Hiking & Backpacking

Buena Vista & Salida, Colorado

Hiking & Backpacking

Buena Vista & Salida, Colorado

Hiking & Backpacking

Buena Vista & Salida, Colorado

Hiking & Backpacking

Buena Vista & Salida, Colorado

Hiking & Backpacking

Buena Vista & Salida, Colorado

Hiking & Backpacking

Buena Vista & Salida, Colorado

Hiking & Backpacking

Buena Vista & Salida, Colorado

Hiking & Backpacking

Buena Vista & Salida, Colorado

HIKING TRAIL GUIDE

Salida Hikes

Monarch Pass

Buena Vista Hikes

Four Mile Travel Management Area

- Davis Meadow Trail

Chalk Creek Road

Saint Elmo

- Alpine Tunnel
- Poplar Gulch

Cottonwood Pass

Independence Pass/Twin Lakes

Hiking & Backpacking

In Buena Vista & Salida, Colorado

Rimmed by the mighty Sawatch, Mosquito and Sangre de Cristo mountains, Chaffee County is a breathtaking place to get outdoors. Like sentinels lining the horizon to the west, Sawatch peaks dominate the Upper Arkansas Valley. Running some 100 miles, from south of Salida to north of Leadville, 15 of Colorado’s 58 14,000-foot peaks rise in the Sawatch. The range features four of the state’s five tallest peaks including Mount Elbert, at 14,440 feet the state’s highest and second only to California’s14,505-foot Mount Whitney in the lower 48. The Collegiate Peaks – five mountains named after colleges – are included in the Sawatch.

Interactive Hiking Map

Visitor Photos Hiking Buena Vista & Salida, Colorado

Care for Colorado – Are You Colo-Ready?

THREE MOUNTAIN RANGES

Surrounding The Arkansas River Valley

Sawatch Mountain Range

Running from north of Leadville to southwest of Salida, the Sawatch Range consists of 15 peaks of 14,000 feet or more including Mt. Elbert, at 14,440 feet the highest in Colorado and second highest in the lower 48 states. The Collegiate Peaks, named after five famous universities, are a part of the range.

Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range

Running south from Poncha Springs to Santa Fe, New Mexico. This portion of the Rocky Mountains is the southernmost subrange.
A wilderness area and multiple 14,000-foot peaks are located here, as well as the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.

Mosquito Mountain Range

Alpine tundra, adjoining forests and rare plant species are found in this area northeast of Buena Vista. The Mosquito Range features five fourteeers: Lincoln, Bross, Democrat, Cameron and Sherman. It is also home to the highest vehicle route in the country, Mosquito Pass, cresting at 13,185 feet.

SAWATCH RANGE FOURTEENERS

(Peaks over 14,000 feet or 5,000 Meters in elevation)

- Mt. Elbert 14,433
- Mt. Massive 14,421
- Mt. Harvard 14,420
- La Plata Peak 14,336
- Mt. Antero 14,269

- Mt. Shavano 14,229
- Mt. Princeton 14,197
- Mt. Belford 14,197
- Mt. Yale 14,196
- Mt. Tabeguache 14,155

- Mt. Oxford 14,153
- Mt. Columbia 14,073
- Missouri Mountain 14,067
- Mt. Huron 14,005
- Mountain of the Holy Cross 14,005

SAWATCH RANGE THIRTEENERS

(Peaks over 13,000 feet or 4,000 Meters in elevation)

- - Grizzly Pk A 13,988′
  - Ouray, Mt 13,971′
  - Ice Mtn 13,951′
  - French Mtn 13,940′
  - Hope A, Mt 13,933′
  - Casco Pk 13,908′
  - Emerald Pk 13,904′
  - Frasco BM 13,876′
  - Cronin Pk 13,870′
  - North Apostle 13,860′
  - Oklahoma, Mt 13,845′
  - Holy Cross Ridge 13,831′
  - Iowa Pk 13,831′
  - “Lackawanna” 13,823′
  - Rinker Pk 13,783′
  - Garfield Pk A 13,780′
  - PT 13,768 13,768′
  - “Magdalene Mtn” 13,762′
  - Deer Mt A 13,761′
  - Bull Hill A 13,761′
  - Aetna, Mt 13,745′
  - Sayres BM 13,738′
  - PT 13,736 13,736′
  - PT 13,712 13,712′
  - Twining Pk 13,711′
  - Grizzly Mtn 13,708′
  - Jackson, Mt 13,670′
  - White, Mt 13,667′
  - Carbonate Mtn A 13,663′
  - PT 13,660 B 13,660′
  - Taylor Mtn A 13,651′
  - Mamma, Mt 13,646′
  - Champion, Mt 13,646′
  - “Anderson Pk” 13,631′
  - “Esprit Point” 13,630′
  - PT 13,626 13,626′

- - Blaurock, Mt 13,616′
  - Jones Pk 13,604′
  - Cyclone Mtn A 13,596′
  - “Lo Carb” 13,591′
  - Cosgriff, Mt 13,588′
  - PT 13,580 C 13,580′
  - West Apostle 13,568′
  - PT 13,545 13,545′
  - Emma Burr Mtn 13,538′
  - “K 49” 13,535′
  - Ervin Pk 13,531′
  - Boulder Mtn 13,528′
  - Browns Pk 13,523′
  - PT 13,517 A 13,517′
  - “Petroleum Pk” 13,505′
  - PT 13,500 13,500′
  - Red Mtn B 13,500′
  - PT 13,472 A 13,472′
  - PT 13,472 B 13,472′
  - PT 13,463 13,463′
  - “Pear Pk” 13,462′
  - PT 13,462 13,462′
  - Quail Mtn 13,461′
  - PT 13,460 13,460′
  - “Mascot Pk” 13,435′
  - PT 13,433 13,433′
  - Jenkins Mtn 13,432′
  - Prize BM 13,384′
  - Williams Mtn 13,382′
  - Gold Dust Pk 13,382′
  - Geissler Mtn East 13,380′
  - PT 13,374 13,374′
  - Monumental Pk 13,369′
  - “Finnegan Pk” 13,346′
  - “Tincup Pk” 13,345′
  - Twin Pks B 13,333′

- - PT 13,322 13,322′
  - PT 13,317 13,317′
  - Williams Mtn South A 13,312′
  - “Booby Prize” 13,312′
  - Geissler Mtn West 13,301′
  - PT 13,300 A 13,300′
  - “Tellurium Pk” 13,300′
  - PT 13,300 D 13,300′
  - “Tigger Pk” 13,300′
  - PT 13,295 13,295′
  - Waverly Mtn 13,292′
  - “Wayah Pk” 13,284′
  - Truro Pk 13,282′
  - “Tabor Pk” 13,282′
  - Grizzly Pk E 13,281′
  - Whitney Pk 13,276′
  - Twin Pks B Northeast 13,270′
  - Pecks Pk 13,270′
  - Antora Pk 13,269′
  - “Sheep Rock Mtn” 13,255′
  - Henry Mtn 13,254′
  - “Van Wit” 13,254′
  - PT 13,253 13,253′
  - “PT 13,253 South” 13,253′
  - PT 13,248 13,248′
  - Notch Mtn 13,237′
  - PT 13,235 13,235′
  - Turner Pk 13,233′
  - PT 13,232 B 13,232′
  - PT 13,230 B 13,230′
  - Ellingwood Ridge 13,220′
  - Jones Mtn B 13,218′
  - Fairview Pk A 13,214′
  - PT 13,212 13,212′
  - Homestake Pk 13,209′
  - Gladstone Ridge 13,209′

- - Williams Mtn South B 13,203′
  - PT 13,202 13,202′
  - PT 13,198 13,198′
  - “Fancy Pk” 13,192′
  - Pomeroy Mtn A 13,151′
  - PT 13,147 13,147′
  - PT 13,145 B 13,145′
  - PT 13,140 A 13,140′
  - “West Virginia” 13,140′
  - “West Truro” 13,140′
  - Savage Pk 13,139′
  - Sewanee Pk 13,132′
  - “Pika Pk” 13,126′
  - Fitzpatrick Pk 13,112′
  - “Hancock Pk” 13,111′
  - Williams Mtn North 13,108′
  - PT 13,100 A 13,100′
  - Middle Mtn A 13,100′
  - Kreutzer, Mt 13,095′
  - PT 13,090 13,090′
  - Virginia Pk 13,088′
  - PT 13,085 13,085′
  - PT 13,078 13,078′
  - Winfield Pk 13,077′
  - “West Tellurium” 13,074′
  - PT 13,070 13,070′
  - “Igloo Pk” 13,060′
  - Middle Mtn B 13,060′
  - “Chalk Rock Mtn” 13,055′
  - PT 13,050 13,050′
  - Eagle Pk B 13,043′
  - Williams Mtn South C 13,033′
  - PT 13,026 13,026′
  - Van Wirt Mtn 13,024′
  - PT 13,003 13,003′
  - PT 13,001 13,001′

Local Trail Systems

Fourmile Travel Management Area

Off Buena Vista’s East Main Street, a foot and bike bridge leads to the Barbara Whipple and Midland trail systems, with routes over and around the Arkansas Hills and into the Fourmile Travel Management Area. West of town are a number of great rides starting with the Colorado Trail among a host of others.

Fourmile Map | Midland Map | Whipple Map

Salida Mountain Trails

In Salida, mountain bikers have a wide variety of trails to ride right from town on Arkansas Hills or Methodist Mountain trails. Among a multitude of choices outside of town, the famed Monarch Crest Trail starts at the top of Monarch Pass and connections to the Colorado Trail are just off U.S. 50 between Maysville and Garfield.

Arkansas Hills Trail Map | Methodist Mountain Trail Map

National Trail Systems

Colorado Trail

The Colorado Trail stretches 486 miles from Denver to Durango. Trail users experience six wilderness areas and eight mountain ranges topping out at 13,271 feet, just below Coney Summit at 13,334 feet. The average elevation is over 10,000 feet and it rises and falls dramatically. Users traveling from Denver to Durango climb 89,354 feet. The Chaffee County section is popular with day and overnight hikers alike.

The Colorado Trail Foundation

Continental Divide Trail

The Continental Divide separates the rivers and streams that flow eastward into the Atlantic Ocean from those that flow westward to the Pacific.

The portion of the Continental Divide in the United States is about 3,000 miles long – from Glacier National Park in Montana, south through the Rocky Mountains, to the Mexico border in southwest New Mexico.

The Sawatch Range segment in Chaffee County follows the flanks of Colorado’s highest peaks, with nice stretches above timberline in portions of the Holy Cross, Mount Massive, and Collegiate Peaks wilderness areas.

Continental Divide Trail Coalition