Gore Lake Out & Back

Dogs Leashed

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

The Gore Creek Trail on its own is great, but why stop there when you can add in a visit to a hidden alpine lake? This combo route has something for everyone: mostly mellow grades that allow for easy conversation in addition to a few heart-pounding sections that provide a nice, challenging workout.

The Gore Creek Trail climbs alongside Gore Creek for 4 miles through healthy, extremely pleasant forest. Patches of aspens turn brilliant yellow in the fall. There are some short steep sections along the way, but none of the hills are too long. The trail winds through open meadows and dense aspen groves that soon change to conifer stands as the elevation increases. There are several creek crossings, but for the most part it is easy to hop over them using big flat rocks or logs. At mile 4.2, the trail forks at a small backpacker campground. There is a gravesite for two people and a sign with their names.

To visit pristine Gore Lake, take the left fork and proceed steeply uphill, to the north. The trail pleasantly weaves through fir and aspen forests along streams. Views improve as you pass through large meadows ringed by impressive cliffs and rock formations. After half a mile, the trail levels out quite a bit, and can be hard to find at times when meadows become overgrown. Make a final turn to the left (west) up a last climb to the lake. If the snow is mostly gone, you can circumnavigate the lake for amazing views of the 10 Mile Range, the Sawatch Range, and of course the Gores all around you. Reverse course to return to the trailhead and enjoy a different perspective and views on the way out.