Tomboy Trail

The Tomboy Trail is a popular 4WD road that climbs toward the east along the north side of Telluride Canyon in southwest Colorado.

Five miles along the trail is the Tomboy mining ruins site and further is Imogene Pass and Ouray. The beginning of Tomboy Road is at the north end of Oak Street in Telluride.

I started my hike from the free parking area on the southwest side of Telluride and walked through the town streets a few blocks to Oak Street. There isn’t any parking at the intersection of Tomboy and Oak.

Tomboy Road is also the access for the east end of the Jud Wiebe Trail, a popular 2.7 mile loop that takes about 2 hours to hike. Climbing past the Jud Wiebe Trail Head, there are increasingly higher views toward Bridal Veil Falls and Ingram Falls at the east end of the Telluride Valley.

 The trail is a single lane rocky road with frequent wide spots. The surface is mostly easy to walk on and is steep but not as steep as mountain trails can sometimes be. There were quite a few commercial mountain tours going up the trail and several rented jeeps.

I saw three other hikers and no mountain bikes. The views are mostly open and the Aspen and Spruce forest is not noticed as much as usual. In mid July there are many wildflowers in bloom including some Columbines.

During the first half of the hike, Bridal Veil Falls, on the south side of the valley is frequently in view. The hike to Tomboy rises above the elevation of that also popular destination. There is one spot along Tomboy Road where Bear Creek Falls, Ingram Falls, and Bridal Veil Falls are all in view at the same time.

One interesting feature of this route is the short tunnel cut through the rock. After the tunnel, the trail is more level for about a mile and the main Telluride Valley goes out of sight. About one mile before the main Tomboy mining site, some outlying mining ruins start to appear.

The mining ruins along the Tomboy Road appear to be more devastated than one might expect. Another popular ghost town in the area is Alta, where the old buildings appear to be better preserved. There is an interpretive sign at the Tomboy site that says the town had a school, stores, stable and miner’s cabins. The mines started producing gold ore in 1894 and are 3000 feet higher than Telluride at about 11,800 feet.

The main Tomboy site looks like it was hit by tornados, a large scatter of debris without much standing. The surrounding area though is very scenic. It took me 3:00 hours to arrive at the Tomboy site and a quicker 2:00 hours to descend. With stops, my total hike was 5:30 hours for a little more than 10 miles. It was a mid 60s F day, partly cloudy with a few drops of rain. I carried and drank two liters of water.

Deep Creek Trail and Cornet Falls

The Deep Creek Trail travels for about 13 miles along the north side of the Telluride Valley in southwest Colorado. The east trail connection is along the western loop of the Jud Wiebe Trail. The Deep Creek Trail is part of a large trail system that offers several hiking options.

I started my hike from the free parking area on the southwest end of town and walked a few blocks through the pleasant streets of Telluride to the Jud Wiebe Trail head at the north end of Aspen Street. There doesn't appear to be any parking in the trail head area. At the trail head there is also a short trail leading to the Cornet Falls.

The Jud Wiebe Trail is a popular 2.7 mile loop back to the east. The first 0.8 miles of Jud Wiebe climbs steeply to the west and arrives at the east end connection of the Deep Creek Trail. Another 100 feet along the Deep Creek Trail there is a connection with the east end of the Sneffels Highline Trail that heads further north. It’s good to have a map of this trail system when hiking up here.

The Deep Creek Trail levels out and moves west offering high elevation views of the Telluride Valley. After about a mile it turns away from the valley and loops around the Mill Creek area eventually crossing a small bridge over a roaring plunging stream.

Along the trail there are old pipes and other artifacts from the mining era. High above Mill Creek a large waterfall is visible but the views are obscured by the thick forest. In this area the forest is Aspens, Douglas Firs and Engelmann Spruce.

Past the bridge, there is an access trail connecting to the Mill Creek Road leading back down to the valley floor. After the access trail junction, the trail begins climbing again for 2 miles to the western junction with the Sneffels Highline Trail. The trail signs indicated that the Sneffels loop is 8.2 miles back to the east connection with the Deep Creek Trail.

There are some meadow areas along this segment with great views of the mountains that lie north of the Telluride Valley. Wildflowers are moderately good along the whole length of the hike here.

I got a tip from another hiker that about 10 minutes north on the west connection of the Sneffels Trail there is a large rock outcrop giving great views in several directions. This rock outcrop appears to be a popular local destination. Besides views into Telluride Mountain Village and the mountains beyond, you can see a little into the Sneffels Basin to the north.

From this point the Deep Creek Trail continues west another 5 miles to Last Dollar Road, then another 4 miles or so along Deep Creek. It took me 2:40 hours to get to the rocky view point where I started my return back along the same route.

It took me 2:00 hours to return to the Jud Wiebe Trail Head, the return is mostly downhill. Back at the trail head, I hiked the short trail to the Cornet Falls.

There are two falls here and the higher falls is the most interesting, plunging as a narrow ribbon over the sandstone cliffs. It is possible to get under the falls. My total hike of about 11 miles took 5:30 hours. I carried two liters of water on a 70 F early July day that was partly cloudy with a few drops of scattered rain.

Lizard Head Trail to Wilson Meadows

The Lizard Head Trail crosses through the eastern part of the mountainous Lizard Head Wilderness Area in southwest Colorado south of Telluride along Highway 145.

From the trail head at Lizard Head Pass, at 10,250 feet, the route starts north, cuts west behind Black Face Mountain and then north again. About 1.5 miles along the trail, a side trail descends into a basin area called Wilson Meadows. It is about a 6 mile round trip to visit this scenic spot.

The Wilson Meadows Trail runs more or less parallel with the Lizard head Trail. In late June there was still too much snow in the spruce forest to follow the Lizard head Trail to its junction with the Cross Mountain Trail and make a loop hike. The Lizard Head Peak is 13,113 feet.

The first mile of the Lizard Head Trail heads north to a point that overlooks Trout Lake through the aspen, spruce and fir forest. The trail then has several switchbacks giving higher and better views. There are several scree slopes on the west side of the trail. The road that runs along the north side of Trout Lake is part of the Galloping Goose Trail, a 21 mile route from Lizard Head Pass to Telluride that follows the old railroad grade.

At about the 2 mile point there is a trail sign pointing left and down and unlikely clay hill. From above it doesn’t appear that the trail could possibly go this way, but it does. This is about 20 minutes of hiking before arriving at Wilson Meadows. I’ve followed what appears to be the more likely trail straight ahead and it leads to a sloping meadow area that is scenic but not as good as Wilson Meadows.

Wilson Meadows receives snowmelt from many directions and is soggy in the bottoms area, and rich with wildflowers. The area is a basin surrounded by peaks on all sides. The peaks to the immediate northwest of Lizards Head aren’t named on the map I had but are about 12,000 to 13,000 feet high. Wilsons Creek drains the meadows, flowing to the north.

This might be San Bernardo Mountain on the north side at 11,861 feet. It took me about 2:00 hours to arrive at Wilson Meadows where I lingered for about 1:00 hour.

My return hike took 1:30 hours for a total hike of 4:30 hours. I carried two liters of water on a June day that was about 55 F when I started at 9:00 AM and 68 F at 1:30 PM. It was a clear day with some wind gusts in the exposed spots.

Bear Creek Falls Trail

The Bear Creek Falls Trail is a popular 2.2 mile climb up along Bear Creek on the south side of Telluride Town in southwest Colorado.

The Trailhead is on the south end of Pine Street and is right off of the San Miguel River Trail that scenically flows through town.

I started my hike from the free parking lot on the southwest side of town and walked for 10 or 15 minutes along the River Trail before arriving at the Bear Creek Trail Head. There is an interpretive map of the trail posted near the Trail Head that describes some points of interest. The trail climbs a little more than 1000 feet.

There were quite a few hikers on the wide trail in early June, also joggers, dog walkers, families with children and one mountain biker. I’m always impressed in Telluride by how many nice looking dogs there are here, and how well behaved they all seem to be. Not mentioned on the interpretive map is the view of the in town beaver pond that is along the River Trail.

The forest along here is mostly Aspens and Engelmann Spruce and there are mountain views in both directions. Some of the points of interest are related to the mining era, but these are mostly sites without much remaining. The remains of a flume run across the trail and there are a few cables visible here and there.

Just below the falls one of the points of interest is called The Big Rock. Among the mountains visible back to the north along the trail are Greenback Mountain and St. Sophia’s Ridge.

Just before the Bear Creek Falls there is a trail junction with the Wasatch Trail for those who want to keep going higher. The Wasatch trail is a single track trail rather than an old road. It switchbacks steeply along a side creek for about 0.5 miles then turns south, still climbing but not as steeply.

The map I had showed a possible loop route off the Wasatch Trail into Mountain Village. Otherwise, the Wasatch Trail continues toward the Ophir area.

I went about one mile up the trail before running into snow patches that were somewhat hazardous without technical equipment and met two climbers who said it got worse further up, so I turned back. I was able to get across the snow patches pictured here but I did it awkwardly and didn’t like it.

The snow patches had flowing water below them and besides the danger of skidding several hundred yards down the steep slope, there was also a danger of a snow bridge collapsing.

From my starting point it took me 1:15 to reach the Bear Creek Falls and I continued about 1 mile further in another hour. Going down took me about 1:40 hours for a total hike of nearly 4 hours for about 7.5 miles.

Cross Mountain Trail to Lizard Head Peak

The Cross Mountain Trail is in the Lizard Head Wilderness in the San Juan National Forest in southwest Colorado.  The starting elevation at the trail head is about 10,080 feet. The elevation at the junction with the Lizard Head Trail, below the peak, is about 12,000 feet.

The trail directly approaches the signature Lizard Head Peak and connects to a network of trails that visit this area of high peaks including Colorado 14ers Mt. Wilson and El Diente.

The Cross Mountain Trail Head is about two miles south of the Lizard Head Pass on the west side of Highway 145. There are other trail heads at the Lizard Head pass also, including the Wilson Meadows Trail and the Galloping Goose Trail. This trail head also provides access to the Groundhog Stock Trail,  and the East Fork Trail begins directly across the highway on the east side.

After passing the junction leading left with the Groundhog Stock Trail that travels to The Meadows area, the trail cuts through a thick forest of Fir and Spruce, and then it opens on to a high meadow giving spectacular mountain views.

To the south is Cross Mountain, 12,703 ft, showing off an orange color. The group of mountains to the east of the Lizard Head Pass show some similar colors.

Lizard head is an odd formation, a spike that sticks up, in an area with a mostly normally shaped mountain peaks. The elevation is given at 13,113 feet. From this angle it doesn't look like the head of a lizard, but it does stand out and is visible in the Cortez, CO area more than 60 miles away.

It took me about 2:15 hours to go about 3 miles to the base of the Lizard Head, where there is a T junction with the Lizard Head Trail. I turned right and continued east along the trail, along the base of the Head for a few more minutes to a point where is a saddle giving views of all the peaks to the east.

The trail leading to the left goes into the Bilk Basin where there is a large waterfall. Try viewing from the different angle there before deciding if the Lizard Head is mis-named

The Lizard Head Trail going east connects to the Wilson Meadows Trail that starts at the Lizard Head Pass allowing for a loop hike. This segment stays snowy longer into the season than other segments of the trail. The Lizard Head is very difficult to climb due to the rotten nature of the rock and is only for extreme experts.