Little Beaver Creek Trail

Little Beaver Creek is the kind of trail that lets you settle in and walk — it leaves the old Flowers Road, slips across a small stream in Jacks Gulch, and eases into the Comanche Peak Wilderness before dropping to the creek that gives it its name. From there the water is your companion for miles: you cross it twice on two-log stringer bridges (or ford it if you’re on a horse), thread through pockets of wildflowers and biodiversity, and climb so gradually you hardly notice the elevation stacking up. Much of this country burned in the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire — Colorado’s largest ever — but a lot of the trail stayed green, and it makes for very fine walking.

The reward at the top is Beaver Park, a broad, pleasant basin where beavers still work the ponds, brook trout hang in the clear pools, and a short scramble up the ridge to the north opens the Mummy Range to the south. This is real wilderness, so come ready: watch overhead and underfoot in the burn for falling trees and hidden stump holes, know that even a light rain can send flash flooding far downstream, and don’t be surprised to share the willows with a moose. Treat every drop of creek water, and if you’re pushing past Beaver Park toward Upper Dadd Gulch, fill up first — the last mile turns steep, sun-baked, and dry.

Trail Facts

Getting There

From Ted’s Place, drive 26.5 miles to Pingree Park Road (at mile marker 96.1), cross the Cache la Poudre River, and continue 6.3 miles to a turn-off with a gate on the right (west). Go through the gate onto Forest Road 152 (unmarked) and through the former Jacks Gulch Campground. Just before a second gate on the left, an unsigned lot holds parking for vehicles and a few stock trailers. Park there and walk 0.5 mile up the Flowers Trail — a 4-wheel-drive road that’s fine for most vehicles this first stretch — to the Little Beaver Creek Trailhead on the left (south); or, if the gate is open and it isn’t too muddy, drive the 0.5 mile in. Note: due to the Cameron Peak Fire, no accommodations are available at Jacks Gulch Campground.

Know Before You Go

• Burn country. This trail ran through the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire — watch for falling trees, hidden stump holes, and rockslides, and know that even a small rainstorm can trigger flash flooding far downstream.
• It’s a Wilderness trail: no bikes or wheeled conveyances, no motorized use, and group size is capped at 12 (people and stock combined) inside the Comanche Peak Wilderness.
• Dogs must be on a hand-held leash with hikers (voice control with stock).
• Stock is challenging. Past the second bridge the tread narrows, and two small rocky ridges about halfway to Beaver Park are very hard on horses; weed-free pellets or certified hay are required the whole trip.
• Water & moose. The creek runs alongside most of the trail — treat every drop — but the 0.75 mile below the Upper Dadd Gulch junction is dry, and moose frequent the drainage, so give them plenty of room.
• Winter access. Usually reachable year-round; Jacks Gulch Campground is gated in winter, so park clear of the gate (leave room for the snowplow) and walk, ski, or snowshoe about 1 mile in to the trailhead.