Trail Update:06/15/24 Trail cleared of down trees 4.5 miles to Little Sand Creek Junction by Stone Pass Outfitters.
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Lower Weminuche Trail Map 3D Map
Length: 7.1 miles
Elevation Stats: Altitude Loss 563′ (8,219′ to 7,656′) with 1,22′ Ascent and 1,809′ Descent
Trailhead Facilities: Large Parking room for horse trailers.
Suggested Day Hikes:
- 4.0 miles round trip to National Forest Gate by Weminuche Creek.
- 9.5 miles round trip to open meadow by Weminuche Creek
Short Trail Summary: This hike is the lower portion of the Weminuche Trail # 592. It begins next to a gate for the Poma Ranch off of FS 631 (Mosca Road). The hike begins slowly climbing to the east through oak brush and then turns south to run parallel to Weminuche Creek. The first 2 miles is on a ridge away from the creek with great views of the valley. At the 2 mile mark, the trails goes down and you pass through a gate into the national forest right next to Weminuche Creek. The trail then follows the creek with a couple of slight uphill sections away from the creek and merges with the Sand Creek at about the 4 mile mark. At the 4.80 mile mark, you reach an open meadow next to the creek. This is a great place for lunch or turnaround for a great day hike. All along the creek is good trout fishing. This also where the trail merges with the Little Sand Creek Trail to the west. The trail has slight ups and downs as it follows the creek.
The trail continues following the Weminuche Creek as it flows towards the Piedra River. At the 2.3 mile mark the trail connects with the Piedra River Trail.
Directions to Trailhead: From the Forest Service office on Highway 160 go west 2. 4 miles until you reach Piedra Road. Turn right on Piedra Road for 15.7 miles then merges to FS Road 631 for 6.6 miles . Turn left on dirt parking lot road about 1/2 mile past FS Road 640.
We made it all the way to the Piedra River with horses, we cleared about 6 trees, and had to go over and around another 6. Very glad to see the biggest trees have been cleared on this beautiful trail!
The trail is not cleared past the junction with Little Sand Creek – about .6 mile past there is a large tree across the path, and before that many smaller ones you can step over.
Trail clear and dry through to Little Sand Creek Trail Junction
Not about the trail itself, but directions to the trailhead should say to go west, not east from the forest service office to Piedra.
On June 28th, SJBCH members Aurora Peters, John and Diana Geisinger and several friends cleared the trail again from Piedra Road down to Little Sand Creek (5 miles), removing 5 downed trees.
On May 17 the PTC crew cleared the trail from the top end at Piedra Road down to the Piedra River, a total distance of about 7 miles, removing 30 trees. The crew must have been right on your tail, Josh! Agree something needs to be done about invasive weeds across the landscape; a topic most users don’t understand to the degree we should, and considering the situation and impacts. The FS does not have the resources to do this much needed work, and so we (the user public) need to help out as much as we can in partnership with the FS to address this weed issue. These public lands are of the highest value and deserve the best care. Thanks for your report Josh.
Thanks for the info, John.
Ran the trail again today and was shocked to see the trees were cleared! Thanks – it made my run much more enjoyable! 3 new trees down midway – 2 small ones and one giant one that fell directly on the trail burying 100 feet of trail.
21 trees down in the 1st 2 miles (the burned section) traveling upstream from the Piedra trail junction. The remaining 5 miles of the trail was clear. The FS needs to do some musk thistle mitigation in the lower meadows.
Thanks, Josh.