18 July 2008
Waldo Canyon
Posted by kris under: Trails .
Name of Trial: Waldo Canyon
Total Distance: 6.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 1,000 feet
Difficulty: Moderate Hard
Hike Type: Loop
Starting Location: Take Highway 24 from I-25 for 7.7 miles until you reach the trailhead on your right (north) side.
The parking lot for the trail comes up fast on the north side of Highway 24th so you have to be ready for it (there is a trail sign with an error right at the beginning of the right hand turn before you reach the parking lot). On a nice weekend during the summer the parking lot gets fool very quickly so you might want to go early if you can. Once you reach the parking lot you will find the trailhead at the east edge. The first part of the trail is a little steep but it soon levels off and it is a gradual incline for about 1.25 miles. Soon after you start, there is a great overlook that branches off to the right. There are some great geological structures here and a little sign that talks about the rocks and what they are made of.
As you continue along the trail you will reach the top of the first ridge and then walk down the other side a little ways. At this point all of the road noise from Highway 24 goes completely silent and you are left with beautiful views and the peace and quite of nature. As you go along you start to move into more of a forest section of the trail, at this point it has been a little over 1.5 miles and you reach the loop sections of the trail.
I took the loop to the right and found it to be steep and gravely for about half of a mile, after which it levels off and becomes more of a slight incline. There are some excellent views of the different rock layers and some signs along the way that explain how these were formed. As you go along you crest another ridge and start to go back towards the forested area. The trail continues to pop in and out of the forest and I continued to see many lizards that would dart all over the trail in the more dry open sections of the trail. For the last 1.5 miles of the loop you are in the forest again and you get a chance to walk along the stream. At one point there is an option to take a trail that goes west to Cascade but if you go east you continue around the loop. After the loop meets up again you head back into the more open desert region and along a nice descent back to the parking lot.
One of the nice things about this trail is its great diversity in ecosystems. You go from the high desert with many lizards, low brush and rocky terrain to a lush dense forest with a stream flowing through it. I really liked this hike because of its variation in terrain as well as the fantastic views and geological structures.
To see photos that I took while on my hike go to my Photo Gallery.
3 Comments so far...
Williams Canyon Trail | Hiking in Colorado Says:
28 August 2008 at 12:23 am.
[...] about 1.75 miles there is a fork in the trail. If you go to the left you will go to the Waldo Canyon Trail and to the right you will go to Rampart Range Road. The one bad thing about going to the right is [...]
dry loop Says:
29 November 2008 at 8:18 pm.
Calling a cellphone a mere phone seems a little silly these days. The little pocket wonders now do so much they are really handheld computers. With extras. The process of mashing one or more gadgets together in the same box used to be
