Brookside-McCurdy Trail

Views from the first accessible Campsite on the Bailey side.

The Brookside-McCurdy Trail is another close-in local hike to the Bailey area, and offers miles of beautiful Colorado backcountry access in the Lost Creek Wilderness area. The trail is a major North to South transection of this immense wilderness area, and offers everything from a nice day picnic hike to a 35 mile trek that could be stretched out to a week. The terrain varies nicely from mile to mile, heading through pine and aspen forests and high-mountain meadows alike, and you'll see some some splendid views along the way.

The trailhead can be accessed from either the Bailey or the Jefferson side of the park, or it can also be picked up at other spots along the way, including Lost Park Campground. From the Bailey entrance, it's a rather nice hike, offering several very accessible miles, with a mellow elevation gain, although the trail does get more aggressive after two miles or so in. As you can see from the attached image, the picnicking prospects are great here, and the first few miles provide a very nice experience for hikers of all different ability levels.

To get here, heading South on 285, take a left at the bridge by the Ace Hardware store in Downtown Bailey. You'll follow that Co Rd 64 past the Community Church and through a little neighborhood. When you hit the "Y" in the road, head left, and follow that dirt road for about another mile. You'll see the trailhead on clearly marked to the left.

Rosalie Trail

Changing Leaves on Rosalie Trail

In my last post about Rosalie peak and the surrounding area, I mentioned that, to get to the top of Rosalie, when you reach about 3/4 of a mile point in the hike, you should stick to Tanglewood Creek Trail; however, the alternative sign there points to "Rosalie Trail," which might justifiably be the cause of some confusion. Rosalie Trial really just skirts the base of Rosalie Peak, and takes hikers through the Mount Evans Wilderness Area, all the way up to the Mt. Bierstadt parking lot at the top of Guanella Pass. It's a gorgeous hike, and well worth your time.

This past weekend, we took the kids up for a longer hike to investigate the area. With the leaves changing quickly up here, we were in for quite an explosion of color, and the weather was perfect. After diverging from the Tanglewood Creek trail, there's a sold climb for a half mile or so, but then the trail flattens out in a lovely and dense Aspen forest. There are a bunch of great hike-in camp sights all along this section of the trail. After the forest section, it opens up a bit, with some great views of the 12 and 13 thousand foot peaks that surround the rest of the hike. This portion of the hike actually presents hikers with a bit of a descent, and you'll begin to hear the faint trickle of Deer Creek, which follows the lower portion of the trail for some time. We made it about three miles in on this particular trip, and then stopped for a play-filled break and a picnic at an shockingly green camp sight (the kind that inspires fairy stories) that butted up to the creek.

Although the six miles round trip was a bit tough on both our five and nine year olds, the views and amazing discoveries that we made along the way made it all worth while.

To get there: Heading South on 285 before Bailey, you take a right at the "Loaf'n'Jug" on Co RD 43 (Deer Creek Road). You take 43 all the way to the end (be careful where it intersects with 47--you want to stay to the left), where you'll see a "Fee Area" national forest campground. Pass the campground to the left, and stay on that road until it ends at the parking lot, which is the "Deer Creek Trail Head."

Rosalie Peak!

Marker for the Summit Ascent

Every morning my wife and I wake up to an amazing view out of our sliding glass doors--pine covered hills, with a beautiful bald peak, illuminated pink by the rising sun. The Peak's name is "Rosalie," and she stands at 13,575 feet. Ever since we moved into the house this past summer, I've had my sites set on summiting this peak so I could enjoy the view from the other side; this past week, I was able to do just that.

The ascent begins just past the Deer Creek Campground at the Tanglewood Creek trailhead on Co RD 43, here in Bailey, and follows Tanglewood Trail for the first several miles. Soon after the trail and the creek part ways, you head out of the dense forest cover, and into the alpine tundra above treeline. The initial climb above the forest is steep, but if you stick to the trail, recent improvements seem to have increased the accessibility of the switch-backs. You'll continue on past the first rock outcropping, and onto the initial saddleback, where the trail then splits to allow access to either the summit or Roosevelt Lakes. The summit trail is virtually nonexistent, so you have to keep an eye out for the post (really just a big stick, propped up by rocks), where you'll simply take a left and start heading "up," quite literally. The ascent now becomes even more steep, unless you chose to take you own switch route.

Summit view of Mt. Bierstadt (left) and Mt. Evans (right)

The tundra here does not contain as many flowers as some of the other high-country hikes I've done recently, but the variety of nice grasses and ground cover is beautiful. And, you'll meet some great prehistoric looking friends, as the hill is home to tons of huge, loud crickets. The final ascent continues for some time, and you will encounter one big false summit, but the last part of the hike is quite worth the effort, as you get a gorgeous view of Mt. Evans and Mt. Bierstadt, connected by the "Sawtooth" from the top. The view is so clear, in fact, that you can see cars heading up the Mt. Evans road! On the other side there's a perfect view of the Bailey area, and you can't miss the South Platte meandering through its very green valley.

After completing the summit hike, my hiking partner and I decided to also head down and check out Roosevelt Lakes, which are straight down the path from the above mentioned trail marker. They're beautiful little high mountain lakes, and it was hard to count the number of native brookies and rainbows that rose during the half hour or so we sat there. Beautiful!

All in all it was a nice hike, if a bit steep at times. Including the side journey, the entire trip took us just over six hours, and I think we covered close to ten miles in the day.

To get there: Heading South on 285 before Bailey, you take a right at the "Loaf'n'Jug" on Co RD 43 (Deer Creek Road). You take 43 all the way to the end (be careful where it intersects with 47--you want to stay to the left), where you'll see a "Fee Area" national forest campground. Pass the campground to the left, and stay on that road until it ends at the parking lot, which is the "Deer Creek Trail Head."

Tanglewood Trail

Tanglewood Creek

In preparation for some bigger hikes, the family and I decided to spend a few hours this week exploring the Tanglewood trail, which is one of the main entrances to the Mt. Evans Wilderness Area from this part of the 285 corridor. We were pleasantly surprised to find this lush, green hike nestled in so close to home. The trail follows Tanglewood Creek for the first three miles or so, and the well fed plants and constant trickle of the stream provided one of the nicest hikes I've been on in some time. You begin the hike well below treeline at a clean bright parking lot, and immediately see some great camping spots right off the beaten path--they're close-in, but feel secluded and private. As you head up the hill, there are tons of little hidden escapes like these, which are perfect for picnicking or a longer overnight stay.

We immediately began noticing the great variety of flora along the path, and topping the list were countless mushroom and toadstool varietals. It was fun getting the kids to pick out all the different types of fungi along the path--we turned it into a fun little naming game, in fact. My favorites were the ones that looked like new red potatoes, but I think my daughter liked the burnt marshmallows the best. For mid-August, the number of flowers still in bloom was quite impressive, and the kids found a ton of wild strawberries and raspberries along the way.

Brightly Colored Toadstool

We did pack a lunch on this trip, but really only planned to be out there for a few hours. It turned into a great 4-hour excursion, and the kids (who are 4 and 9) actually wanted to just keep going all afternoon. This was meant to be a scouting excursion for the upcoming Rosalie Peak trip I have planned with some friends for later this month; but, as serendipity would have it, it turned out to be a great full-day family excursion. The trail ultimately branches off, after treeline, to offer day trips to either the summit of Rosalie or to Roosevelt Lakes, both of which I plan to do this Autumn.

To get there: Heading South on 285 before Bailey, you take a right at the "Loaf'n'Jug" on Co RD 43 (Deer Creek Road). You take 43 all the way to the end (be careful where it intersects with 47--you want to stay to the left), where you'll see a "Fee Area" national forest campground. Pass the campground to the left, and stay on that road until it ends at the parking lot, which is the "Deer Creek Trail Head."

The Falls at Wellington Lake

For our first close-in camping trip of the year, we decided to stay the night at Wellington Lake. It's about 20 minutes outside of Bailey (or less, depending on the washboards), and a very nice wooded drive in. The Lake is first-come-first-serve camping, and they charge per person for day or overnight access (it's all the same price). The lake is nice, although a bit barren looking upon first entering the area; however, the campsites range from lake-view sites (they told me at the front desk that these fill up by Thursday on most summer weekends, so get there early), to some nice large and secluded forest spots. We didn't have our canoe, and so happily opted for the second choice. It was very secluded and quiet--a great spot.

Wellington Lake Falls, from Above

Anyhow, in the morning we woke up at 8-ish and had a little breakfast, and took the advice we'd received from the lady at check-in to do the Waterfall hike. Although not overly strenuous, it's a gorgeous little walk. The trail begins in a very green and flowery meadow, and  quickly is covered in dense wet forest. It's magical feeling, really, almost like a trail in Oregon or like something out of a Grimm story. The hike heads up the hill, and branches off to the longer Castle trail hike, which we didn't take this time, but rather went to the falls and hiked next to them for another half mile or so. There are some gorgeous cave-like structures under some of the falls, and the views of the lake and hills beyond from the boulders above are quite nice.

On the way out, we stopped in at the Cutthroat Cafe for a more proper breakfast. I believe I had the breakfast burrito, which is about my favorite thing after a nice hike. Overall, it was a fantastic day.

To get there: Heading South on 285, take a left immediately at the bottom of Crow Hill (right before you get into Downtown Bailey) and head take the road that follows the Platte out of two for 11 miles.

Mt. Bailey--Great 30 Minute Mini-hike!

Summit of Mt. Bailey

So, the most local hike here at the top of Crow Hill is the little rocky peak full of cell towers that looms over the community. Mt. Bailey. It's not a huge hike, but steep and a good workout (both on the heart and lungs on the up and on the thighs on the down) if you hike the hill quickly. 

The views from the top of the North Platte winding its way through lush valleys are world class, and the playground adjacent to the parking lot makes it easy to persuade the kids into joining the fun (I make them do the hike first, and then they get to play as a treat)!

Directions: From 285, in Bailey, you exit on Co RD 72 (just South of the Loaf-n-Jug), and take a left under the highway. Follow 72 to Burland Dr., and take a right. You'll see the park (Weakland Fawkes) on your right after about a mile.