The Best and Worst Colorado Trail Segments
The Colorado Trail is about 485 miles long and is split up into 28 segments. Most segments start and end at a road or trailhead, and they can sometimes be pretty remote. They range from under 10 to over 20 miles long. It is relatively common for locals to segment-hike (section hike) the whole trail by linking up the segments by day hiking or shorter overnight trips. Because of this, its super common to see people talking about certain segment numbers online, and the guidebook is written according to them.
I, admittedly, didn’t do the most in-depth research on the trail before my 2021 thru-hike, and I really didn’t have that much context on the segments and where they were and what was great or not great about them. But of course, I definitely had opinions about certain segments - good and bad - by the end of the trail! So, I decided to create this ranked list of the segments, from best to worst. You should also note that I did not hike the Collegiate East, which is comprised of segments 11 - 15. I still hiked the beginning of 11 and end of 15, so I’ll still include them in my rankings. As always, and maybe even moreso here, this is my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt!
How the Rankings Were Decided
As I said above, this is entirely my opinion! When I started ranking these, the main category I went off of was beautiful views. I am a photographer, after all. So, you can really read this list as how scenic, or how much bang for your buck you get in these sections! I know we all love to hike, but I personally like to hike in really pretty places.
The Rankings!
1.Segment 23: Carson Saddle to Stony Pass Trailhead
2. Segment 27: Hotel Draw Road to Kennebec Trailhead
3. Segment 24: Stony Pass Trailhead to Molas Pass
4. Segment 22: Spring Creek Pass Trailhead to Carson Saddle
5. Segment 21: San Luis Pass to Spring Creek Pass Trailhead
6. Segment CW03: Cottonwood Pass Trailhead to Tincup Pass Road
7. Segment 25: Molas Pass to Bolam Pass Road
8. Segment CW02: Sheep Gulch to Cottonwood Pass Trailhead
9. Segment 26: Bolam Pass Road to Hotel Draw Road
10. Segment CW01: Twin Lakes to Sheep Gulch
11. Segment CW05: Boss Lake Trailhead to Ridge Above South Fooses Creek
12. Segment 6: Kenosha Pass to Gold Hill Trailhead
13. Segment 8: Copper Mountain to Tennessee Pass
14. Segment 7: Gold Hill Trailhead to Copper Mountain
15. Segment 20: Eddiesville Trailhead to San Luis Pass
16. Segment CW04: Tincup Pass Road to Boss Lake Trailhead
17. Segment 5: Long Gulch to Kenosha Pass
18. Segment 9: Tennessee Pass to Timberline Lake Trailhead
19. Segment 19: Saguache Park Road to Eddiesville Trailhead
20. Segment 4: Rolling Creek Trailhead to Long Gulch
21. Segment 11: Mount Massive Trailhead to Clear Creek Road
22. Segment 2: South Platte River Trailhead to Little Scraggy Trailhead
23. Segment 28: Kennebec Trailhead to Junction Creek Trailhead
24. Segment 10: Timberline Lake to Mount Massive Trail
25. Segment 3: Little Scraggy Trailhead to Rolling Creek Trailhead
26. Segment 1: Waterton Canyon to South Platte River Trailhead
27. Segment 18: CO Hwy 114 to Saguache Park Road
28. Segment 15: US Hwy 50 to Marshall Pass
29. Segment 16: Marshall Pass to Sargent’s Mesa
30. Segment 17: Sargent’s Mesa to CO Hwy 114
I just have to say, many of these segments were difficult to rank! Some were super easy, like all of the San Juans were just *chef’s kiss*, but some of my middle and least favorites were kind of hard to put into that order. All segments had at least one bright spot in them. You can always find something valuable about a segment even if it’s not your favorite.