Blue Lake Trailhead (#959)

The first two miles of the trail follows an old wagon trail crossing footbridges over Joe Wright Creek and Fall Creek before entering the Rawah Wilderness. The trail continues to climb toward Blue Lake and Hang Lake. Blue Lake, which is five miles from the trailhead, is a very popular destination or turn-around point. Both lakes are surrounded and protected by a ¼-mile camping closure zone. A short 2.4 mile climb to the north past Blue Lake and a descent to a junction with West Branch trail (#960) allow easy access to Island and Carey Lakes, the Rawah Trail (#961), Twin Crater Lakes, and Grassy Pass. Backpackers often arrange shuttles, entering by the Blue Lake trail and leaving via the West Branch or Rawah trails.  PLEASE NOTE:  This trail was heavily burned during the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire. Now the trail passes through both heavily impacted areas of burned trees and areas that showcase the common mosaic of burned and unburned forest found after a fire. The fire did not reach the alpine tundra.  

Sawmill Creek

Sawmill Creek is primarily used in the wintertime. This drainage offers unique skiing for most ability levels. Park at the Blue Lake Trailhead and walk 100 yards west along Colorado Highway 14 and over the highway bridge (watch for cars and snowplows). Do not park directly in front of the trail or you may be ticketed or plowed in by the snowplow. Follow the old logging road 1.5 miles into a giant clear-cut. This area is good for skiing and snowshoeing only if there is adequate snow - otherwise there are logs and stumps. The trail forks here. For the more adventurous, continue west across the clear cut and follow faint old roads and trails towards timberline. The left fork continues about 1.5 miles, and the right fork about 2 miles as the Sawmill Creek drainage continues to steepen. Near timberline pick your way up into either the north or south cirques of Sawmill Creek. While the skiing is fantastic up here, so is the avalanche danger.