Beautiful and Peaceful Hiking Elliot Ridge Trail to Meridian Peak

Elliot Ridge Trail is a long but moderate hike that stays above the treeline and offers incredible views of the surrounding mountains, particularly of the Eagles Nest Wilderness. And when it comes to difficulty, this hike was
one of the most mellow hikes we have done in Colorado yet. There is still a decent amount of up and down but the grades are much more gentle. And yet we were still able to bag a peak! We only saw one other person on our entire hike on Elliot Ridge Trail to Meridian Peak. It was a peaceful, pretty and rewarding hike! And it was just a short drive from our new camp spot in the forest off of Spring Creek Road!

After an amazing two weeks of camping on Homestake Road and exploring the Holy Cross Wilderness it was time to move on. Just two days before we were due to leave our camp spot on Homestake Road, there was a crazy snow storm! Temperatures dropped to half of what they were the day before and we got 7 inches of snow overnight!

After a day of building a couple snowmen, a snowball fight, playing on the ice and a lot of hot cocoa the snow was completely melted (thankfully!). The weather slowly heated back up and it seems as though we still have more time to explore in Colorado before the real snow comes. We can’t wait to see what beauty and adventures the Eagles Nest Wilderness has in store for us!

Quick Info:

Distance: 12 miles roundtrip

Difficulty: Moderate

Directions: From Silverthorne, take Highway 9 North for 27 miles. Turn left onto Spring Creek Road for about 8 miles. Then, take the right fork onto Forest Road 1831 and travel about 5.4 miles to the Elliot Ridge Trailhead.

Our Experience Hiking Elliot Ridge Trail to Meridian Peak

From our camp spot, we had a 15 minute drive to the trailhead. The forest road to the trailhead was pretty bumpy and slow going but manageable – there was a Subaru at the trailhead. At the trailhead there is a small parking area, a small, cute lake and an information sign with a map.

The Elliot Ridge Trail begins with a rocky ascent leaving the rocks and trailhead behind. Then it mellows out and becomes less rocky as it ascends along the grassy, western mountainside. From here there are vast (and unfortunately, smoky) views of the forested hills and tall mountains in the distance to the west. The trail continues ascending and reaches the ridge.

Being atop the ridge and completely above the tree line made it so we had a clear idea of where we were headed and panoramic views all around. As we hiked further, the incredible Gore Range mountains made their dramatic appearance! Having those amazing peaks poking up in the distance was enough motivation for me to keep going. I couldn’t wait for an even better view of such a steep and rugged mountain range landscape.

After about 1.75 miles, we reached the Eagles Nest Wilderness Boundary sign.

As we continued along Elliot Ridge Trail, we were suddenly able to see down into the forest below. It looked so lush, dense, and colorful with a few visible lakes as well. We have future hikes planned in the area below so it was cool to have a birds eye view of it now. Looked inviting!

Hike it Later – Pin it Now!

The vast, barren landscape was surprisingly intriguing and sometimes made me think of walking through a moonscape or among otherworldly scenery. And the unique perspective of the peaks of the Gore Range really added to the unusual landscape.

Next, the trail descended down the hillside before regaining your elevation and climbing up the next “hill”. Five miles in along Elliot Ridge Trail, we reached an intersection. The trail to the left leads to Mirror and Cataract Lakes and the trail to the right leads to Soda Lake. We continued straight towards Meridian Peak.

And just a short distance from this intersection, Meridian Peak revealed itself up ahead. So now we had a clear view of our path and our final destination!

Finally, we reached Meridian Peak! And we were rewarded with the amazing views of the steep towering mountains and into the depths of the beautiful basin below. We wished we had brought binoculars because the one other person that we saw on the trail said he saw moose and bears down below in the basin.

And we were in awe as we stood staring at the dramatic and rugged Gore Mountains before us. These massive, angular formations were extremely captivating and impressive! And you can’t help but look on at them in appreciation and admiration.

When we reached Meridian Peak, we saw that we could actually continue on down along the ridge. We weren’t prepared for hiking further so we didn’t get to see just how far across we could have went. But it definitely looked like an adventurous add on to the Elliot Ridge Trail!

After letting our eyes feast on the views and signing the peak/trail log we headed back to the trailhead along the Elliot Ridge Trail.

Thanks for reading about our hike on Elliot Ridge Trail to Meridian Peak!

Walking along Elliot Ridge Trail was a different experience than many other trails that we’ve done! And making it to Meridian Peak to see the incredible overlook of Eagles Nest Wilderness was the perfect finale to this hike. We can’t wait to explore more of trails in the Eagles Nest Wilderness!

If you’d like to see more of our hiking adventures, check out the links below:

• Gorgeous Hike Up to Teocalli Peak
• Fantastic Displays of Volcanism from Warner Valley Trailhead
• Adventurous Hike on West Clear Creek Trail
• Exploring Hoodoos on Red Mountain Trail

To keep up this on the road lifestyle, we work hard at creating unique one of a kind hand painted longboards! If you’d like to see our latest lineup, head over to our Lost Coast Longboarding Shop. We also design and screen print our own shirts 🙂

Looking for an easy way to show your support for The Lost Longboarder? Anytime you shop on Amazon, please use our Amazon link to get to Amazon. Then shop as you normally would. It won’t change your shopping experience but it helps us out a bit! We appreciate it.