2.5 miles, you’ll arrive at a five-way intersection; proceed straight ahead on the main trail. A half mile later, you’ll enter a huge meadow with a pond surrounded by a crossbuck fence built to keep out livestock. Keep left as Divide Trail branches right. It seems the woods and flats will go on forever, but soon a valley opens to the right with startling rock peaks across the way. Your destination becomes visible along the ridge to the left, and you realize that after all this downhill progress you really will be climbing a mountain.
Abert’s squirrel along Mount Margaret Trail
Continue to the “End of Trail” sign—but perish the thought. This is the funnest part! From a campfire ring, scramble up the rocks—any way is a good way as long as you remain close to the spine.
The summit is a conglomeration of boulders perched over North Lone Pine Creek Valley, offering views southwest to the Mummy Range. Nestled in the verdant valley to the east is a ranch that looks like a true home on the range. Now called the Maxwell Ranch, it may be the source of this mountain’s name. In 1926, a wealthy Denver widow named Margaret Goldsborough bought land there as a wedding present for her daughter. The marriage lasted only a few years, but the name of the mountain endured.
The easy walk back might be tiring for children, but only because of the distance. Save a snack for a rest break along the trail, or take the path down to Dowdy Lake and splash a bit.
From Denver. Take I-25 north to Exit 269B, then CO 14 west and US 287 north through Fort Collins. Continue on US 287 north for about 20 miles to Livermore. Turn left on West CR 74E (Red Feather Lakes Road) and proceed 20 miles to the parking lot for Mount Margaret Trailhead, on the right. 2 hours.
8 Emmaline Lake
An easy valley stroll morphs into a stiff climb that ends in a dazzling cirque in Comanche Peak Wilderness, where two lakes are tucked up high in remote wildlands.
At a Glance
| Difficulty | Distance/Time | 12.5 miles/5 hours | |
| Trail Conditions | Trailhead ElevationTotal Hiking Gain | 9,000 feet2,000 feet | |
| Children | Features | Forest, meadow with mountain views, cirque and lakes | |
| Scenery | Best Season | Summer | |
| Photo | Other Users | Horses, dogs on leash | |
| Solitude | Notes | Toilets at nearby Tom Bennett Campground | |
| Property | Roosevelt National Forest, Comanche Peak Wilderness | Jurisdiction | U.S. Forest Service |
Don’t be put off by the length of this hike. Only the last two outbound miles involve serious uphill going; otherwise, it is a fairly easy stroll. The views are splendid from the start of the hike, where you’ll see two cirques dropping from the distant ridge between Fall Mountain and Comanche Peak. You’re heading to the cirque on the right.
Follow the jeep road from the parking area, Forest Road 147, half a mile to a gate, where it becomes Emmaline Lake Trail (FS 945). Continue through a vast grove of small aspens peppered with mountain golden banner and other flowers. Below, in Pingree Park, you’ll see the buildings of CSU’s Mountain Campus, where forestry courses have been offered since the 1910s.
Cirque through the trees, Emmaline Lake Trail
Soon young lodgepole pines appear among the aspens—confirmation that this hillside is several decades into fire recovery. The blaze, which raged in the dry summer of 1994, was likely caused by a lightning strike on the northeast ridge. Fueled by dense pines (which had sprouted after another fire all the way back in 1890), the 1994 blaze burned a 1,275-acre swath through half the campus buildings. This hillside is now an outdoor classroom for the study of forest regrowth.
The murmur of Fall Creek intensifies as you continue down the road. Cross the creek and proceed through mature lodgepoles, keeping right when Mummy Pass Trail branches left. Two hairpin turns signal your arrival at Cirque Meadows, a lovely creek bottom with views to the headwalls. At 3.5 miles it’s an attractive destination. But you’re more than halfway to the lakes, and have gained half the elevation, so why not carry on?
A right turn takes you through woods at the edge of the meadows and into Comanche Peak Wilderness. Seasonal streams tumble across the trail as it steepens, and bright yellow asters light up the green spaces between trees. When the trail eases, you can sense the headwalls through the woods, but you’re not there yet. It’s up again and over a hump to cross into a restricted area; beyond is for day visitors only, no camping.
You still have an adventurous mile of uphill hiking to go. Cairns mark the way, but it’s easy to miss one and get off track. If this happens, retrace your steps and rejoin the route, which proceeds through an interesting network of waterways, grottoes, marshes, and boulders. Keep at it until you break into the cirque. Here Cirque Lake glitters below you, and there are good seats on the rocks for gaping at the cliffs above.
Emmaline Lake is a few minutes farther, tucked beneath Comanche Peak. Early rancher Frank Koenig kindly named this lake for his mother, and named many other nearby features when he became one of the original rangers of Rocky Mountain National Park. By then the folks at the U.S. Geological Survey had already named the valley “Pingree.” Today, many wish they had chosen another name.
George Pingree came here in 1867 to cut trees for railroad ties, which he floated down the Poudre and sold to Union Pacific. When the railroad moved on, so did Pingree. Three years earlier, Pingree participated in the massacre of Native American women, children, and older men at Sand Creek, in southeast Colorado. He collected 13 scalps that day and was proud of it; in fact, he was reportedly indignant about being jailed for 10 days.
Asters along Emmaline Lake Trail
Indignation cuts both ways. In 2015, shortly after the 150th anniversary of Sand Creek, CSU changed the name of its longtime mountain facility from Pingree Park Campus to Mountain Campus.
Emmaline Lake
From Denver. Take I-25 north to Exit 269B, then CO 14 west and US 287 north through Fort Collins. After 10 miles, turn left onto CO 14 west, Poudre Canyon Road. Drive west 26 miles, then turn left to continue 15.5 miles to Pingree Park on CR 63E, a decent-quality dirt road. Turn right, drive past Tom Bennett Campground, and arrive at the small parking lot for Emmaline Lake Trailhead; additional parking is available farther along the road. 2 hours, 50 mins.
9 Big South
This walk takes you through deep moody forest and alongside powerfully rushing water in an upstream section of Colorado’s only Wild and Scenic River. Rock gorges, waterfalls,
