Colony Creek Trail
Hike Rating: Moderate
Hike
Length: 4.6 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 1,760’
Trailhead Elevation: 4,320’
Best Season: July, August and September, after
cows
are gone from the canyon
Driving Access: Any vehicle, with care
Plus
Points
• A moderate hike into a well-watered stream canyon with
colorful rock formations
• Colony Creek is within a BLM Wilderness Study Area
• The perennial, alder-lined stream is a linear oasis for
wildlife in a dry landscape
• Mineralized rocks outcrops on the hillsides in shades of
red, green, white and blue
• A good trail on a gradual grade makes for easy hiking,
despite the elevation gain
• Remains of an old mining prospect add an historical
element to the area
Minus
Points
• Cows are all gone by June 15,
but their impacts persist, especially in lower canyon
• Rattlesnakes are a possibility throughout the summer, so
caution is advised
Download
(PDF, 546 KB): Photos of Colony Creek
Trail
Download
(PDF, 725 KB): Topo Map for Colony Creek
Trail
Download
(PDF, 636 KB): Road Map for Colony Creek
Trail
Trail
Notes
From the
small trailhead parking area, the hike follows a jeep road
up the north side of the creek for about a half mile, where
it ends in a small flat at a fence with a wire gate.
Through this gate (leave it as you found it) a good
single-track trail then climbs gradually along the north
side of the creek all the way to the upper basin. In the
narrow lower canyon, the trail is well-defined and stays
close to the alder-lined stream, which still flows some
water even into late summer. Wherever the canyon widens,
the cows have made multiple tracks on the streamside flats
and one has to choose the best route. Keep an eye out for
sage grouse, quail and chukar around these dry flats.
After 1.7
miles of steady climbing, the grade becomes more gradual as
one enters the upper basin. There are many seeps and
springs here, with mud bogs, rose thickets and aspens,
which the trail climbs the hillside to avoid. Look for mule
deer browsing in these wet seeps. On the trail above these
springs, there are great views of the multi-colored,
mineralized rock formations that encircle the upper basin.
The route keeps climbing
gradually, sometimes on parallel tracks, until about the
2.3 mile point, where one finds an old mining road
descending into the canyon from the southeast. This road
meets the stream at a wide flat, where there are stacked
rock remains of a mining prospect on the north side of the
creek. The streamside alder thickets below this flat make a
good lunch and hike destination. Hikers with more ambition
can follow the old mining road for another mile to the
west, over a pass at the head of the canyon, to sweeping
overviews of the Van Horn Basin.
Road
to Trailhead
Drive about
15 miles south from Fields Station on the paved
Fields-Denio highway and look for a dirt road on the west,
right at a highway bend. This turnoff is about 2.4 miles
south of the big highway curve around Red Point and is
across the highway from the Colony Ranch.
If this dirt road is dry and hard, drive about 0.2 miles
west to a small parking and turnaround area on the north
bank of Colony Creek. This road has some deep ruts in it
but, by straddling them with care, even a low-clearance
passenger vehicle should be fine.
Camping Options
There are no developed
campgrounds within 25 miles of the Pueblo Mountains. Both
the Willow Creek Hot Springs Campground near the Trout
Creek Mtns. and the Mann Lake Recreation Area east of
Steens Mtn. are too distant to serve as a base for day
hiking here.
The best
option is dispersed camping along the access road to Little
Cottonwood Creek, about 7.7 driving miles south of Fields
Station. You'll need to provide your own water and
sanitation, but there are 6-8 dispersed camp sites here
spread out along the creek, all within a half mile of the
highway. These camping sites have no tree cover or shade
and the access road gets rougher the further one drives up
the canyon — but any size camping setup, from small tents
to large RVs, can find a spot here. The surrounding hills
provide some protection from the winds and there is also
good privacy from the highway.
Agency
Contact: Burns BLM District, (541)
573-4411
DISCLAIMER:
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this
information, but the authors do not guarantee that it is
either current or correct. The reader assumes full
responsibility for any use of this information, and is
encouraged to contact local federal land agencies to
inquire about current conditions before
traveling.
Page
last updated: 1/17/13