wildflower hikes in crested butte Archives

Wildflower Hikes in Crested Butte

There are so many wildflower hikes in Crested Butte. In fact, you don’t even need to hike in mid-July to see amazing wildflowers as they line Washington Gulch Road, Gothic Road, and FS 317. It would be easy just to take a scenic drive to see the wildflowers in Crested Butte. Personally, however, one of my favorite pastimes is hiking through wildflowers, and Crested Butte is one of the best places to do this. There is a reason why Crested Butte calls itself the wildflower capital of Colorado.

HAPPY HIKING!

Happy Hiking: Hasley Basin Loop

With as many hikes as I’ve been doing in Crested Butte, I would normally try to condense them into a few blogs. But the wildflowers in Crested Butte during mid-July are simply remarkable. It’s hard enough to condense my daily barrage of photos just down to ten. As a result, each hike warrants its own post. Today, Hasley Basin Loop gets the honors.

HAPPY HIKING!

Happy Hiking: Rustler’s Gulch

Rustler’s Gulch is a 9 mile, heavily trafficked trail located in the Maroon Bells Snowmass Wilderness near Crested Butte, Colorado.

Getting to Rustler’s Gulch

Rustler’s Gulch is about 8 miles from town, but the drive takes about 30 minutes on the dirt road, FS 317. Don’t worry, FS 317 is passable by two-wheel drive car to this location, and the drive through mountainsides of wildflowers is spectacular.

HAPPY HIKING!

Happy hiking: Snodgrass Trail FS 317

I previously posted about hiking a portion of the Snodgrass Trail from the Washington Gulch side. Today I hiked the other portion of the trail beginning at the more popular start on FS 317.

While I loved the Washington Gulch side, the 3.3 mile lollipop loop from FS 317 was even better! It is hard to imagine with all the wildflower hikes in Crested Butte that I’ve completed this week, that they can keep topping one another. But it seems the Snodgrass Trail did just that!

Happy Hiking!

Happy Hiking: Judd Falls Trail

After a handful of challenging hikes in Crested Butte during the Wildflower Festival in mid-July, I picked an easy one Friday, Judd Falls Trail. This short, out-and-back 2.2-mile hike was perfect to get Annie a little exercise before I completed my “on the road” chores such as laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning VANgo and the like.

Happy Hiking!

Happy Hiking: Scarp Ridge

Today, during my two-week camping stay in Crested Butte, I hiked Scarp Ridge in the ghost town of Irwin.

Getting to Scarp Ridge Trail

Getting to Scarp Ridge Trail requires driving up a portion of Keebler Pass. The final mile, after Irwin Lake gets a little rocky and steep, but there are no low hanging trees and it is reasonably wide. I read many AllTrails reviews that almost scared me away, but VANgo handled it mightily. I’m glad I went!

Happy Hiking!

Happy Hiking: Snodgrass Trail

Wednesday was a day of dreary weather. As a result, I picked a trail I saw as I drove to my Crested Butte campsite off Washington Gulch Road. It turned out to be Snodgrass Trail which initially confused me, as the AllTrails app shows the trailhead off FS 317.

Happy Hiking!

Happy Hiking: Gothic Mountain

I’ve always wanted to visit Crested Butte during the Wildflower Festival. I finally did just that and for my first hike to Gothic Mountain via Trail 403 from Washington Gulch Road, they did not disappoint!

Happy Hiking!