Burro Bridge Trail

The Burro Bridge Trail, constructed in 2005, is 2.7 miles long and connects the Burro Bridge campground with the Groundhog Trail in the southwest side of the Lizard Head Wilderness in southwest Colorado. The Burro Bridge area is along the West Fork of the Dolores River, about 2 miles north of the Dunton mining town resort area.

There is a parking area at the trail head a short distance south of the campground. This area can also be accessed from Highway 145 south of Lizard Head Pass, climbing and crossing past the Meadows area and descending down toward the West Fork.

The trail climbs west from the campground with steep switchbacks to the mesa top through mostly Aspen forest with some scattered Engelmann Spruce. At the mesa top the route swings north and there are some open meadow areas. The elevation change is about 900 feet.

There are occasional glimpses of El Diente and the other San Miguel peaks through the thick forest on the climb up. The trail sometimes seems to disappear when crossing the meadows, but there are marker posts at the meadow margins to look for.

The best views are in the area near the trail junction with the Groundhog Trail. El Diente, at 14,159 feet, stands out and the basin north where Navajo Lake sits can be seen clearly. These views of El Diente are at a higher angle than the also good views along the nearby Navajo Lake Trail.

There are also views toward Dolores Peak to the west and the Lizard Head and Sheep Mountain area to the east. It took me 1:45 hours to travel the 2.7 miles to the junction.

I turned east on the Groundhog Trail which descends steeply toward the West Fork Dolores and a junction with the Navajo Lake Trail. This trail segment is about 1 mile. The roar of the stream can be heard before it comes into view. At the trail junction there is a foot bridge to cross the stream. This junction is only a short distance from the Navajo Lake trail head.

From the Navajo Lake trail head it is about 1.5 miles on the West Fork Road back to the Burro Bridge campground to complete a loop. This segment actually crosses the Burro Bridge and allows a close look at the roaring stream. My total hike took 3:30 hours for about 5.5 miles. I drank 2 liters of water on a 65 F degree mid June day.

San Miguel South Fork River Preserve

The South Fork of the San Miguel River has several day use areas in the lush riparian area along the stream. The largest is the Sheep Corrals area, with easy access to the river. About 1.5 miles south of the Sheep Corrals is the South Fork River Preserve, one of three Nature Conservancy preserves in the San Miguel watershed. 

This scenic and biologically rich area is south of Telluride and west of Highway 145 in southwest Colorado. There is an over head view of the area along the Galloping Goose Trail between Ames and the Sunshine Mesa Road.

The South Fork Preserve can be driven to directly, but if you want to hike, the South Fork Road offers scenic views and has very little traffic. Hiking south from the Sheep Corrals parking area, a trail head for the Sunshine Trail is on the left after about 0.5 miles. 

I looked to see if it was possible to hike along the stream, but it there isn’t a trail and some of the spots would be steep and overgrown. As the road approaches the Preserve there is a flooded area that is the work of beavers.

The Preserve has a boardwalk with a viewing platform. There are four interpretive signs that explain the San Miguel River Watershed, why riparian areas are important, the most common trees present here, and the San Juan Mountains.

Riparian areas make up about 2% of the west, yet about 90% of the wildlife uses these areas for food and shelter. The San Miguel watershed is one only two upper Colorado basin rivers that does not have a dam. The trees present here include the Colorado Blue Spruce, Aspens, Narrowleaf Cottonwoods, and Willows.

There is a well marked short trail leading from the viewing platform south along the South Fork River. The most obvious signs of wildlife along the trail are the works of beavers. I was surprised that they would take on such a large tree. Beavers clear the way for new growth and their constructions flood some areas and alter the flow in others.

In early June, the flow is at a peak and is roaring along. The Preserve trail is about 0.8 miles round trip and ends near the main road. Near the south end there is something of a stream cascade. The trail didn’t appear to be marked at the south end and might be hard to find other than at the viewing platform.

A hiker could loop back along the road or return the way he came. It took me 0:40 minutes to arrive at the viewing platform starting from the Sheep Corrals and 0:35 minutes to walk the trail inside the Preserve. There are several good viewing spots along the road before arriving at the Preserve.

Sunshine Trail

The Sunshine Trail makes a connection from the area near the Sunshine Campground along Highway 145 with the area near the Sheep Corrals Day Use Area along the South Fork of the San Miguel River. This area is a few miles south of Telluride in southwest Colorado. The Sunshine Trail is unusual in that there isn’t a trailhead parking area at either end of the trail. The horizontal distance is about 2 miles and there is about 1200 feet of elevation change.

I parked at the Sheep Corrals Day Use Area which is about 0.5 miles north of the Sunshine Trail junction with the South Fork Road. This area is a good riparian area, lush with Colorado Blue Spruce and Aspens, with Willow and Narrow Leaf Cottonwoods along the stream. The trail climbs steeply with curvy switchbacks. This route is open to mountain bikes and horses in addition to hikers.

About one fourth of the way up the hill there are the remains of an old flume. The other trail that is in this area is the Galloping Goose Trail on the opposite side of the valley. As the trail climbs, the transition of the Goose Trail to Sunshine Road can be spotted. This area has a rich history of mining activity and artifacts from the past are often visible along the trails.

The highlight views along the Sunshine Trail are toward Sunshine Mountain. In early June, there is still a lot of snow and the melt fed roar of the South Fork River can be heard all the way to the top of the trail. Sunshine Mountain is listed at 12,930 feet. The best mountain views are in the lower two thirds of the trail, the views near the top of the trail are blocked by the thick Aspen forest. It took me 1:40 hours to climb to the trail sign at the top along Highway 145. The trail might continue across the highway and connect to the Alta Lakes Road, but I turned around at the trail sign. My return to the bottom took 0:50 hours for a total of 2:40 hours between the trail signs. It was a 70 F degree early June day and I carried two liters of water.

Mountain Lions on the Trail

Hikers will only rarely see a mountain lion along the trails. From the fall of 2009 to fall 2010 an exhibit on the mountain lion is on display at the Center of Southwest Studies on the campus of Ft. Lewis College in Durango, CO.

The exhibit has a very realistic scene of a lion over a deer. A healthy lion will kill and eat a deer every week. Mountain lions have the largest range of any land mammal in the Americas. They can be found from northern Canada to the tip of South America. They can adapt to a variety of habitats, needing cover to hide where they can wait for and ambush prey. Their hind legs are longer than their front legs and they have great power for running and jumping. At a full sprint they can jump 45 feet. Their long tail helps them balance when they leap, climb, or run on narrow ledges.

They have very good hearing and can rotate their ears forward and back. Like humans, they have binocular vision and good depth perception. Their field of vision is 287 degrees, better than our 200 degrees. Their sense of smell is about 14 times better than ours. In Colorado they are most abundant in foothills, canyons or mesa country.

They are more at home in brushy areas and woodlands than in forests or open prairies, or generally any area that has a lot of deer. In Colorado, population estimates range from 3,000 to 7,000 mountain lions. A lion's natural life span is probably about 12 years in the wild and up to 25 years in captivity.

Mountain lions stalk their prey and sit and wait for the right moment to attack. They usually hunt from dusk to dawn and may travel during the day. When successful they will hide their catch and return to it over a period of time. By keeping the deer population in check, the plant community benefits by avoiding the excessive deer browsing.

Some of the signs that hikers can look for are the tracks which are round with three lobes at the rear of the heel pad and no claw marks. The scat is similar to dogs, but will be more segmented with signs of hair and bone. Males will mark their territory with scrapes and scratches on trees and small piles of brush. They tend to avoid occupied territories rather than fight for them. They are finicky eaters and will remove much of the hair of a deer rather than eat it.

Up to now I don’t think I have ever noticed any of these signs, but am now more aware than before. A program to promote awareness is the artistic “Pumas on Parade” effort. One of the “Pumas on Parade” art series is on display outside the exhibit at Ft. Lewis. The picture here is the “Sky Prowler” that appears at the Colorado Welcome Center in Cortez. The one at Ft. Lewis is blank white with some felt tip graffiti and a broken tail. The “Chuska Puma” is on display at the Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores.

Hikers on the ruins trails can keep an eye out for petroglyphs depicting the mountain lion. The large one shown here is described as being from Blue Mesa, Arizona. There is a Blue Mesa Trail in Petrified Forest National Park and two petroglyph panels nearby. When I searched for this image, I found it, but in a surprising location. You might stumble on it or you might want to ask the rangers at the historic Painted Dessert Inn.

The smaller one in the lower left is from Chaco Canyon. The Chaco Canyon lion is at stop 5 on the Petroglyph Trail that runs along the canyon wall between Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl. Most of those images are faint and hard to see, but the trail guide has a similar image. The popular and well known panel on the Petroglyph Trail at Mesa Verde has a lion that may represent a clan or an all powerful animal spirit.

The Colorado Department of Wildlife advises to stay calm if you come upon a lion. Talk calmly yet firmly to it. Move slowly. Stop or back away slowly. Do not run. Raise you arms to appear larger. If the lion behaves aggressively, throw stones, branches, or whatever you can get your hands on. Without crouching down or turning your back, fight back if a lion attacks you.

Telluride Waterfall Hikes

The hiking in the Telluride, Colorado area features several waterfalls as destinations. The mountain views are spectacular. There are also mining ruins and ghost towns to find and the forests are thick and lush.

The Bridal Veil Falls is probably the most famous of the Telluride Waterfalls. The steep switchback road starts at the east end of town at the end of the Idarado Legacy Trail. At the top of Bridal Veil Falls is an historic power plant that has been refurbished and is operating.

Further up the switchback road to Black Bear Pass in Ingram Falls. The 4WD route starts at about 9000 feet of elevation and climbs to over 10,000 feet. The view here is from the Tomboy Road Trail leading to one of the mining ruins sites.

Visiting Cornet Falls is the shortest hike, only 0.25 miles. The trail head is the same as the west arm of the Jed Wiebe Trail at the north end of Aspen Street. There is a series of two falls here, with the further one the most interesting.

The Bear Creek Falls Trail is a popular 2.2 mile hike on the south side of Telluride at the south end of Pine Street. This hike is so locally popular that it draws joggers not bothering to carry water bottles, just a morning workout.

Another waterfall in the area is the Bilk Creek Falls in the nearby Lizard Head Wilderness. The long way to this falls is to start at the Cross Mountain Trail Head, about two miles south of Lizard Head Pass, south of Telluride. Taking this route will pass by the top of the falls, but it is a long hike. The shorter hike is to follow the Sunshine Mesa Road to the Wilson Mesa Trail, then follow the Lizard Head Trail to the base of the falls.