The head waters of the Dolores River are in the Lizard Head Pass area along Highway 145, south of Telluride in southwest Colorado. There are many trails in the area including a main trail head a little south of the Pass. The Groundhog Stock Trail starts at the Cross Mountain Trail Head, about two miles south of the Lizard Head Pass in the San Juan National Forest in southwest Colorado. 
The trail ends at the east end of The Meadows along Forest Road 535, and the south flanks of Mount Wilson come into view. Just west of the Meadows another headwater flows out of
Navajo Lake and becomes the West Fork of the Dolores River. There is a network of trails to find in the Lizard Head area and more along the West Fork of the Dolores River
The
Bear Creek Trail is just off the 145 highway in the Dolores River Valley, about halfway between Dolores and Telluride, and goes up into the National Forest toward the La Plata Range of the San Juan Mountains in southwest Colorado. The trail alternates between being high on the valley side above the fast running creek or right down along the bank.

The big bend of the Dolores River in southwest Colorado is now flooded under McPhee Reservoir, the second largest lake in the state. On the south bank, on the site of the
Anasazi Heritage Center, there is a 0.5 mile
Interpretive Lookout Trail that describes some of the plants and natural history of the area. This is a good botany trail with many of the key trees and shrubs identified with comments on their possible uses. In 1776 the first European Explorers, led by two Spanish friars, Escalante and Dominguez, came through this area, searching for a new route to California. They stopped on this hill overlooking the River of Our Lady of Sorrows, the name they just gave it, and examined the ruins, reporting that they looked like the ones they had seen over closer to Sante Fe, NM. There are
two excavated ruins sites here named for the two Spanish Explorers.
The
McPhee Stock Trail starts at the Mataska Recreation Site just below the McPhee Dolores River Dam and climbs out of the Lone Dome Dolores River Canyon to the north rim. A trail from the south rim, also accesses the dam area coming from the
Sage Hen area. The trail is steep for the first 30 minutes and then flattens out for about 15 minutes. With the elevation gain Ponderosa Pines start to dominate and there are a lot of Rocky Mountain Red Juniper, with softer blue green foliage than the similar Utah Juniper. There is another 15 minutes of climbing to the top of the mesa. Near the top the McPhee Dam comes into view. Both the reservoir and the river below are visible. Sleeping Ute Mountain is visible to the south.

The
Dolores River Canyon is downstream of the McPhee Reservoir and is close to Dove Creek, CO, the pinto bean capital. Driving there you go past rolling bean fields and then turn on to a gravel road and are suddenly descending hundreds of feet into a deep narrow canyon. There is a rocky road along the river for about 12 miles north and a rougher trail afterwards. The Dolores Canyon is deep and very scenic, a clear stream and tall Ponderosa Pines.
The
Paradox Trail is a 105 mile mountain bike trail in western Montrose County, just to the east of the La Sal Mountains. Between Bedrock and Uravan, an alternate section of trail, called the River Road, follows the Dolores River downstream to the confluence with the San Miguel River. The Paradox Trail is named for the odd situation where the Dolores River flows perpendicular across the valley, entering and exiting through steep canyons. The Dolores and San Miguel start in the same area. The water flowing south from Lizard head Pass near Telluride, flows about 50 miles south in the Dolores River before turning back to the north. Water flowing north from the same pass enters the San Miguel system and flows west. After long journeys apart, the waters rejoin in this remote canyon.