Climbing 4,000 feet over five or six miles, the East Creek trail isn't one to take lightly. In addition to being steep and long, there's not really much to see for the first four miles. Therefore I think it's one you don't attempt unless you're prepared to go to the top.
Once at the top, the successful hiker is greeted with a large amphitheater filled with wildflowers. The warm dry summer we're experiencing in Colorado this year means that flowers are peaking earlier, and I chose to hike East Creek two weeks before my original target date.
The trailhead begins above the boulevard in Redstone, about fifteen miles south of Carbondale. There's a parking area on the boulevard, and as it's been eight years since my last hike up this trail, I was fooled into thinking I had to park there. There's also room for a few vehicles at the trailhead, and if you drive up there, you'll save yourself a mile of hiking and several hundred feet of vertical gain. Had I done so, I'm sure my knees wouldn't have been as sore that evening.
