Ute Trail - 13.0 Miles Round-Trip

The Ute Trail connects the Beaver Mountain Trail with Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. It follows a SE-NW route from Beaver Meadows to summer hunting grounds in the tundra used by prehistoric tribes, Utes and Arapahos for thousands of years.

Trail Map | Photo Gallery

This lightly used trail passes through an exceptionally diverse landscape highlighted by large meadows, mixed forests, rich wildlife, and open tundra.

The Ute Trail is strenuous with sparingly marked segments on the climb through Windy Gulch into the tundra. Anticipate rugged terrain and a range of weather conditions along the way, and plan travel time and resources accordingly.

Hikers will enjoy solitude, excellent wildlife viewing and extended travel in open tundra on the Ute Trail:

The trail splits just a few steps from the Beaver Meadows Trailhead; the forks are virtually equidistant and rejoin at a sign for Trail Ridge Road - Ute Meadow Campsite .6 miles ahead (8,568'). Distances below follow the left fork through Beaver Meadows to this sign.

The Beaver Mountain Trail soon leaves the meadow and climbs into a mixed pine-fir forest. It wraps around a large outcrop (1.3 miles), crosses a stream, and heads SW up a narrow gulch to the Ute Trail split (1.65 miles : 9,025').

The low rise to your left is the top of a moraine between Moraine Park (s) and Beaver Meadows (n). Moraines are ridges of glacial till pushed aside by glacial movements. Scale the ridge for views across Moraine Park before pressing on.

The Ute Trail rises on a narrow and rugged path that clings to a steep valley wall over the Big Thompson River. The trail undulates to a crest (2.15 miles : 9,169'), then drops beside a trickle that is Windy Gulch Creek.

It gradually levels into a healthier forest and skirts the edge of lower Ute Meadows, a damp, tall grass complex ideal for seeing fox, coyote, elk, deer, bear, and even mountain lion (2.35 miles : 9,245').

The trail steepens back into a thinly treed forest to the Ute Meadows Backcountry Campsite (2.9 miles : 9,423'). The forest breaks here on the edge of upper Ute Meadows with a good look up Windy Gulch. The meadow is wide, cluttered, dry, and dotted with a handful of aspen.

Note the introduction of white pine, a hardy conifer  =not typically found at these elevations in the Park. Their presence is indicative of the harsh conditions and poor soil beds of Windy Gulch.

The trail heads northwest on a clear, moderate grade back into the forest (3.35 miles : 9,745') that quickly grows prohibitively steep and ill-defined on a twisting, oft-obstructed track. Cairns provide some guidance, but are difficult to find and follow. Note that you'll gain nearly 780' in just .4 miles upon re-entering the forest (3.75 miles : 10,205').

In the likely event you feel off -course, follow natural contours of the land and steer yourself into the center of the gulch. The trail is quite easy to find once above treeline, and the heading intuitively followed to the top of Windy Gulch at Timberline Pass (4.5 miles : 11,495').

Here the trail levels abruptly in the wide open tundra with well-earned views back across Windy Gulch and the southeast quadrant of Rocky Mountain National Park.

A wide, flat path continues northwest along Tombstone Ridge with sweeping views across miles of open tundra and Forest Canyon to the west. Look for elk, bighorn sheep, and mountain goat as you progress. The trail rises gently to a crest (5.0 miles : 11,656'), and rolls mildly through open tundra to its terminus on Trail Ridge Road (6.5 miles : 11,465').