than going up and my total hike was 6:00 hours and about 12 miles.

Kilpacker Trail

Kilpacker Trail is an alternate route leading to Navajo Lake from the south side of the Lizard Head Wilderness, near Telluride in southwest Colorado.

The Navajo Lake Trail head is about 1.2 miles to the west. The two trails run parallel to the north for about three miles. The Kilpacker Trail provides access to the Kilpacker Creek Basin for those attempting to climb El Diente, at 14,159 feet, one of the Colorado 14ers. El Diente is a tooth shaped peak just to the north of Mt. Wilson, also a 14er.

I started my hike about 1.5 miles east of the trail head, to view the wide expanse of The Meadows. Continuing on the first section of the Kilpacker Trail gives a longer view of this spectacular area.

The trail is mostly through thick spruce and fir forest with occasional views of Dolores Peak to the west. The nearby Navajo Lake Trail travels more through open meadows and the mountains are more visible. After about one hour and about 2.3 miles, I arrived at Kilpacker Creek.

A little before the creek I noticed a sign and a trail to the right that said "El Diente Peak Route". This is the route that climbers take up the basin to get into position to climb the "Big Tooth".

The Kilpacker Creek had a small waterfall in the vicinity of the trail crossing. There wasn't an easy way to cross the creek without getting my feet wet.
I back tracked from the falls to the El Diente Peak Route and followed that route for 15 minutes uphill until it also reached the Kilpacker Creek.

There was a better glimpse of El Diente here. Looking at some climbers reports on El Diente later, I saw that there are two waterfalls further up the basin.

My hike on Kilpacker was about 1:00 hours to the Creek, another 0:30 to go up and back the climbers route, and another 1:00 back to the trail head for a total of 2:15. I spent an additional 1:00 hour walking along the Meadows road as part of the same hike.

The Meadows at Lizard Head Wilderness

The Meadows is an area along Forest Road 535 in the San Juan National Forest just south of the Lizard Head Wilderness in southwest Colorado. The expanse of green sits below one of the famous Colorado 14ers, Mount Wilson at 14,246 feet. Another 14er, El Diente is just out of view behind Mt. Wilson.

I arrived from the south, driving up the West Fork of the Dolores Road and parked at the junction with Forest Road 471 which leads back to the south to the Calico and Winter trailheads. This area can also be accessed on the Dunton Road south of Lizard Head Pass from Highway 145. I hiked to the west toward the Kilpacker Trail, about 1.5 miles away.
 

Gazing to the west there is a glimpse of Dolores Peak, no slouch at 13,290 feet, and an oddly placed cabin site.

 Looking back to the east is the mountain group that overlooks Lizard Head Pass and the Trout Lake area. The Groundhog Stock Driveway Trail leads that way and connects to the Cross Mountain Trail, part of the Lizard Head Trail System.

The old cabin sits along Meadows Creek. The low areas of the meadows area are often a little mushy, but it appears possible to walk along the edges all the way around.
 

There is a dirt road turnoff leading to the Kilpacker Trail Head. Looking back to the east, there is a full length view of the meadows and the mountains to the east of Lizard Head Pass. I continued on the Kilpacker Trail, hiking around the area for 3:15 hours.