Welcome to the Colorado backcountry

The vast acreage of wilderness and backcountry beauty in Colorado make it one of the more popular locations for camping, backpacking, and day-hiking.

In addition to a eight National Parks and Monuments, Colorado boasts an equal number of Wilderness Areas, millions of acres of National Forest and BLM land, and over three dozen state parks.

From mountains to deserts, and grasslands to canyons, one could spend a lifetime hiking the trails of Colorado and not cover all of them.

Mormon Lake in the Holy Cross Wilderness Area


The hike to Lyle and Mormon lakes is one of our favorites.  Previously we did it as a day hike, but this time we camped at Lyle Lake, allowing us to photograph both lakes in the morning.

Lyle and Mormon lakes are in the Holy Cross Wilderness Area of Colorado.  The trailhead is on the road to Hagerman Pass, in the Fryingpan River valley.