Golden Bear Peak Hike, Dillon, Colorado
Golden Bear Peak is up by Coon Hill and the Eisenhower Tunnel in Summit County, Colorado. One of my friends was visiting, and we were looking to do an afternoon hike that would just be a couple of hours long, but would provide some nice alpine views. I figured the best way to do that would be to start high and up by the Eisenhower Tunnel seemed like a good start. We parked on the west side of the tunnel, on the north side of I-70. We started hiking and followed the Divide Trail which went along Straight Creek. Coon Hill was to our left and Golden Bear Peak was to our right. There isn’t an official trail to the top of Golden Bear Peak, but with no trees in the area, it’s pretty easy to see where to go. We walked up the drainage to a saddle that gave us views into a valley where the South Fork Williams Fork started. We turned right and headed east to an unnamed peak that gave us great views of Hagar Mountain and The Citadel. It was neat to look at The Citadel in the summer as I had skied its south face just over a year ago.
We turned right again and continued to follow the ridge line until we hit Golden Bear Peak. It was a a beautiful ridge walk on easy terrain. The views to our left turned into views of Loveland Basin Ski Area. We continued along this ridge until we hit a trail, and we took that trail back down into the basin where it connected with the Divide Trail, the trail we had started the hike on. We then followed this trail back to the car.
One of my favorite parts about this hike was the wildflowers. A whole variety of flowers were present throughout the hike and each seemed to be in full bloom. If you are looking for a good early summer wildflower hike, this is an excellent option. It was a great day to be outside!
Stats: 5.7 miles, 1800 ft of elevation gain
***Because this hike involves off-trail travel in sensitive, above tree-line terrain, please tread lightly and do your best to minimize your impact on the sensitive tundra. Walk on durable (rock) surfaces as much as possible.
