My boots were the driest theyd been since day 1, and I really didnt want to get stuck in rain today.
Elk Park Train Stop to Needleton - Colorado | AllTrails We did this trip in September. Id say we averaged 5 people seen per day on days 1-4.
Absolute Best 5-7 Day Backpacking Trip ID,MT, or WY He had camped in this area, not by Eldorado, and thus had left the trail to set up his camp. Enjoy the hike, its a good one! Lisa really wanted a fire, and although I knew we could get one going, but I didnt want to go through the effort of gathering wood only to have it rain again . No hot dogs tonight, maybe night 3. By now, there were clouds brewing in all directions, but nothing serious yet. It was quite a sight to see, unlike anything Ive ever witnessed before. We kept the food bags in our packs too, which is kept in OPsaks. I figured more people would be out here doing the full loop like we were doing, but that clearly wasnt the case. Are you planning a backpacking adventure in the Weminuche Wilderness of southern Colorado? However, the clouds were building now and threatened to block the sun for the first time today. My knees were holding up very well so far this trip and I figured, why not? I love being above the treeline, and I was excited to hike today. We reached the drop off at Elk Park (about . Wed been in Colorado a week now, doing other cool stuff like the Colorado National Monument, Mesa Verde National Park, Denver & Boulder, Rocky Mountain National Park, Telluride, etc. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Most of our clothing was wet, including our backpacks and other gear, so we finally had a chance to dry them out some. Other trip reports Ive read have indicated that its been this way for years. Our most reliable digital map was from Garmin, within the Garmin Explore app on my phone. Sad to see all the beetle damage. So far, so good. By the time Lisa made it to the top, we had to continue down the other side immediately. It's mainly visited for hikers departing on overnight backpacking trips into Chicago Basin. One slice was probably between the size of a small and medium pizza at most places, but it was extremely thin. This was already painting a picture of what Chicago Basin might be like tomorrow, as it is supposed to be the most heavily used area in the Weminuche Wilderness. Columbine Pass The crowning jewel on our recent vacation to Colorado was an epic backpacking trip. Leave from Durango or Silverton and get off to explore at Elk Park, Needleton or one of the flagstops. After driving around town, we realized that there was zero parking available anywhere. Continental Divide Trail At the Divide, the trail connects with the Continental Divide Trail. Check out my AWESOME DIY stealth camper van build project! A group of seven hikers (2 men, 5 women) also loaded their packs, giving a total of 12 of us to be dropped at Elk Park. Heres my caltopo map of the Elk Park/Needleton hike: There are no fees or permits needed to hike or camp in the Weminuche Wilderness. Molas Lake to Animas River via Molas Trail, Vestal Basin via Colorado and Elk Creek Trail, Stony Pass, ATV Trail 821, and Cinnamon Pass OHV Route. The best times to visit this trail are June through October. Great hope they dont cause us any trouble tonight. One of the train employees told us a little about the history of the train and how things work. I asked one of the train workers if we could sit in the covered carts even though we had tickets for the open cart, and he said sure, if theres a seat available. I saw maybe 10 people on day 5, and probably about 60 on day 6. The San Juan mountains are notorious for being snowy and the best time is probably mid July to Mid September. There were 2 large pines growing 3 feet apart, creating a dry spot large enough for our tent, all out gear, places to sit, and more. Narrow Gauge Railroad preservation & legacy. The map in my trip report is generated from a wordpress plugin, where I uploaded my GPX file of the hike. Your email address will not be published. One option for a multi-day trip is from the Elk Park Train Stop to Needleton. Or some come at it from the opposite (Needleton) end, via Purgatory Flats Trail and the Animas River Trail (about 10 miles). Browse different rides & seasonal events. The train ride out of Durango and through the Rockwood Cut was quite enjoyable. Anyways, with breakfast in our stomachs and all our wet gear packed away, we hit the trail around 7:30. I watched the bolts of lightning in the distance for a while before going to bed. I just completed this route the July 11-15, 2022. We had a couple of long days and some short days with lots of time to relax. For your monthly pledge, at various tier levels starting at $5, you receive perks and benefits in return. Theres also a Deuter backpacking pack thats a standard size, if youre taller than I am! I couldnt resist the chance to whip out my Klymit Inertia X-Frame sleeping pad that I bought a few months back. Thanks for sharing. Elk Park Stop Elk Creek Trail This trail travels east from the railroad, climbing into the upper reaches of the Needle Mountains. Excellent trip, lots of varied terrain, meadows, forests, small mountain ponds and lakes, avalanche tree slides, large and small rock slides, multiple high passes with great views. Maybe, MAYBE in a low snow year but from what I can tell the west is getting quite a bit of powder this year so my guess would be July before the route is fully snow free. We saw a few more deer throughout the day, more snowshoe hare, and even a weasel. Early morning at the Durango-Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad station. I dont like to sit in the tent if I dont have to. Thanks for sharing. It was well worn and looked much less difficult than I had imagined. There are two main access points for the wilderness: Elk Park and Needleton. After lunch, we continued to climb in elevation until we reached the Miners Cabin just below the CDT. Lower elevations and farther south, definitely no snow and the spring melt off is going to be done by then. This trail is great for hiking, and it's unlikely you'll encounter many other people while exploring. 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Elk Park to Needleton Loop, plus side trips including:-Vestal Basin . Not too bad, but this was definitely not a class 2+ as described on 14ers.com. Passing through a colorful meadow on the morning of day 2, Nearing the treeline, the views start improving. West Needles Contiguous Wilderness Study Area. We used a Sawyer Squeeze water filter. Morning of day 2, climbing up the Colorado Trail, Going up a funky section of the Colorado Trail, below the Miners Cabin. There were many stream crossings and several large waterfalls that we passed, but due to the weather and number of miles we had to cover, we didnt spend any time checking most of them out. I've begun planning my adventures for this summer, and while there will be a handful of overnighters and long weekends, I've settled on the Elk Park-Needleton Loop for my main trip. Elk Park-Needleton Loop. Generally considered a moderately challenging route, it takes an average of 20 h 6 min to complete. We hiked from the Elk Park train stop to Needleton, which includes about 43 miles of hiking in the San Juan mountains. We chatted for a while and took turns taking pictures of each other before they headed down. The pictures dont even come close to being there first hand. Todays hike will take us the rest of the way up the Elk Creek drainage along the Colorado trail, where well hit the Continental Divide Trail, or CDT. What a place for a cabin! Nice! We played leap frog with the other groups of hikers most of the day as we passed them on their breaks and vice versa. However, after the first couple of miles and adjusting to altitude, I love it! Thank you for taking the time to write it! Seeking Lost: Thru-Hiking & Backpacking Adventures, Complete Weminuche Wilderness Photo Gallery, Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, 8 Day Rockhounding & Mineral Collecting in the Santa Teresa Mountains, AZ (Nov 2022), How Much Did It Cost?? I used to do that, but it gets expensive to print out those big maps all the time, especially for places I likely wont return to for years. Soon enough, wed be overtaken by the unavoidable fog. Caltopo is pretty awesome if you havent used it already. Cant wait to try this trip myself! None of them seemed very dry though. Dark skies now approached from all sides, and there was even some lightning in the distance. Route Standard route up to Twin Lakes, ascended Windoms West face. After setting up camp, I decided to go down to the creek to purify some water. How bad was the narrow passage near Chicago Basin? I didnt want to push Lisa too much in the first few days so I think the plan for days 1 and 2 were pretty good. It didnt rain extremely heavily at any time, but it was just so damn frequent. From above, I spotted a deer down below on the trail to Kite Lake. We camped at ~9300 ft. Apparently, they felt more threatened by that than the rocks whizzing by their heads. There were cairns here and there marking the way as well, which could be seen since the Twin Lakes. After staring me down for a minute, they decided to move in my direction. Getting down to the water and going through the process of purifying the water was a bit of a pain here, but I wanted to get it out of the way in case it started raining again. We had about 7 miles of downhill hiking to the train, which arrives at 3:30, and thus were not in a hurry. See the beauty of the San Juans on a guided tour. I was rewarded with an amazing view of the Weminuche Wilderness, unobstructed by clouds for the first time all week. The water was deep and fast flowing here. Id say we averaged about 4-5 bouts of rain per day. There is no cover up here by Eldorado Lake, which sits well above the treeline at 12,300ft. Sometimes 2 to a flower. On the Elk Park to Needleton loop, the emergency outs are limited. The plan was to camp at either Kite Lake or Eldorado Lake, whichever looked more appealing. Im considering doing this loop this summer and you have really helped! Once I gained a few hundred feet in elevation, I could see that there wasnt any threat of getting soaked and I took off the extra layers. This is when the fog really started growing. Wouldnt you know it, as soon as we got all the wood together, it started raining. Not once did we get wet crossing a stream. Seating is only guaranteed if you book a seat in advance. From there, youll have a choice of where youd like to go. Miles Hiked 7.4 After realizing that, I looked around and could see where the trail picked up again, and started hiking directly towards the trail in the distance. After checking our gear and getting set up, we were on our way. It even had some rails leading in and out of it. We settled for this spot and set up camp by 4pm or so. And what a campsite that would be, killer views! People really are friendly in Colorado! We passed many more campsites along the trail shortly after leaving our camp this morning. It has a mesh frame that holds the weight of the pack slightly off your back. We had to stand guard for a while to make sure they didnt walk right into our camp. Generally considered a challenging route, it takes an average of 11 h 10 min to complete. Two friends of mine and I did this backpack in 1995.
Elk Park Train Stop to Needleton | Map, Guide - Colorado | AllTrails 2. Parking is available at the Silverton Depot at no charge. Patreon is a service that allows you to provide monthly financial support to your favorite content creators. A few years ago, I was looking at hiking an alpine route (Pecos Wilderness in northern NM, and Rocky Mountain National Park) during the same time frame as you. Ran I to some bad weather that chased us out on the 2nd day but we saw a few moose on this trail. It looked like a nice spot, close to the water, but the views werent excellent. I took the driest looking campsite I could find, which wasnt saying much. Ive started research for a September 2017 trip and came across your report. They watched as I hiked right past them, which I did after taking a few pictures. I'll never forget it. This cabin would be a good place to wait out a storm, but its not suitable as an overnight shelter due to its condition. Amherst and Organ mountains in the background. Trail Name - Elk Park/Needleton Loop Location - Weminuche Wilderness in the San Juan National Forest, CO Park Type - National Forest, Wilderness Area Fees & Permits - None Length Of Time Hiked - 6 days, 5 nights Trail Type - Semi loop - Train drops you off and picks you up Miles Hiked - 48 Trail Difficulty - 8 Also, if youre looking for a GPX file, you can download that here http://metalbackpacker.com/gpx-files/. You can purchase a ticket to or from Elk Park onboard as long as space is availableno reservations are taken for this flag stop. instead of the 7:30AM train which stopped at Needleton. This hike is definitely a good one! My husband had an offline map downloaded in his Google Maps app, although we found it to be unreliable in the Vallecito Creek area. With about five minutes to go before arriving at Elk Park, one of conductors gather all of the backpackers and ask you to head to the front of the train. Just as I hit that switchback, a few hikers came into view on the way down from the CDT. I made it to the top before Lisa and snapped a few pictures before the rain returned moments later. You could see burnt trees the entire train ride, so I guess its a pretty real threat. Colorado Adventure 2022 San Juan Mountains Weminuche Wilderness Elk Park - Needleton Loop - YouTube Backpacking trip in the San Juan Mountains in July 2022. This snowshoe hare looks as if it could shoot lasers from its eyes, Campsite along the Elk Park trail, around 10,300ft. We definitely underestimated the length and altitude. Subscribe to receive an emial notification when new content is added, Sawtooth Mountains Idaho Landscape Photography Canvas Prints, Seeking Lost Logo Shirt - Unisex Softstyle T-Shirt, Basin and Range Trail Planning Kit: Guidebook, GPX, Maps, Waypoints, Water Chart, Vanadinite Mineral Specimen (North Geronimo Mine, AZ), Wulfenite on Fluorite Mineral Specimen (Red Cloud Mine, AZ). Between the trailhead marker and train stop was actually private property with a few shacks, cabins, and homes built. My group is collectively only able to go last week of May/first week of June. Eventually, it became steeper, to the point where there were some moments of exposure. Sure enough, they appeared at the top of the trail heading down to our camp from the main trail. Yes there is. The trail leading down to Kite Lake from the CDT, View of Kite Lake, before it disappeared in the growing fog. Not today, it gre more and more intense as time went on. Its an extra 9 miles I believe from Purgatory to Needleton. To board at a flagstop, you must be on the east side of the tracks. Everywhere along the horizon, fog could be seen rising from the mountains. As with the other days, we passed many streams and waterfalls on the way up. Obviously I skipped this route on our way up here, opting to go the traditional way up the switchbacks to the CDT, but I was curious if it was doable. On day four, we hiked along the 4wd road to Pole Creek and picked up our ride there. Save on outdoor activities, tours & rentals. The trail was much easier to hike than I was anticipating, and I was covering pretty good ground. However, Im sure you could find a clearing to put a tent somewhere. Definitely recommend to bring waterproofs shoes and pants to be comfortable. There were also a lot of flowers alongside the trail, and there were tons of butterflies on them. Carrying a backpack downhill has wreaked havoc on my knees on my last few hikes, but I was spared this time. We saw 3 hikers coming down Hunchback Pass earlier as we were going up, and didnt see anyone else today until we got about a mile from the Vallecito Creek Bridge. After 6 days of hiking, we couldnt wait to get to the hotel. I wonder how they get to their homes, since there are no roads anywhere near here. Learn more about this exciting opportunity for outdoor recreation youll find only in Durango. Were planning to do this trip in September 2022 and Ive got a couple of questions for you. The best times to visit this trail are May through September. We saw very little traffic through our area where we camped, despite being right next to the trail. The mountain goats I saw on the rocks earlier were in the same general spot on my way back. She said that several of them approached the campsite and some got extremely close. I only followed the drainage a short ways, but another 100ft away it appeared to drop off. One of the biggest drawing points of the Elk Creek trail is the unique opportunity to combine a Wilderness trip with a ride on a steam locomotive. At that point, one of our trek members sustained a significant ankle injury. Very clear and interesting. This route climbs 8,523 ft with a max elevation of 12,843 ft then descends -9,174 ft. Local Trail Association I packed a peanut butter sandwich, some jerky, and a Metrx bar to eat later, as well as 2 liters of water. Still, I was glad to have spent the night at Eldorado Lake. There was a new amazing view after every turn. Really, it shouldnt be called a creek, but a river instead. After taking some great photos near the lake, I started heading down. This is the beaver pond that people often reference when hiking this section of trail. Once on board, you'll be able to ride back to Durango or Silverton to finish your adventure. Lisa had a bit of trouble last year in the Maroon Bells when we hiked the Four Pass Loop, and I may have had a slight headache that first day as well. The water tasted great and was very cold. The hiker who told me about the mice up here had camped here last night. Our total distance was about 42 miles. While the wilderness area has many access points, one of the best approaches is from the Durango & Silverton railroad stop of Elk Park, just outside of Silverton. By the time we were leaving the treeline behind, foul weather had returned. Are there fishing opportunities along this route?
Weminuche Wilderness, CO - Elk Park/Needleton Loop Hike This hike primary route. Route Chicago Basin to Needleton train stop. At Twin Lakes, the terrain is a bit less hospitable, and fewer campsite options with all the rocks and stuff. Nine miles long, the route climbs 3,760 feet to the Continental Divide. Needless to say, our rain gear would be used heavily on this trip. Here's an overview! To close the loop I have to get from Needleton fo Elk Park (6.5mi). Trees blocked most of the views. Share Followers 0. I was following a GPX track on my GPS of another person who had hiked this loop, and his track led me off trail a little bit. Any feedback appreciated. Elk Park to Needleton Backpack Loop 5,560 views Aug 5, 2008 9 Dislike Share Save Elizabeth Black 394 subscribers From the steam engine train we backpack for 6 days on a 40 mile loop out in. It was about 1/3 the size of his sleeping pad, and as far as I know, is the lightest one on the market at 9.1 ounces. Highly recommend. The water in Elk Creek was super clear, so I didnt have to pre-filter any of it before using my Steri-Pen Opti UV water purifier. The Elk Park to Needleton backpacking loop near Silverton, Colorado, covers over 40 miles and features stunning mountain vistas. I just forwarded the link so he get get psyched up! We passed several waterfalls and areas of whitewater. I knew the vegetation was still wet from last evenings rain, and didnt feel like being soaked to the bone if the trail happens to go through dense foliage. The ones that did look edible werent ripe yet. What a morale booster it was. Eventually, I was able to scare them off pretty good by simply throwing my arms up in the air.