Summer Hike #2: Fish Creek Falls

So, for this week's hike I decided to take advantage of the fact that I was driving to UT, giving me the chance to explore an area of Colorado that is further away than I would typically drive for a day hike.  One such area that I've always wanted to visit is Steamboat Springs.  All that I'd heard about Steamboat Springs was how great the skiing was up there.  So, I assumed it had to have some pretty great mountains to climb as well.

I packed up the car with camping gear and, after getting a late start, arrived at Steamboat some 3.5 hours later at around 9:30.  I camped for the night at the Dry Lake Campground among beautiful stands of pine and aspen.  I woke up early and after taking a scenic drive around the surrounding network of mountain roads, I arrived at the Fish Creek Falls trailhead at around 7 am.  Perfect timing, before the crowds started to show up.

The hike is a beautiful and challenging one and offers visits to two beautiful water falls (Upper and Lower Fish Creek Falls) as well as amazing views of Steamboat Springs and the surrounding country.  But if you want to see anything beyond the lower falls (a 5 minute walk from the parking lot) you have to work for it.  In the short distance of only 2.5 miles you gain over 2,000 feet in elevation.  However, you barely notice the strain in your calf muscles because of the beauty of the surrounding landscape.  The whole hike alternates between walking through thick, diverse groupings of pine, fir and aspen and scrambling over rocky outcroppings hugging the sides of steep mountain slopes.  All the while, you are gradually working your way up into a high mountain valley, following the course of the rapidly descending Fish Creek.  And since I started so early, I had the good fortune of enjoying all of it by myself.  It wasn't until I was nearing the end of the return trip that starting running into multiple groups of hikers.

Verdict: Recommended