Durango, CO – Located at Lizard Head Pass on Highway 145 north of Rico, the Lizard Head Trail in Colorado’s Uncompahgre National Forest is a 7 mile round-trip which heads into the Lizard Head Wilderness Area. We hiked this trail while staying in Durango, Colorado which is about a 2 hour drive from the trailhead. You could also reach this trail from Telluride to the north. We used the Colorado Mountain Club Pack Guide: The Best Durango Hikes, by The San Juan Group, CMC, with Jeff Eisele to find this hike. The Lizard Head Trail can be found on National Geographic Trails Illustrated Map # 141:Telluride/Silverton/Ouray/Lake City.
The Lizard Head Trailhead sign
From the trailhead, the trail heads across an open meadow that parallels the road for a distance. Views of the nearby 13,000+ foot Peaks: San Miguel, Beattie, Fuller, Vermillion, Golden Horn and Pilot Knob demand your attention. Soon the trail veers into mixed aspen and spruce forest. The first 1.5 miles are gently rolling as the trail looks for a break in the cliffs above for a route to ascend to the summit ridge. You enter the Lizard Head Wilderness which is labelled with a sign. Once it finds that break, the trail ascends steeply, about 1,000 feet in a mile through a series of switchbacks fueled by the promise of 360 degree views.
Mountain views abound
View from the trail
Along the trail
Lizard Head Wilderness sign at 1.5 miles
View from the trail
From Lizard Head Trail
Pine trees and mountains from the trail
Lizard Head Trail view
We hiked Lizard Head Trail on June 15 and the trail was free from snow as far as we were able to travel. What we did encounter was blown down trees and lots of them. We were able to climb over or use a go-around for the trees through the top of the switchbacks. Once the switchbacks were ascended, the single trees turned into clusters of tangled down trees. After climbing over/under and through two of the clusters, other hikers heading back to the trailhead reported they had climbed through 3 more of these tree puzzles before giving up on a really difficult area. The trees were recently downed, as was evidenced by their still green foliage, most likely from the large wind storms that came through the region the prior weekend, on June 6. With that information, we turned around and attempted to hike Wilson Meadow Trail, but it had similar tree tangles, so we called it. We would like to return to complete this trail sometime in the future, once the trees are cleared.
We were able to climb over many blown down trees
Other areas required a go-around or climbing over/under combos
To reach the trailhead from Durango, take US 160 west to Mancos. Turn right onto CO Highway 184 and drive 18 miles to a T intersection near Dolores. Turn right onto CO Highway 145. Follow Highway 145 for 53 miles through the Dolores River Valley to the trailhead at Lizard Head Pass. There are pit toilets and a picnic area at the pass.
While in Durango we stayed at the Durango North/Riverside KOA. We also hiked some of the Colorado Trail from Molas Pass and several trails leading into the Weminuche Wilderness: Lime Mesa, Vallecito, Crater Lake, and Endlich Mesa.
