Margy's Hut to Lenado Trailhead

Dogs Off-leash

Features Commonly Backpacked · Fall Colors · River/Creek · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

This is Part 4 of a four-day, three-night trek from above Eagle and Edwards, Colorado, across to Lenado, Colorado, near Aspen. With a friend coming into town, I looked for a multi-day hut trip that would allow us to hit some moderate peaks and move from near Vail, Colorado, to Aspen.

New York Mountain from this trailhead is a very accessible 12,550-foot peak that includes views from Eagle, Hardscrabble Mountain, and Red Table Mountain to the west, Edwards to the north, and a variety of 12,000- and 13,000-foot peaks to the east and south.

Noland Lake lies to the southwest of New York Mountain and is an attractive mountain lake surrounded by high peaks.

The three selected huts -- Peter Estin, Harry Gates, and Margy's -- form a bucket brigade of stopovers with views, facilities, and overnight comfort.

There are additional potential start points and other stops that can be had along the way.

Our visit in the fall added pure yellow aspen and birch tree vistas in every direction.

Since we hit this section at peak colors in September, pretty much the entire hike down to the Lenado Trailhead was a blast of yellow.

The first portion of this follows the FS road for about 3.1 miles; nothing exceptional here but a nice roadbed on the fourth hiking day. We missed the turn down onto the sheltered remnants of an old mining road the first time, but returned and dropped in.

This is very easy to follow and winds down most of the way to Lenado before emerging onto FS roads once again. The final short section returns to gravel road until your chosen parking / meeting place.