Colorado??

“Does anyone know of a great Wilderness in Colorado where seeing someone would be rare in late May? My friend and I are trying to plan a trip and any information would help.
Thanks
-Bear”

“San D Cresto Mountain Range, pick your trail!

Spelling????”

“Course remember, the snow will not be off the high altitudes till June or into July.

Prowler, I think that's Sangre de Cristo. I haven't really been there. It's in the south, right??”

“Ya, its on the border of Colorado and New mexico. It goes through both states. If you stay to the west side of the mountains you'll see green buety but on the east its desert, mostly dryer life.”

“It's been awhile but I really liked Rawah Wilderness. West of Fort Collins. Have been there 3 times. Great trails, lakes & altitude. Big horn sheep, and something growling in the dark.”

“OK, how about southern Wyoming right NEXT TO Colorado??

The Encampment Wilderness is there, as well as some around the Platte (or is it North Platte) River. Beautiful area. BUT all the people are either IN COLORADO... or driving through Libby Flat in the Snowy Range west of Laramie.

What I"m talking about is an area north of North Park, Colorado stretching west to north of Steamboat Springs.

Surely worth a look cuz it's pretty darn empty!!”

“I think you might be thinking of the Zirkels lizs. That area is sweet - I've come in from the east, just outside of Walden, and also from the south - straight north from Steamboat. Both trips were sweet. Saw less people coming up from Steamboat, but this was a pretty burly hike where we walked along the continental divide for 6 or 7 miles before going off trail and following a way sketchy drainage down. Lots of lakes, lots of fish, and plenty of amazing views. My buddies Malamute carried lots of our gear so the hike wasnt too bad, coming down that drainage with week-long packs would certainly keep your attention. Considering the amount of fish we caught, I've daydreamed about starting a guiding service and taking people to this secret, off-trail beautiful lake up there. We ended up pinching the barbs on our hooks to make the release part of the catch and release philosophy easier, as the catching part was taken care of.
The Rawahs are very nice too, and not over-crowded at all. I've done most of my CO hiking west of Fort Collins, and "crowded" there means an entirely different thing than "crowded" down off I-70 west of Denver. Have fun planning your hike, spring's just around the corner...”

“Your area sounds great, Fenway. I was in vicinity of Mt. Zirkel Wilderness driving south from WYOMING!! lol!!

The Snowy Range is a little southwest of Laramie. Drive through it. It's nice. When you come down out of it, on the western edge, take the highway south. If you stayed on the highway you'd end up in Walden. But you then go to the town of Encampment. It think there's another small town right there, too. At first I was pretty much straight south of this town, near Mt. Blackhall, I think it's called?? Had a lookout tower on top of it. Nice area!

Then headed west on forest roads. IN WYOMING!! lol.
Hiked a little bit into the Encampment Wilderness. And there are some other scattered wilderness areas... and lots of forest land. Was near the Hog Park Reservoir. I assume you'd see people THERE boating. Although it's in the middle of nowhere.

Then crossed the Divide heading south and probably drove at least 50 miles of forest road before coming to a paved road, yes NOW IN COLORADO..... some town probably 50 miles north of Steamboat Springs. The town where the road turns to dirt....lol. A few houses, that's all.

That area to Steamboat Springs is nice. But I bet on these Wyoming trails there's only 20% of what you're gonna see in Colorado. People don't GO TO that part of Wyoming, although it's gorgeous forest land with 11-12-maybe 13,000 ft peaks. They GO TO Colorado. It's a name thing!!

I used to think the North Park area mountains in Colorado were my secret. But now I KNOW that southern Wyoming is an even bigger secret. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

LOL”

“Here's a photo from Libby Flat. It's a flat area (duh!) at the highest point of the scenic drive through the Snowy Range. Behind me would be a tall peak, I think maybe Laramie Peak?? This would be your heaviest use location in the vicinity, on the scenic drive and all.

Libby Flat looking off toward North Park”