Backpacking The Uncompahgre National Forest

I have to give props to John for discovering the Uncompahgre Wilderness. I usually plan our trips, but John insisted that he plan everything out as an anniversary gift! He decided we were going to spend a week in Southern Colorado’s San Juan Mountain Range splitting our time between the Sneffels and Uncompahgre Wilderness areas.

I had never heard of the Uncompahgre National Forest, so I decided to trust him. I chose not to look at pictures of the destinations to keep my excitement up and my expectations down. Topographic maps and trail guides were the only things I looked at for the area we were visiting in Uncompahgre.

If you would like to read out our entire week-long trip check out our separate post here!

It was Thursday afternoon in mid-July when we finally arrived in the Uncompahgre Wilderness. The sun was beating down, and it was fairly hot, but it was beautiful. We started at around 10,000 feet in a green field surrounded by thick, piney woods at the base of the nearby mountains.

Entering the Uncompahgre National Forest and Wilderness area.

We hit the trail hoping to make it as far as we could before the sun set and before we were exhausted. Earlier that morning, we had climbed the difficult Mount Sneffels, (Read about it here!!) so we were already a bit tired. From where we parked our car, it was about 3 miles to the top of our first mountain pass, and our goal was to reach it.

You can see more from our weekend in the Uncompahgre National Forest watch our YouTube video below!

We were somewhat dreading the late start, but we quickly found encouragement. Every person we passed on the way up, “oohed”, “ahed”, and raved about what we were heading toward and that kept us pushing further and further up the pass. One couple called it the most beautiful trail they had ever been on and exclaimed that the Wetterhorn Basin surpassed their experience in the Canadian Rockies.

The trail starts surrounded by a forest of thick pines and follows the West Fork Cimarron River to its small, creek headwaters. Once we were out of the forest and above the treeline, we entered into one of the most scenic valleys I have ever seen.

Wildflowers at the start of the trail.

​The wildflowers were in peak bloom exploding in bright blossoms across the vibrant grass. Groups of bright pinks, purples, whites, and yellows littered the lush ground around us. We continued up the trail that cuts through the middle of the field and gawked the entire time. ​

​The mountains created a spectacular backdrop that kept the entire area in perspective. It was beyond picturesque. We stopped a lot to take pictures and catch our breath especially when the trail started to make a steep climb toward the first pass.

Looking down onto the trail we had come up.

Our campsite right off the trail.

​Before we made it all the way up to the pass, we spotted a great, secluded campsite that one of the couples we passed earlier had told us about! We found the subtle fire pit had been and set up our tent near it. At this point, we were exhausted and unbelievably excited about our incredible campsite.
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​We enjoyed a Mountain House dehydrated meal while watching the setting sun set the mountains ablaze during one of the most beautiful evenings I had ever seen. 

It was around 9 p.m. when the darkness hit our tent, and we decided it was time to go to bed. We put all our food in our LokSak Bear Bags and hung them down wind before crawling into our sleeping bags.

Enjoying the sunset from our campsite.

Maria standing on the trail watching us get our bear bag down.

We managed to sleep in much later than we had anticipated. The day before’s strenuous hikes really wore us out, and we stayed in our tent until almost 9:30 a.m. We enjoyed our morning, took our time getting up, and decided to explore around camp to let our dog, Maria, rest her paws longer.

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The waterfall where we filled our water filters and brushed our teeth!

We filtered some creek water with our LifeStraw Water Filtration System from nearby and boiled it single propane burner to cook another Mountain House Meal. We also filled up our water bottles for the day while we planned out our hiking path.

​While eating our Southwestern Breakfast Scramble, we looked over the map and decided climbing the nearby mountains might be a little more difficult than we initially thought. With our packs and a pretty sore pup, climbing over rock scrambles and gaining thousands of feet of elevation didn’t sound like what we wanted. 

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Instead, we decided to leave camp prepared to hike over the nearby pass and make it to Wetterhorn Creek in Wetterhorn Basin. By time we packed up our food, packed our gear into a day pack, and got our hiking boots laced up, it was already after noon.

Hiking up the trail from our campsite.

We knew we were hiking in the hottest part of the day, but there would be plenty of water for our dog, and we thought that we would eventually hike down into the tree line on the other side of the pass. What we really didn't know, though, was just how absolutely spectacular Wetterhorn Basin and the trail leading to it would be. ​​​ ​​​

Making it over West Fork Pass and looking down toward our campsite.

The view once over the pass!

​Coxcomb Peak and the surrounding rocky edges had defined our view thus far, but it drastically changed as we looked down onto the picture-perfect mountain range leading to Wetterhorn Peak. As an added plus, we were soon back down low enough for there to be flowers. 

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​The fields went from bare, loose rock to grasses full of the paintbrush flowers’ reds and pinks from the paintbrush flowers, columbines’ purples and whites, and daisies’ whites and yellows.

Approaching the basin area.

We were blown away by the scenery and the persistent wind on this side of the mountain pass. We spent all afternoon wandering down into Wetterhorn Basin looking at all the flowers, trekking through the water, and trying to take in all the wonders we had found.

Wildflowers in front of Wetterhorn Peak.

A view of the entire Wetterhorn Basin.

More wildflowers!

Eventually, after hours in the sun, we decided to make our way back up toward the pass and our campsite. It took us roughly an hour or so to get from our overlook of Wetterhorn Creek, over the pass, and down to our spot. ​

More views hiking around the basin area.

Starting our hike back over to our camp.

Views from one of the passes, they are more rocky than the basins!

Another view of our campsite.

We caught another stunning sunset from our campsite and made a nice picnic of cheese and crackers while we watched it. We put away our food bags again before crawling into the tent happy as a clam and tired as a dog (maybe not as tired as our dog).

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The next morning, we were awake fairly as the sun hit our tent. The night before’s early bedtime had let us both rest well, so we decided to use our energy to hike out and head home. Before we knew it, we were packing up all of our gear and breaking down the tent. We were sad to be leaving such a serene place but happy to be home after three weeks away. ​​

​The two and a half miles we hiked back to the trailhead took us only about an hour to complete. It didn't even feel that long, and we were back at the car in seemingly the blink of an eye. There seemed to be even more flowers on our journey out of the area, and we remained in awe the entire time. ​

Walking through the lush trail.

It was a bittersweet feeling to be leaving the wilderness, but we had seen and done so much in the previous few days that we were perfectly content heading home. We both agreed this had been our favorite place in Colorado thus far. The wildflowers framed with the magnificent mountain backdrops made the picture perfect place even more beautiful.

Similar Links:
Summiting Mount Sneffels - Southern Colorado's 14ers
Spending a Week in Southern Colorado Hiking and Camping 
​Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park