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.

Hanging Lake in Glenwood Canyon



One of the more popular tourist destinations in Colorado is Glenwood Canyon, through which the Colorado River flows on its way towards Glenwood Springs.  The most popular place in Glenwood Canyon is Hanging Lake.  The trail climbs about six hundred feet in a mile and a quarter.  While often crowded on summer weekends, it's nearly deserted in winter when the above photos were taken.

See some videos of Hanging Lake in the spring here.