Morrison Trail at Bear Creek

The Morrison Trail starts at the popular and well marked Bear Creek Trailhead, about 25 miles north of the town of Dolores along Highway 145 and the Dolores River in southwest Colorado.

This is mostly a deep forest hike through thick Aspen and Spruce with a few Douglas Fir and Ponderosa Pine mixed in.

Rather than following Bear Creek up toward the La Plata Mountains, it crosses and climbs steeply up onto Haycamp Mesa.
 The forest is so thick it's hard to get any good views of the nearby mountains. But finally, up high there are good views to the north.


Down low, the trail passes by some old ranch buildings and the Aspens were starting to show some fall color.

I hiked for 2:30 uphill, and took 1:30 to come back down. There were no mileage markers on the trail,and I turned around at a random mud hole, but I think I went about eight miles total. The Morrison Trail continues on and crosses Lost Canyon and then ends at the Transfer Campgound area where it merges with the Chicken Creek Trail.