Crater Lake Trail, Colorado, United States
4.5 (260 reviews) Spent Ranking #11 in Aspen Bodies of Water • Hiking Trails
Hidden Water Fall at Crater Lake.
This easy, one-day hike from Maroon Lake is a great outing for the entire family.
Address
Forest Rd.380, Aspen, CO 81611
Mobile
Website
http://alltrails.com/us/colorado/pagosa-springs
Current local date and time now
Friday, May 10, 2024, 10:23
User Ratings
4.5 based on (260 reviews)
Excellent
67%
Good
22%
Satisfactory
8%
Poor
3%
Terrible
0%
Reviews
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4Gratefulrich 5:00 PM Jun 20, 2020
Not for everyone - be sure it is for you
If you read the other reviews you will see that WHEN you hike this trail can impact your overall experience. We hiked it when it re-opened in June. Due to the virus, it was tough to get a parking pass as they are limiting the number of people. This turned out to be a great time to make the hike as we didn't see many others on the trail (especially on the way out to Crater Lake). We are in pretty good shape (myself, my wife and my 18 year old son) and are used to some altitude and we found the hike to be fairly challenging. It is mostly uphill on the 2 mile hike out and mostly downhill on the 2 mile hike back. There are lots of rocks and it can be slippery. We had on normal sneakers and not hiking boots but just took our time when we needed to and it was fine. It took us about 2 hours roundtrip and we did take some time to enjoy Crater Lake (which had plenty of water in it). On our hike back down from Crater Lake it was more crowded in the other direction and it got kind of annoying to have to stand on the side to let folks pass and I could see why people would not be happy when there were more people on the trail. Regardless, this was a small price to pay for a fun hike (although it was probably a one time only hike for us).
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4LauVa03 5:00 PM Aug 19, 2020
Uphill climb - Go early
Good: Beautiful views in the forest and looking down on Maroon Lake. But don’t feel the need to go all the way to crater lake if you’re tired. It’s pretty but Maroon Lake is way better. Bad: On the way out, it’s all uphill and rocky. I’m kind of out of shape so it was pretty hard for me. Tips: Highly recommend hiking poles or a walking stick. Go before sunrise to Maroon Bells to see the sunrise and avoid lots of people on the trail. We had the trail to ourselves most of the time. Maroon Bells tip: If you can’t get a reservation for your car and you want to get there for sunrise before the shuttle starts, you can have a taxi drop you off. Taxis are allowed before 7am and after 7pm. We parked our car at the parking lot at the Highlands bus stop and a taxi picked us up from there. Was about $25. Really worth it to get up early and go! Barely anyone there.
