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Bear Lake
and Blue Lake: By Rich Stromberg
Before the gate opens at mile 2 along Forest Road 413[2], runners can park at the campsite at 9,800 feet. The road to Blue Lake is 1.75 miles with an elevation gain of 550 feet. From the north end of Blue Lake, a trail winds along several smaller lakes on the way to Bear Lake. In the off season, the solitude of these lakes is well worth the effort to get there.
At the north end of the campground, the Indian Creek Trail extends north for several miles and also connects with Baker Creek which drops into the Cuchara ski valley. The high point of Indian Creek Trail is just a half-mile north of the trail head. Following the old fence line to the east allows hikers and runners to view West Spanish Peak to the east and Trinchera[3] and Teddys[4] peaks to the west. This point is 3.5 miles from the 9,800-foot campground and .7 miles from Bear Lake campground.
(Video: Take in the vistas from 10,900 feet - 5.7 MBytes) ______________________________________________________________________________ [1] Pronounced koo-CHAR-ah. Spanish for spoon. [2] Off Highway 12, three miles south of the town of Cuchara. The road is open all the way to Bear Lake in June, July and August. [3] Pronounced treen-CHER-ah. Spanish for fork. [4] Named for President Teddy Roosevelt who once visited the area. US Geological Survey naming convention does not allow the use of apostrophes, which might denote ownership. This is why Pikes Peak does not have an apostrophe in the name. |
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The trails
around Bear and Blue lakes in the San Isabel National Forest
above the town of Cuchara
Just past Bear
Lake, the trail ends at the Bear Lake campground. Runners can
continue from this point where families can begin a short summer
hike.
Summer
hikers will probably want to follow the ridge another half-mile
to the south to point 11,144 to take in the views above Bear
Lake. Take a few minutes to study the needles, bark and cones of
the Limber Pines in the area. Families can also hike the .7-mile
trail between Bear and Blue lakes. Keep a close eye on kids
around one of the lakes which has considerable down timber.