You still have an adventurous mile of uphill hiking to go. Cairns mark the way, but it’s easy to miss one and get off track. If this happens, retrace your steps and rejoin the route, which proceeds through an interesting network of waterways, grottoes, marshes, and boulders. Keep at it until you break into the cirque. Here Cirque Lake glitters below you, and there are good seats on the rocks for gaping at the cliffs above.
Emmaline Lake is a few minutes farther, tucked beneath Comanche Peak. Early rancher Frank Koenig kindly named this lake for his mother, and named many other nearby features when he became one of the original rangers of Rocky Mountain National Park. By then the folks at the U.S. Geological Survey had already named the valley “Pingree.” Today, many wish they had chosen another name.
George Pingree came here in 1867 to cut trees for railroad ties, which he floated down the Poudre and sold to Union Pacific. When the railroad moved on, so did Pingree. Three years earlier, Pingree participated in the massacre of Native American women, children, and older men at Sand Creek, in southeast Colorado. He collected 13 scalps that day and was proud of it; in fact, he was reportedly indignant about being jailed for 10 days.
Asters along Emmaline Lake Trail
Indignation cuts both ways. In 2015, shortly after the 150th anniversary of Sand Creek, CSU changed the name of its longtime mountain facility from Pingree Park Campus to Mountain Campus.
Emmaline Lake
From Denver. Take I-25 north to Exit 269B, then CO 14 west and US 287 north through Fort Collins. After 10 miles, turn left onto CO 14 west, Poudre Canyon Road. Drive west 26 miles, then turn left to continue 15.5 miles to Pingree Park on CR 63E, a decent-quality dirt road. Turn right, drive past Tom Bennett Campground, and arrive at the small parking lot for Emmaline Lake Trailhead; additional parking is available farther along the road. 2 hours, 50 mins.
9 Big South
This walk takes you through deep moody forest and alongside powerfully rushing water in an upstream section of Colorado’s only Wild and Scenic River. Rock gorges, waterfalls, and remote wooded hillsides make for a beautiful outing.
At a Glance
Difficulty | Distance/Time | 7.5 miles/3.5 hours | |
Trail Conditions | Trailhead ElevationTotal Hiking Gain | 8,500 feet700 feet | |
Children | Features | River, waterfalls and gorges, forest | |
Scenery | Best Season | Spring and fall | |
Photo | Other Users | Horses, dogs on leash | |
Solitude | Notes | No toilets at trailhead | |
Property | Roosevelt National Forest, Comanche Peak Wilderness | Jurisdiction | U.S. Forest Service |
Get ready for some deep-woods walking along a wild section of the Cache la Poudre River. Here the river flows from south to north, draining the western slopes of the Mummy Range before making a big bend toward the plains. Hence the trail’s name: Big South (FS 944).
Begin in aromatic pine forest where the river can be heard but not seen. On the opposite side of the valley, steep hillsides drop to the source of the noise. Within half a mile you’ll enter Comanche Peak Wilderness and arrive in a dramatic gorge.
It’s wild indeed, in both a physical and official sense. From this point on to its headwaters, the Poudre is classified as “Wild” under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968; downstream portions are classified as “Scenic.” It’s the only river in Colorado to receive these designations (Oregon, in contrast, has 55), which prohibit the river from being dammed or otherwise have its free flow altered. The protection extends a quarter mile on each side of the river, and while it does not confer the same level of protection as a “Wilderness Area” designation, the fact that the river is embedded in Comanche Peak Wilderness gives it a belt-and-suspenders level of security.
Big South Trail
As the valley broadens, the trail follows the river from above, then traverses a hillside, reenters the forest, and ambles back to stream level. This sequence repeats again and again: a river bottom, a hillside traverse, lush woods, stream. It is a peaceful, mesmerizing pattern, and the miles roll by. The trail is well maintained by volunteers, but the forest is dense and you are bound to encounter some uncleared treefall.
At 1.5 miles you’ll pass through an aspen grove, then, half a mile farther on, you’ll reach another gorge. Cross a rockslide on an excellently crafted trail and enjoy good views of waterfalls below. Continue through mixed forest, then cross a bridge; from here the trail veers uphill from the river and its sound becomes faint. You’ll descend to rejoin the river, then leave again to climb the next mound.
After passing a seasonal pond, the trail descends via switchbacks to another gorge. This is a good turnaround point, at 3.75 miles—or you can continue; the next stretch is lovely with many good streamside picnic spots. In fact, you could continue onward in the Comanche Peak Wilderness for days, but this wild and scenic spot, about midway between two road access points to the river, is about as deep into the Poudre’s backwoods as you can get.
Cache la Poudre River, viewed through forest on the Big South Trail
This river is likely the one that explorer Stephen Long called “Pateros Creek” when he encountered it out on the plains in 1820. This name may have originated when a Frenchman was found wandering near the river it in a pitiful condition (pitoyable being French for “piteous”). The river’s current French name, Cache la Poudre, also comes from legend. In either the 1820s or 1830s, a company of French trappers was caught in a snowstorm while camping along the river. Forced to lighten their wagon loads, they reportedly dug a pit and cached some of their goods, including a store of gunpowder (poudre). After filling the pit, they burned some brush on top to make it look like an old campsite. Had I been in that group, I would have stayed very far away from the fire burning on top of the buried gunpowder!
From Denver. Take I-25 north to Exit 269B, then CO 14 west and US 287 north through Fort Collins. Turn left onto the continuation of CO 14 (Poudre Canyon Road) and proceed another 49 miles up Poudre Canyon to Big South Trailhead and its small parking area, on the left. 2 hours, 30 mins.
10 Trap Park
After an initial uphill stretch, this trail is a walk in the park. Views of graceful high ridges abound, and in nearer view is a riverine willow habitat favored by moose.
At a Glance
Difficulty | Distance/Time | 7 miles/3 hours | |
Trail Conditions | Trailhead ElevationTotal Hiking Gain | 10,000
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