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Trail Suggestion
for June
20
MEADOW
MOUNTAIN
Time:
4-5 hours
Distance:
3.5 miles
Elevation
gain: 1,920 feet
High
point: 9,760 feet
Rating:
Moderate
Usually
open: June-September
Topo:
USGS Minturn, 1987 or: USGS Eagle County, 1975, Sheet 4
Hikers, mountain bikers, cross-country
skiers and snowshoers love Meadow Mountain for its gentle
terrain and mellow beauty. Pastoral in summer with its aging
ranch structures and wildflowers, Meadow Mountain becomes a
winter recreationists' dream. Pick a powder day and get
there early to beat the snowmobiles. A shelter at 3.5 miles
makes a good destination.
Drive
0.4 miles south from I-70 Dowd Junction exit 171 to the U.S.
Forest Service Minturn Ranger Station and park.
The
trail begins at the parking lot's south end on a closed
road that once served the ski area for lift construction and
maintenance.
The route, which is road all the way to
the rustic shelter at top, switchbacks in a southwesterly
direction up into the sloping ranchlands. Meadow Mountain
stands as a symbol of Eagle County's rich ranching history.
From here to Eagle, with the Vail valley included, 1800s
pioneers homesteaded 160-acre parcels, raising sheep, cattle,
hay and at one time, an abundance of crisp mountain lettuce.
Never rich but blessed nevertheless, they dined on wild
raspberries and fresh cream in summer and game in winter. They
sent their children to log schoolhouses, fished the trout
streams and explored the wild mountain country on horseback.
They stocked firewood and supplies each September and endured
the long snowbound winters dreaming of spring.
Rising above the lower ranchlands, the
trail begins to offer long views. Hikers can see into the Game
Creek drainage to the east and later into Vail's green Game
Creek ski bowl above. Reach a fork in the trail and stay
straight ahead (right). The left fork leads to a devastated
logging area and also intersects the West Grouse Creek Trail
(no. 19).
After the fork, the trail moves from
aspen into conifers, broken by big open meadows. The trail
continues to switchback, opening up views northeast to the
Gore Range and its primitive Eagles Nest Wilderness (trails
no. 1-7). Ski runs of the Beaver Creek Ski Area appear west as
do great views of the Vail Ski Mountain back side. Serenity
reigns on these breeze-swept high meadows.
The one-room cabin at 9,760 feet is
nicely outfitted with bed, table and chairs. Though hikers
share this trail with mountain bikers, its width accommodates
both. Nor does this non-motorized vehicle use drive away the
deer. Hikers can continue above the line shack for
glad-to-be-alive views.
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