SPRUCE CREEK TRAIL: Hike To Continental Falls & Lake Mohawk (Near Breckenridge, Colorado)
September 18, 2005
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How to get there: From Breckenridge, go south
on Highway 9. At the lake in Blue River, make a right on Spruce Gulch Road and take that
all the way up to the trailhead parking lot. If you have 4-wheel drive, you can continue
up the road for another approximate 2 miles to cut the walk down. |
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The first 2.5 miles of the path go through a thick forested area. There aren't many mountain views except this one of Mount Helen. Again, if you want to bypass this forested area of the hike, continue driving up the road with your 4-wheel drive to the final parking lot. |
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The views become very scenic once you're past the last parking lot. And special thanks to Chris (known as "Cadjex" on the forums) for coming along with me. |
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That's Continental Falls. It's a really lovely place to sit, reflect, meditate, pray, etc. I generally like waterfalls that are a straight vertical drop down, and this one was more of a long diagonal waterfall, but it's still really nice! :)
Below are all of my waterfall pictorails:
Rainbow Falls (Manitou Springs)
Cascade Falls (Ouray)
Helen Hunt Falls (Colorado Springs)
Horsethief Falls (Near Cripple Creek)
Queens Canyon Waterfall (Colorado Springs) |
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Obviously the higher up you go, the better views you'll get of the mountains! |
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We met these two nice guys who were visiting
from Texas. The guy on the right originally grew
up in Breckenridge and was meeting up
with some of his old friends from the third grade. Pretty neat, huh? ;) |
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Arrival at Lake Mohawk!
I don't think my camera does a good job of how clear that water was. While one would be foolish to drink from it, it would probably be a fun place to wade in the water ... if you can handle how cold the water was! :p)
This is definitely a "must see" place if you're an avid hiker in Breckenridge or the surrounding areas. It definitely reminded me of Kite Lake on the other side of Hoosier Pass. |
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A nice shot of the backside of Lake Mohawk looking out. |
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We noticed some old tin cans in one spot. Breckenridge, Fairplay and much of the towns of this region were originally focused on mining, and many would camp way up in the mountains such as here. I suppose such cans are litter, but to me, they're also a reminder of a different era of this area. If you look hard enough in many old mining areas, you'll see these kinds of old litter now and then. Typically (from what I was told), miners buried their garbage, but over time, water would wash out the ground and these things would rise back to the ground. Pretty interesting! |
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Chris and I scrambled partly up a rock face that gave a fantastic and panoramic view of the mountains and lake. |
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And you can actually continue on up those rocks to Upper Mohawk Lake. Just keep in mind the trail ends and you'll be scrambling up those rocks in the bottom photo. I actually sat to take in the views and Chris scrambled up to the top of the "saddle".
Here are all of my pictorials from this region:
Bicycling in Breckenridge, Breckenridge Mountain Scenery
Hoosier Pass, Alma, Mt. Sherman
Mt. Democrat - Lincoln - Bross, Kite Lake |
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Ahhhhhh!
Just a nice Colorado-ish kind of picture! :) |
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Folks, once again, I would say if you really love hiking and are in Blue River or Breckendrige, this adventure should be on your list. I would consider it comparable to an "easy 14er" from the first trailhead such as Mt. Sherman. |
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There were some fall colors showing. Here's my best shot! |
