mayflower gulch

Timberline, exploring old cabins and mines, and beautiful views are available about a mile up the rough Mayflower Gulch Road above the trailhead/parking area on the highway. A few people get to the ruins with a 4X4 vehicle up the easy fourwheel drive road, but most visitors hike from the highway. Note that on an average summer weekend, a hundred other people may be encountered on the road and at the ruins. For peak baggers and climbers in good shape with the proper equipment (not the average hiker!), several 13,000' peaks can be accessed from Mayflower Gulch. Note that there are no constructed trails to the peaks. A few climber and animal paths are here and there, but many of the ascents are cross-country and require getting wet crossing creeks, negotiating boulder fields, and going up and down snow.

My wife and I just returned from doing the Mayflower Gulch Trail and checked out Trip Advisor to see how others described it. Yes, it is basically an easy trail up a rough 4 wheel drive road to some interesting mining cabins. Also, there is a road that goes past these cabins up to a cirque against the mountains. The views from this area are quite spectacular. However, this is not the “official” trail. Those feeling good about making it this far missed the hardest and best part of the hike. The real trail heads south (just off to the right) right before the cabins on another old mining road. It heads up the ridge through an open snowfield. Here is where the trail gets very steep and in no way is it considered easy. This is also the really interesting part of the trail and well worth the effort. It is about a mile up the side of the ridge to the high point of the trail which is marked by a number of cairns. The views from down below are good; the ones on top of the ridge are fantastic. Well worth a little more effort. We used to live in Colorado and now hike here several times a year. The 360 view from atop the ridge is right up there with the best. Don’t stop – keep climbing and you will be well rewarded.

A 2-hour, 4-mile roundtrip easy hike. Good altitude acclimation hike on your way from Denver to Leadville. Follows a Jeep trail, passes mining ruins, and delivers you to a beautiful cirque with a collection of old miner's cabins to explore. High up in the mountain wall in the distance, you can find mine openings (with your binoculars). A wonderful intro to Leadville's beauty and history.

This hike is worth the visit. The trail is a gradual incline but won't take your breath away. Upon arrival at the first three gold mine buildings, the views are excellent. Total round trip walking time was about 1 hour 45 minutes.

This trail starts off Rt 91 and is a quick drive from Copper Mountain or Frisco. The elevation is around 10,000-something to start off, so be prepared for that and to go up to around 11,300 where the first ghost town structures are. The trail itself is a jeep trail and is fairly wide, not too steep, and a little over 2.5 miles to the mountains you will see up ahead of you. Because of the elevation, there still might be a lot of snow up here. It's just now starting to melt off considerably, even when it was mostly covered a few weeks ago. The winter snow trail is used quite a bit though, so it's packed well and if you stay where others have walked, you won't be sinking.

We planned on hiking the Mayflower Gulch the first week of June. Being Midwesterners, we thought most of the snow would be melted by then. Wrong! There were still several feet of snow up there. We learned a new word- "postholing"- which means sinking into the snow past your knees when you try to walk on it. The scenery was beautiful, but since we didn't have snowshoes, we didn't get more than about a half-mile.

This is a fairly easy hike up a jeep trail with meadows, trees and mountain views. When you reach the ghost town (mining town), you can see some old structures. If you keep going past these structures (another 30 to 45 minutes) , there will be more mining structures. You will see an old ore dumping station with cables still going way up the mountain to the mine.

Our group of 12 hiked this trail (road) in early July. With 7 kids, youngest being 8, it was the perfect adventure. The views were stunning all the way and the kids loved discovering all the little natural springs coming out of the mountainside along with all the mine ruins. We saw people of all ages doing this hike. Once we reached the top, the views were spectacular. There is a creek running through and the kids explored that as well. Several families had brought a picnic lunch to share at the plateau. I did not realize that the hike actually continued on so we missed the last part. But I highly recommend for anyone.

Summer or Winter, this is a favorite hike (or snowshoe/XC ski) trail. You can also drive it in a high clearance vehicle. The views up in the basin are spectacular and climbing up to the ridge on the south side is a great experience.

Most of the hike is through the forest, but the end is definitely worth the couple mile hike in. Highly recommended for snowshoeing or hiking. Gradual incline on he way out, not strenuous at all.

This medium distance hike (5-7 miles, I believe) provided lots of snow for those that were cross country skiing yet it was packed enough to allow for hikers to just walk. I would rate the ease/difficulty as moderate due to the amount of uphill hiking on the way out. It wasn't terribly steep but did provide a climb.I hiked in late November so there was plenty of snow on the trail, providing loads and loads of animal tracks to see. The wide trail/jeep road allows for foot traffic to pass without having to move off trail to allow others to pass.Next time I will bring my cross country skis to check out the trails via skis. It seems that the trails are intermediate or higher but I don't know (and haven't checked other reviews)

Nice hike, even in snow. I can only imagine how gorgeous the scenery is in the summer/early fall. The cabin and mining ruins are great to see. The surrounding mountains enclose it all in an unsurpassed beauty. This is a must see in summer conditions/snow conditions.

This is a great short hike. 2 1/2 miles to the back of the gulch. You are hiking a road and not a trail so it is legal to drive to the end but 95% of the people hike the entire way. Very scenic gradual uphill all the way.This is a popular hike so it does get busy.

Great, manageable family hike. When u get up to the old mining buildings keep going all the way up to the top of the ridge on the right. Great view

For those staying in the Leadville area during late spring to early fall, this is a nice acclimation hike with a great view of a ring of mountains surrounding a valley cut by Mayflower Creek, as well as an interesting ghost town. The standard hike follows an old mining road from the parking area (and you'll find the 20 mph speed limit signs on it amusing) to the ghost town of Boston, and beyond if you wish to continue. It is actually possible to drive that road up to a (locked) gate just below Boston, but don't try it without a high clearance vehicle, even if folks tell you that's theoretically possible.There are other hikes possible for the more adventurous, including one up a road by the Boston gate that takes you to a ridge with spectacular views of the mountains surrounding the area.The parking area is spacious but unmarked. If you head north from Leadville past the Climax mine, then past Clinton reservoir on your right with a couple of parking areas (but not yours yet; be patient), then shortly after that your parking area will come up (surprisingly) quickly on the right - you may overshoot it and have to backtrack.