My hike earlier this summer to Hanging Lake was awesome. So awesome that some other friends and I returned a few weeks later. The only thing missing from the experience were my hiking buddies, Cayman and Casey. So on a recent trip to Colorado’s Vail Valley, Cayman, Casey, a couple friends, and I checked out a new hike: Booth Falls & Lake on the Booth Creek Trail.
Casey (left) and Cayman (right) are ready to get moving!
Booth Creek Trail is in the southern Gore Range, part of the Rocky Mountains in the state of Colorado. To give you a better idea on its location, Booth Creek Trail is just outside the Town of Vail, east of Vail to be exact. There is plenty of parking at the trailhead. If the lot is full, there is tons of parking in the school parking lot near the bus stop (alternatively, you can take the East Vail EXPRESS bus from Vail to the trailhead).
The elevation at the trailhead is 8,400 feet above sea level. Be prepared to climb roughly 1,100 feet to get to Booth Falls. Another warning: the trail is pretty steep in some most places! One thing that, in my opinion, makes this hike harder than Hanging Lake, is that most of this trail is out in the open. You have no cover, so if it is a sunny day, the sun just zaps the energy out of you.
View from the Booth Creek Trail.
View from the Booth Creek Trail.
About halfway up, you’ll run into your first water crossing. This is crucial if you have some four-legged friends (that like water).
Justin Does…, Casey, Cayman, and Brad enjoying a water break – C & C slightly more than J & B.
The views along the trail are stunning:
View from Booth Creek Trail.
View from Booth Creek Trail.
When you get to this point…you still have a ways to go. Keep hiking.
View from Booth Creek Trail.
So by this point you are probably thinking, where are the falls? What do they look like? Here you go:
My bad angle of the falls. Sorry.
In my defense, I had a curious dog on a leash that I was a little worried about getting too close to the edge. You’ll just have to hike the trail yourself to see the falls!
After the long, uphill hike, Casey wanted to run down!
Have you hiked Booth Falls or Booth Lake? What did you think of it? Is Booth Lake worth the extra four mile hike beyond Booth Falls?