The Hunter Creek Trail joins the Hunter Valley Trail to form an 8.9 mile out-and-back route east of downtown Aspen. The hike features scenic bridges over Hunter Creek and expansive, aspen-ringed meadows with alpine backdrops in the Maroon Bells and Hunter-Frying Pan wilderness areas. The Hunter Creek Trail system's multiple access points and connecting trails enable routes of varying distance and difficulty for runners, hikers and mountain bikers.

Hunter Creek can trace its origin (east) to the Hunter-Frying Pan Wilderness, where No Name Creek and Midway Creek converge below Thimble Rock to form Hunter Creek

Prospectors first came to Aspen in 1879 after a geological survey predicted abundant silver deposits

Aspen are among the first trees and plants to reclaim disturbed areas, reproducing quickly from a shared root system

Aspen trees first flower at 2-3 years, but won't produce significant seed quantities for 10-20 years

Note sharp ecological contrasts between north and south facing slopes in the valley; south faces are comprised of sage, oak and aspen, while cooler-wetter north faces are dominated by conifers

A cluster of historic cabins are located on the north side of the 10th Mountain Bridge in Hunter Creek Valley

The 10th Mountain Division, stationed at Camp Hale near Leadville, uses the Aspen area for training exercises

Singletrack leads straight across level meadows framed by peaks in the Hunter-Frying Pan Wilderness (east) and Elk Mountains (west)

Ute Indians occupied the Roaring Fork Valley for 800 years, with evidence of their presence dating back 8,000 years

Lower portions along Hunter Creek are lined by cottonwoods, relatively uncommon in this area save riparian habitats

Skunk cabbage is thermogenic, meaning it can produce heat that exceeds ambient temperatures; it's this metabolic process that creates the unpleasant smell for which it's named

Red hues in the Elk Mountains come from weathering of hematite, an iron-bearing mineral; color variations can be traced to the source sediment and heat at the time of deposition

The Hunter Valley Trail fades and is absorbed by the forest shortly past this dilapidated cabin