Animas Mountain Trail-Durango

The Animas Mountain Trail is one of the Durango, Colorado in town trails. The main loop is about 6.2 miles with a starting elevation of 6600 feet and a high point at about 8100 feet. This is a good trail system during the early summer when the higher mountain trails still have snow.

I used the West 4th Street trailhead that is west from Highway 550 at 32nd street, then north on narrow 4th Street to a rough gravel parking area. I didn’t see any street signs pointing out the trailhead. From the trailhead, the trail is a rough rocky road that climbs steeply at first.
 

The lower elevation south section of the trail system has several confusing options, but there are map signs at each junction. Even with the signs, it seemed like there were some unofficial trail options that can cause confusion. To the west of the Animas Mountain Trail System there is another trail system called the Dalla Mountain Park that connects. There is access to the Dalla system along Junction Creek Road.
 

The east side of the ascending loop has the best views. The early segment has views mostly south toward the town of Durango. In mid June the Animas River is running full.

The forest along the east side is dominated by Gambel Oaks with a mix of Pinon Pines and Utah Junipers, Ponderosa Pines, and a few Rocky Mountain Red Junipers. Toward the north end of the area there are some spruce trees. After about 1.5 hours and about 3 miles there is a small bench. From the bench there are views toward Missionary Ridge and north up the valley toward the nearby mountains. Below, the cut off meanders of the Animas River are visible.
 

The north high point of the Animas Mountain loop overlooks the Falls Creek Archaeological Area and the hidden valley. The Animas Overlook Interpretive Trail overlooks this same area from the west. There are also some views toward the LaPlata Mountains to the west. It took me about 2:00 hours to arrive at this overlook.
 

The return west side of the loop passes through mostly Ponderosa Pines without any more views. My total hike for about 6.2 miles took 3:15 hours on a 70 F degree mid June day. I saw about 5 other hikers and 3 mountain bikers while I was hiking. I carried and drank 2 liters of water.

Ramparts Hills Loop Trail-Echo Basin

The Ramparts Hills Loop Trail circles around the south part of the Ramparts Hills, an igneous rock outcrop in the Echo Basin area of the San Juan National Forest in southwest Colorado.

The Echo Basin Road is a north turn off of Highway 160 about 3 miles east of Mancos. Forest Road 566 continues where the pavement ends. It is about 7 miles to the trailhead area near the junction of Forest Road 566 and Forest Road 331, known as the T-Down Park and corral.

The trailhead is marked in two places, on opposite sides of a primitive campsite area. The trailhead elevation is about 9200 feet. In late May, a lot of snow is visible on the mountains just to the east. The trailhead area is mostly Ponderosa Pine and Aspen forest.
 

I followed the trail counter clockwise. The first segment turns west and follows a creek downhill through a shady forest section with Aspens and Spruce Fir forest. In late May, there were still patches of snow in the shady spots. The Aspen trees were just starting to show green leaves.

I had a Black Bear sighting along this segment. The bear was following the trail heading straight for me, about 100 feet away. I pulled my camera out and made a noise at the same time, and the bear immediately turned into the Aspens and disappeared. I got a picture but not a good one.
 

The trail emerges between a gap in the Ramparts cliffs and winds downhill crossing the same creek three times.

There are some views to the southwest toward Mesa Verde and Sleeping Ute Mountain with several reservoirs visible. This lower area is good elk winter pasture.
 

After 1:20 hours of hiking through forest and along the creek, there is a segment of trail along a minor forest road. Along this segment there is the ruin of an old cabin.
 

The cabin is near a large meadow with good views back toward the cliffs. The trail junctions with the road segment are clearly marked. Lupines and Larkspurs were in bloom and Iris was almost in bloom.
 

The return segment climbs about 800 feet through Gambel Oak forest along another creek. At the base of the cliffs there is a large meadow and then a segment through Aspen forest back to the trailhead.

My hike took 3:00 hours for about 6 miles. It was a 58 F degree end of May day. I carried and drank 2 liters of water. I didn’t see any other hikers during my visit.

Dolores River at Big Gypsum Valley

The Big Gypsum Valley is 34 miles east of Dove Creek, CO along Colorado Route 141. It is a BLM area that is north of Disappointment Valley and south of the Paradox Valley.

Thirteen miles northwest along the gravel road there is an access to the Dolores River that is used by rafters. The Gypsum Valley site is 55 river miles downstream from the Bradfield access and 36 serpentine miles upstream of Bedrock. Like the Paradox Valley, the Dolores River flows across the Gypsum Valley rather than down it, exiting one deep canyon and entering another.
 

The floor of the Gypsum Valley is grassland and supports some grazing activity. Along the valley edges there is some Pinon and Juniper forest. On the north side the Wingate, Kayenta, and Navajo sandstone layers are visible sitting on the Chinle layer. There is mining activity on the south side. The last three miles of gravel road becomes more of a dirt road after passing the mining sites.

I stopped at about 12.5 miles below a pinnacle formation that I think is called the Psycho Tower. This is a formation that rock climbers know and there is a trail leading up toward it. There are more climbing sites in the next 2 miles along the dirt road that are similar to the Indian Creek climbing area that is on the way to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. I started hiking down river along the road below the Psycho Tower.

 The road is level and smooth and provides easy walking. In the distance there are some views of the La Sal Mountains. From where I started it is 0.5 miles to the turnoff for the boat launch site. There are three covered picnic table camp sites at the launch site, but otherwise no facilities. The busy season for rafting on the Dolores River is May and June.

There wasn’t any activity here during my visit but the flow appears to be unusually low. I checked the web site info for flow at Bedrock for the time that I hiked and it was 200 cfs. This is too low for rafting and well below the median value of 1070 cfs for the day I visited. The discharge from the McPhee Reservoir has been 75 cfs for the previous week, after spending some time at 500 cfs. The historic average discharge for this time of year is about 1400 cfs.

The area where I started hiking had many cottonwood trees, but downstream from there Tamarisks had taken over. It looked like there has been work to remove the Tamarisks, but there is more work to do.
 

About 2 miles along the route, there is a bridge that crosses the river. After this bridge the Dolores swings around a bend to the left and enters the serpentine area of the Dolores River Canyon Wilderness Study Area. I turned around at the bridge, but the road continues into the Little Gypsum Valley and I could see side roads that visited the opposite side of the river across from the launch site.
 

 While hiking, I was checking the large boulders for petroglyphs. The only panel I found was very close to where I started my hike.

My total hike took 2:15 hours for about 4 miles. It was a 74 F degree late May day and I carried and drank 2 liters of water. I only saw 2 other people during my visit to this area.

Falls Creek Archeological Area

The Falls Creek Archaeological Area is a 1500 acre section of the San Juan National Forest in a hidden valley on the northwest side of Durango in southwest Colorado. The trail head is in the Junction Creek area, reached by a west turn at 25th Street off of Highway 550. After the road name changes to Junction St, there is a north turn on County Road 205. At the north turn, there is a sign pointing out Falls Creek.

This 1500 acre area of the forest preserves archaeological sites from the Ancestral Pueblo Basketmaker period of 1500 to 2500 years ago. The area is divided in half by County Road 205 with the western half closed to all activity including hiking. There is a network of trails open in the eastern half of the area. I started my hike at the interpretive sign, but there are other pullover places along road 205 where hiking or mountain biking could start.

The valley floor is very flat and grassy with impressive cliffs on both sides near the trailhead. After a short distance, there is an option to hike on the east shoulder above the valley floor. At the top of the east shoulder, there are some views into the main Animas Valley area that is north of Durango.
 

The most obvious feature of the closed area is a large alcove in the cliffs above the grassy fields. A sign along the road says there is the Basketmaker Trail going up, but it is only used during special tours. Brief information on the Forest Service web site says there are two rock shelters, but only one is obvious.

Many artifacts from the shelters were found during excavation, but it isn’t mentioned where these artifacts are now. It is mentioned that the rock shelters have pictographs on the back walls.
 

In the north segment of the trail, the route descends steeply from the shoulder down to Falls Creek. The forest along the early segment of trail is mostly Pinon Pines and Junipers with Gambel Oaks. There are a couple of small bridges to cross the creek. In the creek area, there are more Ponderosa Pines and I saw one spruce. I continued a short distance further north into Ponderosa Pine forest and turned around after 1:00 hour of hiking.

The north part of the valley floor area includes a wetlands area. The interpretive sign at the trail head mentions that the Basketmakers grew corn and squash in addition to hunting deer, rabbits, turkeys, and porcupine, and gathering.

While hiking, near the wetlands, I could hear the continuous croaking of frogs, but didn’t see any ducks. There would have been Pinon nuts and acorns to find here. Native grasses and Yucca fibers were used to manufacture baskets, rope, sandals and bags.
 

There is some additional information on the Falls Creek area at the Animas Historical Museum, located nearby at 31st Street and West 2nd Avenue. The Museum is itself an historical site, the old Animas City School built in 1904-05. The school served until 1967. Restoration began in 1978 and is ongoing.
 

The Museum information mentions that the shelters were discovered in 1937. In addition to the two rock shelters, there is a talus slope village site. From the hiking area, one of the shelters is clear, but the second shelter and the talus slope locations are vague.

The sites were excavated by Dr. Earl Morris in 1940. Dr. Morris is also known for work around Mesa Verde and the Ute Mountain Park area. One of the hikes offered at Ute Mountain visits the Morris 3 site.

The people here were identified as from the Basketmaker II era and evidence of house construction was uncovered. The house description sounds like the interpreted early pit houses that are on display on the Mesa Top Tour at Mesa Verde.
 

There are a few artifacts on display at the museum. The people manufactured tools from the local stone and bone resources that are mostly still visible. There were also materials, like obsidian, lignite and shells found that are not locally available and could only have been traded into the area.

These imported materials were often used in making beads and pendants for personal use. These personal artifacts were considered important as giving clues to the spiritual and emotional life of the residents.

My hike from the introductory sign to beyond Falls Creek lasted for 2:00 hours on a 70 F degree early May day. I saw one other hiker and several mountain bikers during my hike.

Dolores River at Bradfield-Lone Dome Recreation Area

The Bradfield Recreation Site is known as the upstream launch point for rafting trips on the lower Dolores River in southwest Colorado. It is located about 5 miles east of Pleasant View, CO and about 12 miles downstream of the McPhee Dolores River Dam.

At the entry point to the Bradfield site, there are some old ranch structures remaining from the big valley ranch era and some fading interpretive signs explaining the ranching history of the area and some facts relating to rafting on the Dolores River. Near the interpretive signs, there is a dirt road leading into the Lone Dome State Wildlife Area that heads upstream for about 2 miles, providing some scenic hiking in this area.
 

This route is probably mostly used by trout fishermen. The road stays close to the canyon side, cutting through the Pinon Pine and Juniper forest. From the dirt road, there are places to turn off and access the river bottom area and the bank. The main forest road that leads to the area below McPhee Dam is visible across the sparkling stream.
 

Besides trout, the Dolores River here provides habitat for River Otters, Beavers, Deer, Elk, Peregrine Falcons, and Turkeys. Bald Eagles can be sighted in the winter months After the construction of the McPhee Dam ensured year round flow in 1988-91, the Colorado Division of Wildlife transplanted 20 Otters to this area.

In mid April 2011, there are signs of a recent forest fire. It looked like most of the large trees survived, the branches showing spring buds despite the scorching on the trunks. About two weeks after the blaze, the burned area is starting to recover with some green grass poking through.
 

At the end of the dirt road, there are some large rocks placed to form a pool, raising the level and diverting some of the flow into a water management project. Along this last segment, there is a small ditch, a flow measuring flume, and some small water control structures. My total hike here took 1:50 hours for about 4 miles. It was a 56 F degree mid April day.