5 Gorgeous Hikes near Silverton, CO
Ice Lakes Basin
8.3+ miles round trip, 2,877 ft elevation gain - One of the most famous hikes in Colorado, and by far the most famous hike near the Silverton area, Ice Lakes Basin is a hike you cannot miss. It has everything you are looking for in a Colorado hike - beautiful wildflower meadows, waterfalls, and alpine lakes. This mileage is for the two Ice Lakes, but honestly my favorite lake is Island Lake, which is only adds another mile.
Tips for Best Experience: This trail is extremely popular and you are not allowed to camp in the parking lot overnight. There is a campground right across from the trailhead (South Mineral), or dispersed camping nearby. We like to start this hike 1-2 hours before sunrise, to catch the sun coming up over the meadow. It also ensures that you will get to park in the parking lot and beat most of the crowds. This trail is best hiked July-September. Our first time hiking this trail was in mid July and it was perfect. This most recent time was in the beginning of June, and all of the lakes were still frozen. Also - download AllTrails - we missed the upper lake the first time around and went to Island Lake instead (a happy mistake). Once you are up to the lower Ice Lake, Upper Ice Lake is in one direction, and Island Lake is in the opposite direction.
2. Red Mountain No. 3
5.6 miles round trip, 1,824 ft elevation gain - The views from this hike are so breathtaking that we had to hike it again for a second time in the same week. We have never seen mountains this color before in the US. We first saw the three red mountains on our drive into Silverton from Ouray and wondered how we could get a closer look. There is a private road that allows hikers (no vehicles allowed) to get to Red Mountain No 3. We parked across the street near the Black Bear Pass Trailhead and walked on the private road past two gates (that clearly state no vehicles are allowed) and private homes until we reached the top with 360 views. It is a moderately challenging hike as it is a bit steep, but the trail is a dirt/gravel road, so not too difficult.
Tips For Best Experience: It is hard to get lost on this trail as you follow the road the entire way up. However, there is a section of the road that veers off to to the right twice during the hike, so make sure to continue straight up, past the two gates. On our way back down it was pitch dark and we accidentally took a wrong turn. Luckily we had the AllTrails map downloaded to find our way to where our car was parked. If you are going during daylight hours, you should not have any issues. There were not many hikers on this trail (we only saw two other people), so no need to go at any specific time of the day to beat the crowds. We recommend not hiking here any early than mid June or July as there is snow that is still melting on the trail and on the red mountains during this time.
3. Ouray Perimeter Trail
6 miles, 1,512 ft elevation gain - This trail is in the town Ouray instead of Silverton, but it is only 25 miles away, and it is a town that is definitely worth checking out while you are in the area. There are many areas in town where you can start this trail (we recommend Box Canyon Park or Cascade Falls Park). We liked this trail for its amazing views of the town during the entire hike as well as the opportunity to see two stunning waterfalls. Although we did see others hiking near Cascade Falls (a very popular area), we only saw a few others hiking the perimeter.
Tips for Best Experience: We chose to hike here near the beginning of June and in the evening, and had the majority of the trail to ourselves. This is a very popular trail, however, most people hike it mid day. I suggest going early in the morning, during a weekday, or in the evening if you like solitude.
4. Cascade Creek Trail
11.7 miles, 1,745 elevation gain - We discovered this trail when we were camping in Silverton, waiting for some of the alpine lakes to thaw in June. We decided to start looking for waterfall hikes instead, and discovered Cascade Creek Trail. This trail is more difficult than we thought it would be, but you don’t have to hike the entire 12 miles to have some spectacular views. A few miles in you will arrive at Engine Creek Falls on your right. The trail continues several miles after this waterfall, following Cascade Creek and going past wildflower meadows, until you eventually arrive at a second waterfall.
Tips For Best Experience: This trail is called Cascade Creek East Fork trail on AllTrails. We were unaware of this when we hiked it, and went off some inaccurate GPS coordinates we found on a blog, making it a bit more challenging. This trail took us longer than we expected, so allow for several hours of hiking. Follow the directions from the Forest Service website to find the parking area. We missed it the first time (it is not marked anywhere on the road). You can access the parking lot by 2WD, but have to walk quite a ways to the trailhead from the parking lot (we clocked in over a mile of walking on the road). There is another place to park further up the road, but a high clearance 4wD is required and there is not as many spots for parking. Eventually you come to a gate, and right past this is the start of the trail. Continue straight and follow Cascade Creek (on your left), to arrive at Engine Falls.
5. Adrenaline Falls
4 miles, 219 ft elevation gain - If you want a short hike with a lot of payoff, this one is for you. Although the “hike” is more just a steep downhill walk to the waterfall, the waterfall itself is gorgeous and a popular place for cliff jumping in late summer (it was much too rapid when we were there in June).
Tips For Best Experience: You will need a 4x4 with high clearance to get to the trailhead, otherwise you will have to walk the road for a 1-2 miles to get here. The road is flat and would be an easy hike, but there is no way we would have got here without high clearance, as the road is very rough. There is also no parking area near the waterfall, we just had to park on the side of the road. The trail is not marked and we only found it because we had AllTrails downloaded and knew the relative location of the trail. It is not easy to find if you do not know what you are looking for. We did have cell reception out near the trailhead.
