Goose Creek Trail - Lost Creek Wilderness

Overview

This is a moderate-to-strenuous hike on good trail with plenty of shade and good views of the valley walls, especially as you ascend the trail. It is a popular trail, so expect to see other people. Animals are permitted, but mountain bikes are not.

Trail

The trail is non-technical and of good construction. However, watch for lose sand and dirt that can cause footing to slip. The trail starts next to the parking lot and descends down to the canyon floor and traverses through burn area from the 2002 Hayman fire. From the valley floor, the scenery changes abruptly from full sun and few tall trees in the burn area to one that is lush and shady with many trees and vegetation. The trail follows along Goose Creek and then eventually starts to climb away from the creek up through the canyon. There are some steep sections of the trail that can make for strenuous hiking, depending upon your pace. There is ample shade, especially along the trail in the valley floor and many places to stop along the creek. The views of the surrounding valley walls are stunning of the rock outcroppings prevalent throughout this region.

The trail itself continues well past were we stopped and turned back. The route to the trailhead is over good dirt roads, but some of the steeper sections are heavily washboarded, so drive carefully. The drive is also through the Hayman fire burn area, which did significant damage and left most of the drive route fairly sparse with trees. There is a good size parking lot at the trailhead, but it is a popular hiking trail and fills up. It looks like you can park off the road in sections further down from the trailhead.