September 15, 2020

By Tim Briese

11.2 miles, 2500’ elevation gain, 8:40 roundtrip time

This popular loop hike in the Mt. Zirkel Wilderness north of Steamboat Springs follows the Gilpin Trail up to Gilpin Lake, goes over a pass, and follows the Gold Creek Trail back down another drainage past Gold Creek Lake to the trailhead. This 11 mile loop is informally called the ‘Zirkel Circle’, or sometimes the Gilpin Lake loop. A ferocious early fall storm slammed the area the week before so I called the forest service to check conditions and was told that up to a foot of snow had fallen in the area but most of it was now melted, however, winds of up to 100 mph had felled many trees across the trail and would be a challenge. Undeterred, we went to hike some or all of it anyway.

From Steamboat Springs we left US 40 and followed CO 129 north about 16 miles to Glen Eden, then turned right onto the gravel Seedhouse Road and followed it 12 miles to the Slavonia Trailhead. It took a little under an hour to drive there from Steamboat. This was a busy place, even on a weekday in September, with a dozen or so vehicles at the 8400’ trailhead. We were on a leisurely pace this morning and didn’t hit the trail until about 10 am.

at the trailhead

We quickly reached a junction where we had to make a decision about which way to go around the loop, if we went all the way around it that is, and we decided to go left toward Gilpin Lake, since it was a scenic highlight of the hike that we definitely wanted to see. In spite of the drought this year it was evident that this area usually receives a lot of moisture, much of it in the form of snow, because there was a lot of dense foliage and undergrowth, a lot of it adorned in attractive fall color. There was quite a bit of smoky haze in the air today from fires all over the West, including a forest fire only about 10 or 15 miles south of us. We hiked the nice trail up the valley, at times along Gilpin Creek, talking at times with other hikers we met, and reveling in our new adventure today.

We noted many trees that had fallen across the trail but they had recently been cut and cleared out of the way. About three miles up the trail we overtook a crew of three hardy fellows who were clearing the trail, with backbreaking labor using hand saws. They warned us that a jumble of trees across the trail awaited us ahead, and it was even worse on the other side of the loop on the Gold Creek Trail, which had not been cleared yet. A few other hikers we met coming around the loop reported the same thing. We continued and counted about 20 logs we had to climb over or under the rest of the way up to Gilpin Lake.

We reached the sparkling lake after hiking about five miles from the trailhead. It lies in a scenic cirque at about 10,300’ elevation. It is reported to be a dazzling cobalt blue color on a clear day, but that was not the case with the smoky haze in the air today.

approaching gilpin lake.  the trail continued from the lake to the saddle at the upper left.

a nice spot for lunch

After a nice lunch break on its shore we continued on the trail that switchbacked up to a 10,800’ saddle to the south, which afforded splendid views of the lake and rugged peaks beyond.

view of gilpin lake as we began to climb above it

the trail went up this slope to the saddle

view of gilpin lake from near the saddle.  mt. zirkel is at the upper right in the background

From the saddle we descended down into the Gold Creek drainage, passing an expansive meadow in the valley before hiking through the woods down the scenic drainage, with the gurgling creek, fall colors in the undergrowth, and splendid waterfalls making for an enchanting walk.

an interesting rock along the way

We hiked past Gold Creek Lake where two fishermen sat in the late afternoon silence.

gold creek lake

There were lots and lots of downed trees to contend with, in some places obscuring the trail for some distance, turning the hike into a gymnastic exercise. We counted about 60 of them that we had to deal with from the pass back to the trailhead, or a total of about 80 on the entire loop!

here we go again!

these poor hunters were hacking their way way through to get their horses down the trail

The downed trees made for quite the adventure but the scenic sights along the way were certainly worth the extra effort. 

We eventually tramped back down to the trailhead as dusk was falling and headed back to Steamboat.  We thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful hike.