Trip Report - Arapaho Pass

I need to write about this hike because it was wonderful and I would highly recommend it. It is also very well described in "Hiking Grand County, Colorado" by Deborah Carr and Lou Ladrigan. If you are considering hikes in this area, you should buy this book!

I started around 11:00 at Monarch Lake trail head. There are a ton of great trails starting from here. It is south of Grand Lake. You could even just hike around the lake, which is about 3.5 miles for an easy but scenic day hike.

Me at the Monarch Lake


From the trailhead, I hiked along the south side of the lake to the Arapaho Pass trail. The trail is long but only slightly uphill. It goes up a narrowing valley toward the continental divide. Where the trail crosses Arapaho Creek is a great spot for lunch. I think it took me about 2.5-3 hours to get here. There were tons of wildflowers, just a preview of what was ahead. The trial climbs more steeply (but not too bad) after crossing the creek. Then you get into some wide-open meadows with amazing wildflowers. They were out of this world. (according to the book they are "beyond belief").

Coyote Park - home to big meadows and wildflowers. The clouds were around my whole trip, unfortunately.


I reached my destination for the day after 5-6 hours. It was 8 miles so I was taking my time, but why hurry through such beautiful scenery? I camped at Caribou Lake. There was one guy with a dog, and a family of 4. But the campsites were pretty spaced out. For the most part, I felt like the only one there. You have to get a permit to camp in the Indian Peaks. It is $5, and there were people at the trailhead checking so you might as well get it ahead of time!

The clouds basically descended down to the lake as the day ended. By nightfall I was in the cloud and it was pretty moist and cold. But kind of neat, too.

Views from my campsite Thursday night

And Friday morning


Friday morning I almost didn't hike up Arapaho Pass because of the clouds, but I could see most of the way up the trail to the pass from my campsite so I set out by 8:00. It took a little less than an hour to get to the top. The views up there were amazing. You can also get to this pass from Boulder. I would recommend getting there any way you can! I just love being above treeline and this part of the hike did not disappoint. I spent some time laying on my stomach at an overlook, taking it all in and wishing the moment wouldn't end.

Me being very happy.

Where I came from

The trail from Arapaho to Caribou Pass went along this ledge and was very cool.


Caribou Pass is very close to Arapaho Pass. You have to hike along a ledge to get there. From Caribou, the descent really begins. Again, the wildflowers are incredible.

Columbine and heartleaf arnica

Lots of heartleaf arnica


After what seemed like a very long time, I got to the Junco Lake trailhead. From there, you turn right onto the High Lonesome trail, which is the Continental Divide Trail. I found it interesting that the ranger station there had piles and piles of chopped wood around it. So much so that I couldn't find the trail for a while because it was covered in chopped branches. And yet, just a few minutes into the trail all signs of maintenance disappeared and the trail was covered in fallen in trees. It was rough for a short person like me!

Also, the High Lonesome trail signage is disappointing. At one point it indicated I had only hiked .6 miles in an hour. Then distances to Monarch Lake changed between two signs. Also, I had the 3rd Edition Southern RMNP/Indian Peaks Wilderness Map. It shows the trail going to the left (west) of an unnamed, 10315' mountain. But the trail goes to the right (east), which is how it is in the book I referenced but didn't have with me on the hike. The book is from 2002 and the map is from 2005, so that is confusing. Reason is at this point you are in the Arapaho National Recreation Area, where logging is allowed and there are a lot of timber roads criss-crossing the trail. The CDT is reasonably well marked, though.

It doesn't help that the views on this trail do not compare to the ones from earlier that morning. I am not saying it isn't pretty, it's just not as dramatic. I was getting discouraged so I implemented a break every hour to put my feet up and help enjoy my trip better. That definitely helped, my feet were starting to hurt.

Eventually you get to a junction with an unnamed trail that goes down to Monarch Lake. this trail sucks. It descends 1200' in a little over a mile (depending on which sign you believe) and had probably close to a million switchbacks. I was really glad I had my trekking poles or else my knees would have been toast. But once you get back to the Southside trail it is smooth sailing. If I weren't looking forward to meeting up with Chris in Grand Lake, I would have gone for a dip in the lake, it is beautiful. Next time! Overall the hike for Friday was about 14 miles. According to my book, the total for the trip is 22.5. Do it!