Gore Canyon Trail

Gore Canyon Trail

This hike meanders along the Colorado River downriver of spectacular Gore Canyon. Only boaters and train passengers can travel in the vertical-walled inner gorge. The trail passes limber pine trees, a few campsites, and finally climbs a little gully to a trail higher above the river. The first part of the hike is along a placid river. Farther upstream, the river noisily leaps through rapids where the walls of the canyon start to rise. The trail is tricky in a few spots where erosion is taking its toll. Dropping down, the visible trail ends on the river bank. The railroad that travels along the river opposite the hiking trail is known as the Moffat Road. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Denver found itself bypassed by transcontinental railroads that had been built on easier routes to the north in Wyoming (Union Pacific)and south near Pueblo (Rio Grande). Businesses moved from Denver to Cheyenne because freight rates to and from Denver proved costly.

See all Hiking in Colorado