Rawah North Trail

This is the north door into the Rawah Wilderness, and it starts about as gently as a big mountain day ever does — a flat, easy mile and a half up the Laramie River Valley on an easement across private ranchland, with the Rawah Guest Ranch at your back and water close at hand from the very start. Cross the Laramie about a fifth of a mile in and the creeks barely leave your side after that: Lower and North Fork Rawah Creek, Half Way Creek, Upper Rawah Creek, and a whole necklace of lakes and ponds feed the trail all the way to the top. Once you pass the wilderness boundary near mile 1.8 the work begins, a steady pull through lodgepole pine that levels out along the Rawah Creek drainage before climbing again toward the lakes.

The corridor stays well established and easy to follow nearly the whole way, which is a gift on a trail this long — you can spend your attention on the country instead of the route. Up high the forest opens to the lower three Rawah Lakes, the majestic bowl holding Rawah Lake #4 southwest of the pass, and the bighorn-sheep basins around Grassy Pass at 9.8 miles. Come prepared: this is moose country, so give them a wide berth, and the exposed alpine near Grassy Pass is no place to be caught in an afternoon thunderstorm. Two unbridged crossings — the creek draining Little Rainbow Lake near Rawah Lake #1, and Rawah Creek between Lakes #2 and #3 — can be a real wade in high runoff, so time your trip for after the peak melt and turn around if the water says so.

Trail Facts

Getting There

From Ted's Place, drive 51.6 miles up the Poudre Canyon on CO-14 to Laramie River Road (CR-103) at mile marker 71.5, turn right, and follow it 12.2 miles to the Rawah Trailhead and parking lot on the east (right) side of the road, across from the Rawah Guest Ranch. Park here and cross the road to the trail. There are toilets at the trailhead and a medium-sized lot with two entrances plus roadside parking — roomy enough for stock trailers. No water at the trailhead itself, but the Laramie River crossing about 0.2 mile in is your first of many. The road isn't plowed in winter and typically opens in late June.

Know Before You Go

• Moose country. Moose frequent these willowy creek bottoms and bogs — keep your distance, keep dogs leashed and close, and never get between a cow and her calf.
• Alpine lightning. The exposed country near Grassy Pass is dangerous in a storm — start early, watch the afternoon sky, and be below treeline before the weather builds.
• Wilderness rules. No bikes, no wheeled conveyances, no motorized use of any kind; group size is capped at 12 people and stock combined inside the Rawah Wilderness.
• Two unbridged crossings. The creek draining Little Rainbow Lake (near Rawah Lake #1) and Rawah Creek between Lakes #2 and #3 can be a hard, even hazardous wade during high runoff.
• Dogs on leash. Dogs must be on a hand-held leash with hikers (voice control is only for stock).
• Stock is difficult. Doable but demanding for horses, and there's a hard rule: for the 72 hours before and throughout the trip, stock must be fed only pellets or certified weed-free hay.
• No wood fires up high. Wood fires are prohibited above 10,800 ft in the Rawah Alpine Closure Area (around Rawah Lakes #3 and #4) — chemical stoves only. Water is plentiful the whole way, but treat it.
• Closed in winter. Laramie River Road isn't plowed; the trail typically opens in late June once the road is clear.