Woody Creek Trail - 18.4 Miles Round-Trip

The Woody Creek Trail runs 9.2 miles through diverse forests across the Woody Creek and Hunter Creek drainages. This long and lightly used trail follows Woody Creek to its south fork headwaters, then rolls over a steep ridge and drops to the Hunter Creek side.

Trail Map | Photo Gallery

The Woody Creek Trail is primarily used to access the Marcy and McNamara huts and few travel it's entire length, which arguably goes nowhere in particular. Visitors will find a great deal of solitude once past connections for these huts.

While no one landmark stands out the trail features verdant forests, large meadows and great views across the Hunter-Fryingpan and Maroon Bells wilderness areas from high points along the way.

There's good camping terrain along Woody Creek and wildlife is active in these fecund forests, especially during shoulder seasons. The trail is vague in many places but intuitively followed with cut logs and tree notches providing reliable guidance:

The trail begins in a narrow corridor hemmed between talus-strewn walls and the creek. Remain alert for bears as you pass through overgrown brush and concentrations of currant, thimbleberry and raspberry. Sight may be limited here during peak summer growth.

It crosses to the north side of Woody Creek (.4 miles) and passes the Wilderness boundary (.8 miles) on a rugged path that gradually clarifies to another crossing at 1.5 miles (9,425').

It rises to the Spruce Creek Trail split (1.55 miles : 9,505') and steepens away on a clearer path above the creek. Travel now moderates for long stretches in a notably verdant forest to a stream crossing that leads you up the south fork of Woody Creek (3.65 miles : 10,295').

Once over the trail loses clarity and turns sharply up the side of a boulder field; pay close attention on this vague, shifting segment. It crosses the creek again (3.95 miles - now just the smaller south fork) and regains clarity up to an expansive meadow (4.25 miles : 10,748'). This is a great place to see wildlife and fine turnaround point for day hikes.

It skirts the meadow before turning back into thick timber and climbing steeply above it on a SE arc near the upper valley rim. The forest gradually thins and breaks at a meadow (5.55 miles : 11,395'); follow cairns straight across to find the trail on the far side.

A good path continues on a challenging push through treeline to the divisive ridge between drainages (5.95 miles : 11,592'). It fades on the open ridge but cairns lead across and down the south (Hunter Creek) side where it clarifies in a reconstituted forest.

The trail drops steeply to Deer Park (7.05 miles : 11,010') and undulates past this large meadow into dry, thinly-treed south-facing slope. Downhill travel eases with great views of the Elk Mountains to the Hunter Creek Trail junction at the Slab Park meadows (9.2 miles : 11,443').

The north (right) fork of the Hunter Creek Trail leads up to Bald Knob (11,092') and the McNamara Hut, and continues on a primitive path back to the Woody Creek Trail to form a loop. Only experienced hikers should attempt this route.