This trail was my absolute favourite during my visits to the area! Blue Lakes Pass, starting from Yankee Boy Basin, reaches an altitude of 4,014 m (13,169 ft). If you can park at the last parking lot (requires a high clearance 4-wheel drive; parking is available further down the road otherwise, adding to the length of the hike), the trail is 7.4 km (4.6 miles) round trip with a 607 m (1,992 ft) elevation change. Most of the trail is in great shape. The lower part follows a pretty rough 4-wheel road before changing to a normal dirt trail. The final climb up the side of the pass has some seriously steep sections with packed, loose dirt (think hiking poles, good shoes and maybe a bit of sliding on your seat). AllTrails indicates that the steepest part of this last section has a grade of 28%, and if you slip, don’t plan on stopping for a while (i.e., don’t fall off!).

The whole hike was absolutely beautiful. About halfway up, there’s a lovely little lake. Some 4-wheelers can get there by another route, so there might be a few people around. But aside from that section, it’s just you, some marmots and, if you’re lucky, some of the most amazing wildflowers I’ve ever seen.

Once you finally reach the pass and look down the other side, you’ll see three absolutely gorgeous deep blue lakes nestled under rugged peaks and ridges. You can get to the same pass from that other side on a longer trail (which I’m hoping to do sometime). From the pass to the first lake on that side is down steep switchbacks dropping about a 350 m (1,148 ft) in elevation.

I’ll let my photos do the talking on how beautiful this hike is. Especially the wildflowers—they were everywhere! On the final ascent of 117 m (384 ft) climb, which is literally along the side of the mountain to the pass in just 0.3 km (984 ft), it was just bare ground and loose stone. But at the pass itself, I found many large Colorado Blue Columbines poking out from the rocks. They’re amazing both in their beauty and in the fact that they’re growing where pretty much nothing else seems to be.

There’s another trail that splits off just before the big, final climb. That route takes you to Mt. Sneffels at 4,315 m (14,272 ft). The trail guides note the final stretch up the peak is a bit of a scramble over loose rocks. It sounds like a blast—I’m definitely adding it to my bucket list!