Designated as Wilderness in 1964, the West Elk Wilderness area encompasses a total of 176,516 acres of pristine land. Contained within the Gunnison National Forest this remote wilderness west of Gunnison, CO is comprised of steep volcanic mountains, scenic valleys, thick aspen and spruce forests, bright blue skies, clear streams and ponds, and 160 miles of hiking and horse trails along ridge lines and across valley floors.
With relatively few visitors this area is Colorado’s fifth largest designated wilderness area, providing many opportunities for extended, secluded camping expeditions. Trails for day hikes or afternoon strolls are accessible from Gunnison by taking Rte. 135 north to a left onto Ohio Creek Road (Forest Service Road 730), and following the Ohio Creek Valley toward the West Elk Wilderness area. After about 8 miles north along Ohio Creek Drive the paved road becomes a hard dirt surface easily drivable in most vehicles. It continues for another 12 miles or so, past the old coal mining town of Baldwin, to a small parking area.
From there it is perhaps a 20-minute hike up through a forest filled with aspen and spruce, with thick ferns carpeting the forest floor. Emerging from the splendor of this forest you come upon a setting that is quite different, but equally spectacular. A wide panorama of incredible beauty opens up to forested slopes reaching up to over 10,000 feet. In late September and early October you are greeted with autumn yellows mixed with rich greens, and punctuated by tall, bright white aspen trunks. You may encounter elk there or hear them bugling among the trees on the higher slopes.
What you definitely will encounter immediately in front of you is a pond that is fairly full of cutthroat and brown trout, always hungry, it seems, for whatever you choose to offer them. The massive beaver lodge in the pond stands as a sentinel to the greater landscape extending outward and upward. And without a sound but what nature will present, you may not have a better experience in all of Colorado than if you were to trek through that gem of an aspen forest to the tranquil and picturesque setting that lays beyond.
Travel . Scenics . Portraits