So many trails, so little time. You could spend a lifetime summering here and still not manage to hike all of the high-country trails this beautiful valley has to offer. So where to begin? With the newcomer from lower elevations in mind, we’ve assembled a guide to seven warmup trails, easy ambles around Vail and Beaver Creek mountains and beyond, followed by more challenging sojourns to a scenic ridgeline off Vail Pass and a ghost town in the heart of the Holy Cross Wilderness. Once you’ve found your trail legs (and lungs), you’ll be ready to tackle the toughest trail on our list: following in the footsteps of explorer William Henry Jackson, who in 1873 hiked five miles uphill to a promontory and snapped one of the most famous photos of the 19th century: bisecting couloirs on the northeast face of Mount of the Holy Cross forming a skyscraper-tall natural crucifix, a vista to behold, and worth every hard-won step. 

Yeoman Park Discovery Trail

Difficulty: Easy
Round Trip: 200 yards
Elevation Gain: 25 feet

Why It’s a Favorite: This hike only takes about a half hour, but its seven interpretive signs are a fascinating introduction to Rocky Mountain archaeology, mammals, rocks, trees, wildflowers, and water. The disabled-accessible trail also provides the opportunity to glimpse mountain birds and the beavers busy in the beaver ponds. It’s a short drive from the historic mining town of Fulford and from the Fulford Cave Trail.

Getting There: Take I-70 west to Eagle at Exit 147, turn left and drive over the bridge to the US 6 roundabout. Turn right (west) at US 6 and take an immediate left at Capitol Street. Drive to Brush Creek Road and turn left. Follow for roughly 9 miles to the fork of East and West Brush Creek and turn left onto East Brush Creek Road. Drive 6 miles to Yeoman Park Campground; the trailhead is at the end of Loop A. Note: This remote area lacks cell phone service, so, if possible, bring a phone or device with text-to-satellite messaging, be sure to fill your tank, and tell somebody where you’re going and when you plan to be back. 

Julia’s Deck

Difficulty: Easy
Round Trip: 1/4 mile
Elevation Gain: 24 feet

Why It’s a Favorite: Due to the remoteness of Mount of the Holy Cross—Eagle County’s only (and Colorado’s most famous) fourteener—this is one of the only roadside overlooks offering a full-on (albeit distant) view of the peak’s iconic cross-shaped couloir. Closed for most of summer 2025 for reconstruction, the newly rebuilt observation deck is reached via a footpath following a burbling alpine stream. It’s a popular destination for wedding ceremonies, so call the ranger station (970-827-5715) before you go to make sure you won’t be crashing somebody’s special moment. 

Getting There: Take I-70 east to Vail Pass Exit 190. Follow Shrine Pass Road (FSR 709) for 3.7 miles to the small (10-vehicle) parking lot on the left side of the road.

Nature Discovery Center

Difficulty: Easy
Round Trip: 3/4 mile
Elevation Gain: None 

Why It’s a Favorite: These one-hour summer jaunts take kids and grown-ups on an exciting nature treasure hunt atop Vail Mountain to uncover the secrets of how perfectly suited native plants and animals are to the demands of their high-country home. A naturalist from Walking Mountains helps you identify hidden signs of life left by bears, elk, porcupines, pocket gophers, foxes, and other mountain residents. Guided hikes leave daily at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. from the Nature Discovery Center yurt just east of Adventure Ridge on Vail Mountain. These programs are free, compliments of Vail Resorts, the US Forest Service, and Walking Mountains, with no reservations required. Scenic ticket or valid ski pass required to ride the gondola.

Getting There: Take the Lionshead gondola up Vail Mountain to Adventure Ridge; the Nature Discovery Center is in the yurt just to the east.

Black Gore Creek

Difficulty: Easy
Round Trip: 1 mile
Elevation Gain: 340 feet

Tip: Always bring raingear—temperatures can drop 30 degrees in just a few minutes, and a shivering, soaking-wet hiker is a hiker at risk for hypothermia.

Why It’s a Favorite: This short walk up an abandoned stretch of Highway 6 (the original route over Vail Pass prior to Interstate 70) gives families a destination where kids can build sandcastles on the banks of Black Gore Creek. In late summer, they will enjoy picking tasty wild raspberries from bushes along the way and greeting cyclists who share the wide, paved road that follows a gentle trail used by Ute Indians and their ancestors for generations. After walking a half mile, look down to see Black Gore Creek’s shallow-water sandbar on your right, perfect for summertime splashing. Caution: During early spring runoff or a heavy downpour, the water in the creek may be too high and fast for playing.

Getting There: Take I-70 east from Vail, drive 2.3 miles to East Vail, then take Exit 180 to South Frontage Road. Drive to the highway closure gate, park, and walk through the gate.

East Lake Creek

Difficulty: Easy
Round Trip: 4 miles
Elevation Gain: 800 feet

Why It’s a Favorite: This hike offers families with kids or older folks just acclimating to the mountain altitude a lovely and effortless walk in the woods. As you pass through the aspen groves, explain to the kids that the dark marks on the trees are made by the elk that spend the winter here, as they peel off the nourishing aspen bark with their teeth. Aspens are remarkable in that huge colonies of trees, sometimes covering acres, grow from a single seedling by means of root suckers underground. For a bit of excitement, the trail takes hikers briefly along a high, narrow path and then winds down to East Lake Creek. This path is particularly glorious in the fall, when the aspens are cloaked in dazzling gold.

Getting There: Drive I-70 west to Edwards, turn left and go through the town to the intersection with US 6. Turn right and travel 0.7 miles to Lake Creek Road. Turn left and go 1.8 miles to West Lake Creek Road; turn right. Pass Pilgrim Downs and keep going to the trailhead just before the road closure gate.

Beaver Lake

Difficulty: Moderate
Round Trip: 6.6 miles
Elevation Gain: 1,700 feet

Why It’s a Favorite: This delightful hike follows Beaver Creek into the luscious emerald meadowlands above the village, ending at Beaver Lake, whose sandy beaches make for a perfect picnic spot. The hike winds up the mountain, through aspen groves and meadows and along gurgling Beaver Creek. Pack your fishing rod; the creek and the lake are both prime angling waters for native and brook trout (you’ll need a license). Cross the bridge over the creek after passing under Chair 11, and you’ll be walking the right bank, where the kids will have fun picking a sweet snack from the wild raspberry bushes. At about 3 miles, you’ll enter the Holy Cross Wilderness; the sapphire lake lies just beyond.

Getting There: Take I-70 west from Vail and exit at Avon; turn left onto Avon Road and go uphill to the Beaver Creek ski area entrance. Park your car in the Village lot and walk on Elk Track Road up the hill past Beaver Creek Chapel to the trailhead. 

Fulford Cave

Difficulty: Easy
Round Trip: 1 mile
Elevation Gain: 520 feet 

Why It’s a Favorite: The Fulford Cave Trail climbs past natural freshwater springs through a district that once boasted 500 mine claims—many of which were inside caves like the one at your destination, where miners had to rappel down to work their claims. Note: A USDA Forest Service (fs.usda.gov) permit is required to enter Fulford Cave, which should only be attempted by experienced and properly equipped spelunkers.

Getting There: Take I-70 west to Eagle at Exit 147, turn left and drive over the bridge to the US 6 roundabout. Turn right (west) at US 6 and take an immediate left at Capitol Street. Drive to Brush Creek Road and turn left. Follow for roughly 9 miles to the fork of East and West Brush Creek and turn left onto East Brush Creek Road. Drive 4.6 miles to the Fulford Cave Campground. Follow the signs to the Fulford Cave trailhead. Note: Like nearby Yeoman Park, this remote area lacks cell phone service, so, if possible, bring a phone or device with text-to-satellite messaging, be sure to fill your vehicle’s tank, and tell somebody where you’re going and when you plan to be back.

Shrine Ridge

Difficulty: Moderate
Round Trip: 4.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 937 feet

Why It’s a Favorite: This popular detour off Vail Pass is known (and named) for the jaw-dropping view of Mount of the Holy Cross that can be savored at the trail’s endpoint atop the 11,815-foot summit of Shrine Mountain. From the often-filled trailhead parking lot off Shrine Pass Road (a dirt track following a historic Ute footpath that connects Vail Pass with the Town of Red Cliff and is sometimes clogged with thousands of sheep being herded to summer grazing lands), the trail meanders gently upward from lush meadows. It continues through pine forest before switchbacking steeply to a namesake north/south-oriented ridgeline, offering yodel-worthy views of the Gore and Sawatch ranges and Flattop Mountains. July bonus: a kaleidoscope of wildflowers abloom along the ridgeline. 

Getting There: Take I-70 east to Vail Pass Exit 190. Follow Shrine Pass Road (FSR 709) for 2.3 miles to the trailhead parking area on the left.

Holy Cross City Ghost Town 

Difficulty: Hard
Round Trip: 7.8 miles
Elevation Gain: 2,100 feet

Tip: Bring your cell phone to call 911 in an emergency, but be aware that high-country reception can be spotty.

Why It’s a Favorite: This steep and twisty jeep road leads the hiker to a ruined 1880s ghost town, whose deserted streets in their heyday rang with the glad Eureka! of miners who found their fortunes here—and with the fistfights and gunshots of those who didn’t. The trail follows the old stagecoach road to Holy Cross City, climbing up through forest and meadow, past sheer cliff drops that probably unnerved early stagecoach passengers. Ignore a spur road on the left and keep right. A signed fork later points you left; take another left at the next unsigned fork. Marvelous views sweep east to the Tenmile Range. The remains of scattered cabins, mine-shaft houses, and nondescript foundations are all that’s left of a town that once boasted hotels, homes, an assay office, two huge ore mills, a general store, and a school district.

Getting There: Take I-70 west from Vail to the Minturn exit (171) and turn right onto US 24. Go 13 miles to Homestake Road, No. 703, and turn right. Drive about 8 miles on this decent dirt road to the Holy Cross City jeep road sign (TH #759); park here. Don’t even think about attempting the jeep road in your stock SUV (even if it is a Jeep!): This extreme route is suitable only for the most skilled drivers in specially equipped off-highway vehicles. Note: Like Yeoman Park and Fulford, this remote area lacks cell phone service, so, if possible, bring a phone or device with text-to-satellite messaging, be sure to fill your tank, and tell somebody where you’re going and when you plan to be back. 

Notch Mountain

Difficulty: Hard
Round Trip: 10 miles
Elevation Gain: 2,780 feet

Tip: Above-timberline electrical storms can be life-threatening, so start in the morning; most storms occur in the afternoon. If thunder and lightning threaten, turn back.

Why It’s a Favorite: This hike has it all: history, spirituality, and a thigh-burning physical challenge to boot. Since the August day in 1873 when William Henry Jackson, photographer for the Hayden survey party, took the first glass-plate negative of Mount of the Holy Cross from the top of Notch Mountain, thousands have climbed this route to view the legendary cross etched in snow. This inspiring sight can be seen best in early June, when tons of snow are still embedded in the deep crevasses of the mountain directly across from your vantage point at the top of Notch Mountain. At the sign 2 miles up from the trailhead, turn right for Notch Mountain, and prepare for a vigorous climb up a series of above-treeline switchbacks. Along the way, to the northeast, you can spot the remains of Gilman, an 1879-era silver boomtown on the slopes of Battle Mountain near the present-day town of Red Cliff. Jaw-dropping views abound, and the march of mountains includes the toothy Gore Range, the peaks of the Continental Divide, the Tenmile Range, the Mosquito Range, and others. At the summit, greet the fat, furry marmots called “whistle pigs,” and then stand amazed at the 1,500-foot-tall cross emblazoned on the face of the 14,006-foot mountain.

Getting There: From Vail, take I-70 west to Minturn at Exit 171, and travel 5 miles south to Tigiwon Road, No. 707. Turn right and drive a sometimes-bumpy 8.5 miles to the trailhead.