Hikes along the Dolores River in Colorado

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The head waters of the Dolores River are in the Lizard Head Pass area along Highway 145, south of Telluride in southwest Colorado. There are many trails in the area including a main trail head a little south of the Pass.

Groundhog Stock Trail

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.

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 places 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. Just west of the Meadows another headwater flows out of Navajo Lake and becomes the West Fork of the Dolores River.

Bear Creek Trail

The Bear Creek Trail is just off the highway in the Dolores River Valley, about halfway between Dolores and Telluride, and goes up into the National Forest toward the La Plata Range of the San Juan mountains in southwest Colorado.

The first few steps of the trail cross the Dolores River, which is really flowing following a good snow season. The trail alternates between being high on the valley side above the fast running creek or right down along the bank. The forest here is mostly tall spruce and aspen trees, with a few towering Ponderosa pines in the sunnier areas. In the spring the aspens way up high don't have any leaves yet. No glimpses of mountains along this trail, though the snow covered peaks are not far away.

I walked four miles to a trail junction at the Little Bear Creek, then walked back for a total of eight miles in four hours. The main trail crossed the Little Bear Creek but it would have been a tricky crossing today, the kind where you were sure to get wet, if not swept downstream. The trail continues on to the network of trails that wind around the forest to the west of Mt. Hesperus, Shark's Tooth, and the others in the La Plata range.

This trail is known to have some nice meadows, but I was disappointed that the meadows weren't lush with wildflowers, more like a grassy lawn that suffers from dandelions. Maybe it gets better later in the season. There was a marmot, similar to the eastern woodchuck, frolicking in one of the meadows.

Anasazi Heritage Center Interpretive Trail

The big bend of the Dolores River in southwest Colorado is now flooded under McPhee Reservoir, the second largest lake in the state. On the south bank, on the site of the Anasazi Heritage Center, there is a 0.5 mile interpretive Lookout Trail that describes some of the plants and natural history of the area.

In the 1920's the town of McPhee, CO, on the big bend of the Dolores River, was a busy timber town. They suffered some setbacks, such as devastating fires, and the site is now submerged, along with many Ancestral Pueblo ruins sites. In the 1980's a large dam a few miles downstream created McPhee Reservoir. Besides being scenic and providing fishing and boating opportunities, the reservoir stores irrigation water that flows around the area in canals and feeds the hay and bean fields making the area greener than it would be otherwise.

The trail up to the lookout point and Escalante Ruins site is paved and climbs with switchbacks. There are interpretive signs and benches along the way. This is a good botany trail with many of the key trees and shrubs identified with comments on their possible uses. The small museum and visitors center on the site provides displays on the vanished pueblo people and information on the numerous archaeology sites in the area. The Heritage Center also acts as a visitors center for the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument.

In 1776 the first European Explorers, led by two Spanish friars, Escalante and Dominguez, came through this area, searching for a new route to California. They stopped on this hill overlooking the River of Our Lady of Sorrows, the name they just gave it, and examined the ruins, reporting that they looked like the ones they had seen over closer to Sante Fe, NM. They wandered a little further north and west, but eventually wandered back without success. The expedition established part of the main branch of the Old Spanish Trail, a trade route that allowed goods to pass between California and the central part of North America.

There are two excavated ruins sites here named for the two Spanish Explorers. The larger site on the hill top is named for Escalante. This site is thought to date from 1129 and to show Chaco Canyon influence, though Chaco was in decline at this time and its influence was declining. The thick walls surrounding a central kiva and T shaped doors are among the Chaco characteristics There are remains of 18 other small ruins sites on this same hill.

McPhee Stock Trail

The McPhee Stock Trail starts at the Mataska Recreation Site just below the McPhee Dolores River Dam and climbs out of the Lone Dome Dolores River Canyon to the north rim. A trail from the south rim also accesses the dam area coming from the Sage Hen area.

The first part of the route climbs the service road to the toward the top of the dam and then switches back along a steep trail.

There are good views down the canyon of the lower Dolores River, a good trout fishing area. The water flow in the Dolores is controlled release from the dam. As the trail climbs, the main channel of the McPhee Reservoir comes into view along with the Beaver Creek arm. In the distance Mesa Verde is visible. The lower part of the trail is Pinon Pine and Utah Juniper with Gambel Oak forest.

The trail is steep for the first 30 minutes and then flattens out for about 15 minutes. With the elevation gain Ponderosa Pines start to dominate and there are a lot of Rocky Mountain Red Juniper, with softer blue green foliage than the similar Utah Juniper. There is another 15 minutes of climbing to the top of the mesa. Near the top the McPhee Dam comes into view. Both the reservoir and the river below are visible. Sleeping Ute Mountain is visible to the south.

After about 1:05 of mostly uphill hiking the trail veers through a corral area. I walked through the corrals to the forest road on the other side. The forest roads in the corral area are south of the Salter Y junction and also lead to the Dry Canyon fishing access point on the McPhee Reservoir. I stopped at the corral and returned to the canyon bottom for a total hike of 2:00 hours.

Dolores River Canyon

The Dolores River Canyon is downstream of the McPhee Reservoir and is close to Dove Creek, CO, the pinto bean capital. Driving there you go past rolling bean fields and then turn on to a gravel road and are suddenly descending hundreds of feet into a deep narrow canyon.

The flow in the Dolores river is controlled here, with most of the water diverted to irrigation. Following a good snow year, there is water for spring rafting runs, but if it's a dry year there is a lot of arguing between the raft outfitters and the irrigators, with the irrigators usually winning.

There is a rocky road along the river for about 12 miles and a rougher trail afterwards. My goal was to ride the 12 miles or go two hours in, which ever came first. Twelve miles in two hours doesn't seem like very much, but it was pretty rocky and there were a lot of puddles across the road from previous rain, or it could be that I'm just not that good of a rider. The scenery was impressive but mostly the same. One view after another of a sparkling stream in a steep walled canyon. There was one point where a cabin sized block of sandstone had landed right on the road, forcing a detour.

One of the hazards of wilderness adventure during the late summer is the possibility of thunderstorms. I thought I was watching the sky closely, but at the two hour point I noticed that the sky was beginning to darken in a hurry. Twenty minutes after I turned around the sprinkles started. Luckily, I had an emergency poncho, sort of a trash bag with sleeves and a hood. About 20 minutes later it really started pouring, water flowing down the road, mud everywhere wet. With the thunder crashing, I had visions of one of those big blocks of sandstone crashing down on me.

The rain wasn't so bad but it made the road unridable, mud gumming up the gears, brakes not very good, and slippery conditions. I faced the prospect of walking seven miles or so, pushing my bike, wading in muddy water. But the rain let up, and the last five miles didn't look like it got any rain at all, so I was able to complete the ride, four hours total.

I was a drowned rat at the end, soaked with sweat as much as rain, splattered with mud.

More on the Dolores River and the San Juan National Forest at http://4cornershikesdol.blogspot.com
Four Corners Hikes-Dolores River Valley

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