Jul 10
11
Bear Creek Trail- Ouray Colorado
Distance: 8.4 Miles to Yellow Jacket Mine
Elevation Gain: 2,700′
Starting Elevation: 8,400′
Rating: Moderate-Difficult
View From Bear Creek Trail
For the first official hike of this summer (I know….late start) we decided to tackle the Bear Creek Trail since we had heard so many good things about the hike and the views.
Bear Creek Trail starts just about 2 miles south of Ouray, Colorado right off of Highway 550. There is ample parking here so even on this Saturday morning we had no problems finding a spot.
The hike starts climbing immediately and gains 1,000 feet as it switches back several times along shale covered slopes. Once you get through those switchbacks the trail levels out a bit and follows a sheer ledge for about another mile. The trail is plenty wide with some drop offs on one side but I never felt terribly exposed. It is at this ledge area where you will start to appreciate all the grandeur of this part of Colorado. To the west you will be able to see the Dallas Divide along with incredible views of Mt. Sneffels (local 14er), and to the south the Red Mountains which are quite obvious and equally stunning. Below you, Bear Creek rumbles its way through this gorge and provides a wild background for your journey.
At about mile 2.4 you will see the ruins of Grizzly Mine. There are quite a few pieces of mining equipment strewn about that make you wonder how they managed to get all that heavy stuff up there along such a steep trail. Those miners were motivated! Continuing on up the trail for another 1.8 miles you reach the Yellow Jacket Mine lying in a similar state as Grizzly.
I was quite impressed with the wildflowers once you pass Grizzly mine there are an abundance of Indian Paintbrush, Lupines, Purple Penstemon, Columbine and several others I couldn’t identify. Suffice to say there was splashes of color most of the way.
I would recommend this hike for dogs since there was quite a bit of water along the way. Mostly small pools of water coming from waterfalls above. There were a few places where Bear Creek was accessible from the trail and Ginger had a blast. One note of caution; there is a lot of shale and sharp rocks on this trail so if your dogs paws are not accustomed to rough outdoor terrain, this could cause paw problems. Ginger’s paws were a little tender after but no cuts.
All in all this hike is well worth your efforts and you will see plenty of amazing vistas and beautiful wildflowers (in July & August). Bring your camera and extra food and water to make this a memorable hike. Plan a picnic lunch up at the Yellow Jacket mine where there a plenty of places to relax.
