rainbow trail

This Trail holds very special memories for me and my family. The first hike I took on it at age 5 with Mom, Dad and brother and sister, then later with my own family, wife, and daughter and son. My last hike on it was last year at age 70 and probably my last but I have never been disappointed in any hike. The fishing in any of the 52 Glacial lakes is always very rewarding. Take time to enjoy this wonderful Trail.

My husband and I finally made it to the Rainbow Trail to go for a hike. The Rainbow Trail is a trail that runs for about 100 miles along the base of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. It was made to enable firefighters access to fight fires if needed. You can drive up to many different trailhead areas, get out and hike in either direction for as long as you want, turn around and come back. There are many different trailheads at these areas that you can catch to go UP into the high country if you wish, but the Rainbow Trail itself is fairly linear and runs north and south. It is a well marked trail, rocky in some areas,with some up and down hills, but very easily traversable (sp). It is hard in this area to find a hike that is not "Moderate/Difficult" and involves hiking gear. I wanted to hike to see the beauty, but I'm not fit or athletic, and not cut out for a strenuous hike. I had just had thyroid surgery 2 weeks before, I am a chubby flatlander, and I did fine! I had to stop and rest and catch my breath a few times, but part of that was altitude. The hike is beautiful~Dense forests of pine and aspen. We drove up to the Comanche trailhead which is up by Alvarado campground southwest of Westcliffe. There was a group of folks there with horses from Bear Basin getting ready to start out on a packtrip up in the high country. We hiked about 1/4 mile to where the Rainbow Trail starts, and headed south approx.1 mile to Hiltman Creek. The water was beautiful coming down the mountain. There is a little bridge you can cross and keep going, I believe 1/2 mile, to where you can look out over the Wet Mountain Valley, but we turned around at the creek, as weather was coming~you don't want to be on the mountain when there is lightning! We didn't leave the creek though, until I took off my shoes and stood in the water, as there is a small area that is level, flat, and shallow~a great place to cool off~which didn't take long as cold as that water is! We then turned around and retraced our hike back to the car. It was a beautiful walk/hike in a beautiful area. We had talked of doing this many times and just never took the time to go check it out. I am so glad we did. If you go, be sure to take some water to drink, stay hydrated, and enjoy the beauty!