Bear Creek Trail

The Bear Creek Trail is a very spectacular trail just off Highway 550, south of Ouray, Colorado. The Bear Creek Trail now stands as a monument to the determination and perseverance of Colorado's nineteenth century miners. It was originally built in the mid 1870s, and rerouted to its present location 20 years later. The old trail follows an unlikely route up Bear Creek, through a canyon that is so rugged it is often impossible to reach the water without ropes. Miners were forced to dynamite horizontal shelves into the rock in order to traverse the vertical walls. The trail passes by the remains of two hundred year old mining camps along the creek. 

 

Distance: It's an in and out trail, so the distance depends how far you decide to go - anywhere from a few miles to 14.2 miles round trip if going all the way to Engineer Pass. Most people turn around either at Grizzly Bear Mine (2.4 miles up = 4.8 miles round trip, or Yellow Jacket Mine (4.2 miles up = 8.4 miles round trip). The most spectacular and unique section is up to Grizzly Bear Mine, higher up beautiful alpine scenery as in many other places in San Juan Mountains. You can have someone to pick you up at Enginner Pass provided you have a high clearance 4 WD vehicle. 

Elevation at trailhead: 8,460 ft.
Elevation at Grizzly Bear Mining Camp 9,900 ft.
Elevation at Yellow Jacket Mining Camp 11,100 ft.

Map: Ouray, Ironton USGS

Vicinity: near Ouray

Season: Midsummer through Mid-fall. The trail is generally covered with snow from mid-November through June.

 

Bear Creek Trail provides an easy access (maybe long, but on a nice and very scenic trail) to several peaks in the area. I would like to mention at least Engineer Mountain, Darley Mountain, Cow Benchmark, Wildhorse Peak among a few. Most people choose to drive higher up on the 4WD roads, but many like long approaches to peaks. Although the trail is very popular, most hikers tend to stay lower on the trail and do not venture past the mines. I met only a few people lower down on the trail, and found solitude past 4.2 miles Yellow Jacket Mine.

Illustration of the trail

Hike can be done either as in and out hike from The Bear Creek Trailhead, or from the top of Engineer Pass and ending at the Bear Creek Trailhead. A 4WD vehicle is required, however, to get to Engineer Pass. to reach the pass drive south of Ouray for 3.6 miles where you will see a sign on the left marking the beginning of the Alpine Loop. Engineer Pass is 9.8 miles up this 4WD road.Of the four different Bear Creeks found in the western half of the San Juan Mountains, the one that drains into the Uncompahgre Gorge a couple of miles south of Ouray could well be the most spectacular. Although the creek bottom itself is far too rugged to follow, miners during the late nineteenth century were not deterred and constructed a trail into the upper reaches of the drainage. In so doing, they built one of the most improbable mountain trails in the Colorado Rockies. The hike is designated as a National Recreation Trail.

Getting There

    From Ouray, drive 2.3 miles south on US Highway 550 (=Million Dollar Highway) to where the road passes through a small tunnel. The trailhead is on the right (=west) side of the road immediately beyond the tunnel. It is well marked.   There is a small parking lot on the west side of the road, and a larger parking lot on the right side of the road.