Two Elk Trail

Panoramic views of Gore and Sawatch Ranges, and Vail Ski bowls. Alpine forest, aspens/cottonwoods, brushy slopes. The highest elevation is 11,020 ft. at Two Elk Pass.

From the east trailhead, follow the Old Vail Pass road, now the Vail Pass Recreation Trail, 1.8 miles to the junction with the true Two Elk Trailhead on the right. The trail drops from the recreation path to a bridge crossing the Black Gore Creek, then passes under I-70 into the tight Timber Creek canyon which is a cool shady forest alongside the creek. A nice shorter destination, popular with kids, is at mile 2.6 where the trail makes a sharp right across a third bridge before starting the steepest climb. The majority of the trail's altitude gain happens in the next 1.5 miles to the Two Elk Pass summit. Here you can take in views of the Gore Range, Sawatch Range, and Vail's Back Bowls before descending slowly through meadows and the valley between Vail's Back Bowls and Blue Sky Basin Bowls and finally emerging from the last section of cool aspen-pine forest to the west trailhead.

Officially, the east trailhead of the Two Elk National Recreation Trail is at its junction with the Old Vail Pass trail, but the mileages on these descriptions include the 1.8 miles of the Old Vail Pass trail you must hike to get to the trailhead. A designated National Recreation Trail, Two Elk Trail can be hiked in either direction, although the Trail Highlights section, above, details the more popular east-to-west route. Two cars are needed to hike the 11.8-mile length of the trail without retracing your route and doubling the mileage. A shorter option is to the bridge at 2.6 miles, also described above, to make a 5.2-mile round-trip. Or, a hike to the Two Elk Pass summit would be an 8.2-mile round-trip from the east.

The portion of the trail within Vail Ski Area is closed from May 6 to June 30 for elk calving.

Allowed Uses:

Bicycling Dogs, off leash Dogs, on leash Equestrian Hiking/Walking

Other Activities

• Camping

• Certified as an NRT
  Dec 12, 1979

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