Name: Rattlesnake Gulch Trail
Rating: 4.3

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Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · River/Creek · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

Upper portion of the loop (above Hotel ruins and Continental Divide overlook) is often closed in spring/summer for raptor nesting.

Description

Park at the Fowler trailhead within Eldorado State Park. Start down the flat Fowler Trail a couple of hundred feet, and turn right onto the Rattlesnake Gulch Trail. This amazing lollipop loop takes you past the ruins of the Crags Hotel - once a thriving area for tourists that was easily accessed on the old train. This trail has nice views of the Continental Divide (from the Continental Divide Overlook) and the walls of Eldorado Canyon State Park.

Contacts

Land Manager: Eldorado Canyon State Park

Shared By:

Dana Prosser with improvements by Charles Danforth

Full Details

Trail Ratings

4.3 from 63 votes

#1

in Eldorado Canyon State Park

#28

Overall

4.3 from 63 votes

5 Star		37%
4 Star		60%
3 Star		3%
2 Star		0%
1 Star		0%

Trail Rankings

#1

in Eldorado Canyon State…

#6

in Colorado

#28

Overall

39 Views Last Month

8,239 Since May 9, 2015

		2%
		2%
		76%
		10%
		10%
		0%

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Photos

Apr 14, 2016 near Coal Creek, CO

Oct 31, 2016 near Coal Creek, CO

May 12, 2015 near Coal Creek, CO

2 Comments

Weather

Current Trail Conditions

Minor Issues 81 days ago

Update Conditions See History

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Check-Ins

Sep 9, 2023

Sasha S

5.9mi — 2h 32m

Jun 14, 2023

Garrett Larson

4.4mi

Feb 21, 2023

Nicole Wiesenthal

Jan 15, 2023

Léanne June

Sep 4, 2022

Maureen Mulvaney

Jul 10, 2022

Sacha McClymont

Jun 18, 2022

Tarita Fisher Boersma

Lollipop closed for raptor nesting. 3.5mi — 1h 33m

Feb 20, 2022

Dan Shanley

Hiked with Melissa's friend continental divide lookout 4mi

Feb 19, 2022

Jody Rae

Jan 17, 2022

Diane Collier

2h 00m

Dec 23, 2021

Gina G

Hiked with Pat, Dylan and Emily

Dec 5, 2021

Ari R.

Oct 8, 2021

Michael Feldman

Sep 24, 2021

Byron Alan

First time hike, but will definitely come back at some point. Trail is rough in most places, lots of sharp jutting rocks and loose gravel. Fairly s… 4.7mi — 2h 12m

Aug 20, 2021

Scott Fields

To the continental divide trail 1.8mi — 0h 50m

Jul 25, 2021

Deborah Bacon

Jun 19, 2021

J Eisen

Jan 9, 2021

Ari R.

Lovely in the snow!

Jan 1, 2021

Ari R.

Nov 6, 2020

Michael Schieferecke

3.5mi — 2h 22m

Oct 22, 2020

jon J

Oct 4, 2020

Rachel Solorio

3.6mi

Sep 27, 2020

Sean Adams-Hiett

Sep 27, 2020

Brittany Kennedy

Beautiful Mountain Scenery — 1h 34m

Aug 13, 2020

Gina G

Aug 2, 2020

Meaghan O.

3mi — 2h 30m

Jul 18, 2020

Noah Lucas

With Taylor and Christine

Jul 4, 2020

Guy Dar

Jul 3, 2020

Ryan William

Jun 26, 2020

Michael Kontos

Great trail. Not used to the altitude since I'm from Ohio but I loved this trail. The views are amazing. Got scared by a rattlesnake on the trail.

Jun 12, 2020

Kristy Slibsager

May 24, 2020

Derek Wenth

May 22, 2020

Brad Costa

May 19, 2020

Andrea Theisen

May 13, 2020

Erin Andersen

Includes Fowler trail (partial) 6.1mi — 2h 55m

May 11, 2020

Maren Miller

Whoop. Cold and foggy Monday morning

May 5, 2020

Kim Chrislip

Up to the Divide overlook 4.7mi

May 3, 2020

Matt Thome

both kids.. nice tail 2.3mi

Apr 10, 2020

Shane Vidal

Started recording the hike about 15 minutes in. 2.9mi — 1h 18m

Jan 8, 2020

Dayag Anashiym

Still a bit of ice, bring the spikes

Dec 24, 2019

Jeff O

Nov 16, 2019

Mike Amolsch

Oct 26, 2019

Taylor West

Sep 14, 2019

Mile High Wigglebutts Denver Dog Walking

Sep 10, 2019

Isabel Feick

Sep 7, 2019

Samuel Canuto

Steep with gravel. Gorgeous view. Definitely worth it. We're going to do it again. 4.6mi — 3h 12m

Jul 26, 2019

Phil Inslee

Jul 9, 2019

Nathan Harrison

Jul 6, 2019

Elijah Erickson

3mi

Jun 29, 2019

Jim Smetana

Jun 26, 2019

Genel Combs

1h 05m

Jun 9, 2019

Tamara Didenko

Jun 8, 2019

Amy Nguyen

Jun 4, 2019

Molly Westfield

12h 00m

Jun 1, 2019

Sean Muir

May 7, 2019

Claire S

May 5, 2019

Jessica Chapman

Apr 28, 2019

Charles B

3.5mi — 1h 40m

Apr 20, 2019

Todd Dennison

Apr 9, 2019

Luke Reichold

Mar 26, 2019

Nathan Harrison

Mar 24, 2019

Maddy S

Jan 27, 2019

Dane F

Jan 7, 2019

Cam Morton

With the overlooks and little out-of-the-way views, plus the necessary short connector trail, made for a bit more mileage 3.5mi

Dec 30, 2018

Austin Briggs

Great sunset! 2.3mi

Dec 14, 2018

Jack Elliott

Nov 24, 2018

David Orner

Nov 23, 2018

Michelle T

This trail is currently extremely icy with some dry patches. Bring spikes, or be very careful.

Nov 23, 2018

David Orner

Oct 21, 2018

Kim Chrislip

W Jen & Sam. Out and back to the lookout point. 2.5mi

Oct 13, 2018

Scott EHopkins

3mi

Sep 27, 2018

Amanda Hammer

4.5mi

Sep 2, 2018

John Gooze

Aug 26, 2018

Tiffany Popdan

Aug 18, 2018

Julia DeVito

Aug 8, 2018

Peach Jones

3.24 miles to the Crags

Aug 5, 2018

Allison Klein

With Mark and kids

Jul 28, 2018

Tyler Sims

Jul 21, 2018

Johanna Bodnyk

5.2mi

Jun 22, 2018

Private User

Jun 2, 2018

Eddie George

Nice trail

May 30, 2018

Emily Schmucker

The loop was closed off due to Golden eagle breeding season, but the rest of the hike was beautiful and a great view of the continental divide. 1.8mi

Apr 22, 2018

Sara Bularzik

with Marshall 2.3mi

Mar 22, 2018

Laura Hamman

Mar 3, 2018

Ash Hennen

Jan 28, 2018

Jay M

Dec 28, 2017

Maddie Wall

Dec 28, 2017

Micki Balder

Sign about rattlesnakes, so good to do in the winter 2.3mi

Dec 20, 2017

Cloud F

Nov 24, 2017

Brett Sisco

3.5mi

Nov 5, 2017

Nathaniel Foster

Nov 4, 2017

Elisheva Wexler

Oct 15, 2017

Sarah McConville

2.3mi

Oct 12, 2017

Tracey Ziniel

Oct 3, 2017

Vicky Zimmerman

Drab but trail seems fairly dry

Sep 26, 2017

Xtine Zimmerman

Sep 10, 2017

Katherine Mumm

Sep 5, 2017

Becky Curtis

Sep 2, 2017

C Rey

Continental Divide Lookout is worth it. 3mi

Aug 27, 2017

Amanda Liles

Aug 6, 2017

Aaron Money

Fun place to play on rocks

Aug 3, 2017

Brad Ray

Jul 20, 2017

Michelle Gilbreath

Was a great hike and so beautiful 5.4mi

Jul 16, 2017

Jake Dylan

The complete lollipop according to the state park's map is 3.6 miles (1.4 leading to the loop, .8 loop, 1.4 back from the loop.) this trail leads t... 3.6mi

Jul 4, 2017

Jasper S

Jun 16, 2017

Jeremy M

Jun 14, 2017

Stacy Iron

With 30something Singles Meetup. got a late start and it almost got too dark as we brought up the rear 3.2mi

Jun 3, 2017

Mike McCawley

May 20, 2017

Aaron Rodgers

May 20, 2017

Maggie Hoomanawanui

2.3mi

Apr 7, 2017

Michelle King

Beautiful views! Also did continental divide overlook. 6mi

Mar 10, 2017

Linda Cockrell

2.5mi

Oct 8, 2016

Kelsey Norris

Sep 23, 2016

Scott Hu

Awesome. 5 stars. It is uphill if thats what youre looking for.

Aug 13, 2016

Tito Solis

Jun 17, 2016

Matthew Thomas

Jul 4, 2015

DSchroeder Schroeder

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Rattlesnake Gulch Trail

“A lollipop loop in Eldorado State Park. ”

2.3

3.7

Point to Point

7,046' 2,147 m

6,111' 1,863 m

934' 285 m

329' 100 m

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Toolbox

Know This Trail?

Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · River/Creek · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

Description

Contacts

Shared By:

Trail Ratings

#1

#28

#1

#6

#28

Photos

2 Comments

Comment Type:

Weather

Current Trail Conditions

Check-Ins

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Shanahan Ridge

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