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| Lower Cataract Lake, Colorado |
While I haven't posted many hikes this summer, it doesn't mean that I haven't been hiking! In fact, I have several posts to catch up on and they are good ones!
Over the weekend of the Fourth of July, Josh, the dogs and I decided to go camping. I wanted to camp at least once while pregnant this summer. We decided to head North of Silverthorne Colorado to the Green Mountain Reservoir area; we didn't exactly know where we wanted to camp, but I wanted to check out the Lower Cataract Lake area, which is just southwest of the Res. We drove up the bumpy dirt road 3 miles to the Cataract Campground and hiked just up the road at the Cataract Creek/Lake Trailhead. Josh and I hiked the loop which is moderate/easy and approximately 2+ miles around the loop; located in the Eagles Nest Wilderness, White River National Forest.
Getting there: Find more information on the Summit County website about Cataract Lake and Waterfall. To get there from Silverthorne Colorado which is about an hour west and then north of the front range take I-70 West to Silverthorne Colorado. Take highway 9 north out of Silverthorne for 16.5 miles. Turn left on Heeney Road #30. Continue for 5.4 miles to County Road 1725 and turn left. The parking area is 2.6 miles ahead, fee area of $5 for the day use.
Specs: There are a few picnic tables near the lake, and it's a great place for lunch if you don't mind some company. This area because of the beautiful scenery, large waterfall and lake is very popular. Parking can be difficult and there are 2 lots, one lower than the main lot for overflow. The upper parking lot has pit toilets and a map of the area.
The Hike: We walked from our campsite about 3/4 of a mile down the road up to the main trailhead at Cataract Lake and then started on the trail loop, and click here for campground info.
There are other trails in the area, and this trail which crosses the river and up into the wilderness is separate from Cataract Lake and is at the lower (first) parking lot. We didn't explore it very far due to the mosquitoes.
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Map of the Lower Cataract Lake and Creek area at the start of the trailhead.
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We started the loop heading toward the lake on the well maintained trail, I could tell this was going to be a great hike right from the beginning. The scenery was just amazing, there is a huge waterfall in the distance and in the middle of July all the wildflowers were in full bloom.
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Head into the White River National Forest, Eagles Nest Wilderness when you pass this sign.
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The columbine flowers were in full bloom and we saw huge fields of them along the trail. I have never seen so many columbines all at once; and I think they are one of the most unique flowers you can find.
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Views of the large Cataract Lake waterfall in the distance. The columbines were all shades of purple and pink in the fields before the waterfall. The best views of the large waterfall are from the distance, the trail does get you close to the falls, but its where the falls meet the river and there is no good view looking up at the falls due to the thick lush forest.
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As you get closer to the waterfall, the forest becomes thicker and the trees larger due to all the water their roots get from the lake and falls. The trail continues into the woods and toward the amazing falls.
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The falls and river were overflowing into every tributary possible with all the runoff this year and rain this summer. This made the dogs happy and they were able to get drinks and cool off, this also made for lots of mosquitoes.
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The bottom of the waterfall, water is flowing everywhere! There is a bridge that crosses the river and its much cooler here. Beautiful!!
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More water coming into the river, tons of waterfalls, it was really loud and lots of people gathered here to take pics and it got a bit congested; but we were here 4th of July weekend.
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After the falls, you will hike out of the woods and beside the river that flows into the lake. It is said this is the best part of the lake to fish, but I didn't see anyone fishing here. Then the trail continued into this swampy area with large green plants; it was pretty muddy and fortunately it didn't last very long.
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Once past the swampy area, the trail gets a little overgrown and continues uphill above the lake. There are all sorts of wildflowers and fields of flowers lining the trail, and the lake is below and makes for some amazing scenery.
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Looking back at the lake you can see the waterfall with some large peaks in the distance.
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Wildflowers lining the trail on the opposite side of the lake, one side had all columbines, this side had no columbines and lots of different types.
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You know you are nearing the end of the hike when the forest service cabin and power lines come into view. We hiked back to the toilets, and then down the dirt road and back to our campsite!
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Back to our Chalet for dinner! We love this little camper and spent a lot of time in it this trip due to the mosquito's that were constantly attacking us!
Have you hiked in the Silverthorne, Green Mountain area? I'd love to read your comments about the area, or any questions you have!
Thanks for a great description of the Cataract Trail. Exactly what I was looking for.
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