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.

Seasonal streams and falls will run high and fast this year



Hikers and backpackers in the Colorado mountains should expect more snow and tricky stream crossings this year.  Near-record snowpack at the upper elevations is going to take longer to melt and will add much more water to the run-off that feeds seasonal streams and waterfalls like the one pictured above.

This seasonal waterfall begins flowing in March and dries up in June each year.  At its peak in May, it's really gushing as it flows into the Crystal River south of Redstone, Colorado.