Glenwood Canyon

Glenwood Canyon escorts I-70 through the last major mountain range heading west across Colorado. This highway is relatively young by interstate standards. Construction crews completed work on it in early 1990s. Along the way, they took extra steps and spend a lot of extra money to protect the canyon scenery and ecology. Though not a convenient way for my to get from point A to point B, I, in essence, made driving the length of this highway a stop in its own right.

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[BN: The steep walls of the side canyon wrecked havoc on my GPS receiver. Hence, the track for the hike is riddled with error]

I would have been content to drive the canyon, but a little research revealed several trails depart from the multiple rest areas built along the highway. I chose a good leg-stretcher in Hanging Lake trail. Pulling in to the empty parking lot a little before 9:00 AM, I prepped for a tranquil hike only to see a mini-van pull up a few moments later. I started on the flat recreation trail which led to the true trailhead. The couple caught up to and passed me as I read the trail sign at the trailhead.

Immediately, the trail began steeply ascending up a side canyon. I passed the couple and didn't see them again until my descent (It turned out they went back to their mini-van for some forgotten medicine.) The trail follows Dead Horse Creek to a fork well up in the canyon. From there, it leaves the canyon floor following the rough edge of a point separating the forks in the canyon. At the top of this last steep climb, it reached the namesake Hanging Lake, a good sized pool fed by multiple cascades on the far side. A boardwalk crossed the near side with the lake to the left and a steep, but wooded drop-off on the right. I continued up the canyon a short distance beyond the end of the official trail and found some great views, but missed side-trail to spouting rock in the process.

Though it was not a long trail, the Hanging Lake trail was a very steep trail. I took this picture very near Hanging Lake about a 1,000 up and a bit more than a mile from the trailhead.

My destination for the hike, Hanging Lake.

I continued past Hanging Lake along a unofficial trail to a high point on the edge of the canyon where I could look back on the side canyon and across Glenwood Canyon to the highlands beyond.

Hanging Lake Trail along Dead Horse Creek

At the bottom of the trail, the side canyon opened into the main canyon. From the still elevated trail, I got a good view of the Colorado River flowing through the Glenwood Canyon.
















The trailhead for the Hanging Lake Trail lay about a half-mile west of the parking area. Connecting the two was this recreation trail that runs the length of the canyon.

From the recreation trail, you can look across the river to see the east portals of the middle set of tunnels along the interstate highway. They are called the Hanging Lake Tunnels

Approaching the easternmost of the tunnels on in the canyon. The eastbound lanes, in which I'm driving, actually go around the same promontory that the westbound lanes tunnel through.

It was so pretty that this guy couldn't stay on the road. He's probably taking a picture. Some People!