Gain stunning views of Salida and the Arkansas Valley from the top of this hill that rises above downtown.
Hike the High Rockies: Best Hikes in Salida, Colorado
Salida, Colorado is surrounded by mountains filled with hundreds and hundreds of miles of amazing hiking trails!
Images
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Climbing Mount Shavano. Photo by Jeremiah LaRocco, via Flickr Creative Commons
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Climbing Mount Shavano. Photo by Jeremiah LaRocco, via Flickr Creative Commons
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Climbing Mount Shavano. Photo by Jeremiah LaRocco, via Flickr Creative Commons
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Climbing Mount Shavano. Photo by Jeremiah LaRocco, via Flickr Creative Commons
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Bagging Tabeguache Peak. Photo by Greg Younger, via Flickr Creative Commons
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Beautiful meadow view in an alpine valley, with Tabeguache Peak towering to the left. Photo: Greg Heil
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Brown’s Creek Falls in all its glory. Photo: Greg Heil
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Brown’s Creek Falls in all its glory. Photo: Greg Heil
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Valley view from the lower section of Brown’s Creek Trail. Photo: Greg Heil
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Brown’s Lake, higher up the trail. Photo: Greg Heil.
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View of Waterdog Lakes with the Continental Divide in the background. Photo: Greg Heil
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Big climbable rocks allow great view of the distant mountains.
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The river and the mountains.
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Mt. Princeton looms mightily while walking the River Access Trail.
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The Sawatch 14ers peak through the desert scrub trees.
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Approaching the river on the River Access Trail.
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The 13,000+ ft. Buffalo Peaks rise above the desert foothills.
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Cottonwood trees in the sandy wash provide shade from the desert sun.
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When the water is low you can walk along the river's edge to connect the River Access and River Bench trails.
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Big boulders on one side and 14,000 ft. mountains on the other.
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Aspens on Green's Creek trail.
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Fall on Green's Creek
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Description
Salida, Colorado sits at the bottom of the Arkansas Valley surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides. If you climb to the top of S-Mountain, which rises right above downtown, and turn around in a full circle, all the hills and mountains that you see are filled with trails. Trails upon trails, hikes upon hikes—more hiking than you can do in a full year, and more than some people may do in a lifetime.
This amazing array of hiking opportunities makes choosing the best hikes in Salida a formidable task—but this guidebook is my best attempt. Herein, you’ll find a spread of the most popular and most beautiful hikes directly adjacent to Salida. Since there are so many hikes to choose from, I kept the radius for this guidebook rather tight around the Salida, only going as far north as Nathrop and as far west as the Continental Divide. Even so, this guidebook is chock-full of world-class hikes.
The hikes detailed in this guidebook also present a broad spread of lengths and technical difficulties. Looking for an easy hike? Start with the climb up S-Mountain mentioned above, and go from there. Looking for a challenging mountain summit? Then bagging both Shavano and Tabeguache in one long day hike is the route for you!
From S-Mountain to Mount Shavano, and everything in between, this guidebook unveils the best hiking in Salida, and some of the best hiking in the USA!
Adventures
One of the most easily-accessible trailheads in Chaffee County leads to two of Colorado's famous 14ers.
A scenic hike to a roaring waterfall nestled in a gorgeous mountain canyon.
Climb to a set of beautiful alpine lakes nestled right below the Continental Divide.
A beautiful loop providing a taste of alpine hiking, close to downtown Salida.
The best-of-the-best in Browns Canyon National Monument.
Hike up a gorgeous mountain valley along a rushing stream.
A delightful hike through the rocks, washes, and pinons in the Arkansas Hills.
One of the most scenic traverse trails in the state!
Hike one of the most intriguing trails in the Arkansas Hills.
Hike to the remnants of North America's highest railroad tunnel.