Snowshoe on a fire road off Guanella Pass

Distance: 5 miles round trip
Elevation: 9,971 to 10,597 ft
Elevation Gain: ~626 ft

View at our turn around point. I think this is Argentine Peak.

If you love the seclusion of the trees, don’t mind finding your way, and hate the hordes, this is the trail for you. This trail begins on north side of Guanella Pass and starts up Leavenworth Road, which heads towards the Waldorf Mine. There was no street sign for this road, but it occurs at the first major switchback coming up from Georgetown. In summer you see many ATV carriers parked here.

Heading up the first fire road right after the turn off of Leavenworth Road. This section was quite steep.

Hard packed snow, dogs and trees.

Within 0.7 miles, the route leaves the road, which continues sharply upwards towards the right, and follows a series of fire roads up the drainage. You can always tell that you are heading in the right direction by the persistent power lines heading west. The road will be about 200 yards and several hundred feet above on the right. In several locations I thought we had rejoined the road, but this was just another side road, not Leavenworth.

There are many old mining roads in the area. This bare spot led to some metal structures. Also note the huge ruts in the snow and the bare spots.

Typical secluded nature of the trail

Most of the elevation gain is in the first mile. I am always amazed at how steep a trail can be when coming down. Half the time while ascending you are just sucking wind and not quite sure why. The elevation gain is masked by the excitement of getting out and the reduced pace that inevitably occurs on the ascent.

Snowshoe tracks cross one of the more open areas

Creek crossing

There is little or no mountain scenery on this trail, but there are Aspens, meadows, and the sound of a crackling brook. On this trip, there was little to no snow for the first 1.5 miles but after that, it picked up. Our guide for the day reported doing this trail in waist deep snow, so it is highly variable depending upon the year. This year has seen a dearth of snow on the Front Range so it is not surprising that we were on hard packed ice.

The view of the Guanella Pass Rd from the Trail. The road is now in the valley.

The group hitting the last switchback before the cars.

The other nice thing about this trail is that you can really go the distance if you like. We decided to turn around at 2.5 miles but could have gone further. To get to the bowl that the scenic Waldorf Mine sits in would require several more miles and a tree-lined lined ridge to cross over, however, so continuing would not have resulted in any views for quite a while. On skis it might be doable because you can go farther faster. You can also take the road, which is about 6 miles (one way) to the mine.

Special thanks to Suzanne, Stacy, and company for inviting me along on their outing.