Hell's Hole Trail
From Hiking
| Hell's Hole Trail | ||
|---|---|---|
| Location: | Idaho Springs | |
| Maintained By: | National Forest Service | |
| Starting Elevation: | 9,800' | |
| Elevation Gain: | 1800' | |
| Length: | 8.5 miles | |
| Difficulty: | Strenuous | |
| Last Hiked: | 7/19/08 | |
[edit] Finding the Trail Head
From I-70 near the west end of Idaho Springs, take the Mount Evans Road (CO 103), and left on CR 114 (county road) to the West Chicago Creek Campground. Note that the turn off is just before the road starts climbing through a series of hairpin turns to Echo Lake. Parking at the trail head is just past the campground (the road continues on to Edith Lake, but is closed just past the trail head).
[edit] Description
The hike is through the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests. The trail is very steep for the first few miles, popping up to more than 11,000' and then leveling out. The lower part of the hike was characterized by mixed pine and aspen forest with Wild Roses, Columbines, Mountain Paintbrush, and Golden Banner along the trail.
In the higher reaches, the pines took over and sub-alpine flowers including Scrubby Cinquefoil, Sulfer Paintbrush, Bracted Lousewort, and Alpine Phlox are all along the trail. In the marshy areas, Marsh Marigold, Parry Primrose, and Bistort are common. At the top is a large, though not very well preserved cirque.
[edit] Experience
Oddly enough the Hell's Hole trail doesn't actually go to Hell's hole (apparently the cirque at the top of the West Chicago Creek. Instead, the trail follows the ridge on the west side of the West Chicago Creek canyon and ends up in a neighboring cirque. Even though the Hell's Hole Trail comes within a third of a mile of Hell's Hole (at about the same elevation), there's no trail connecting the two.
