Lake Ridge Lakes Trail is a 4.9 mile lightly trafficked out and back trail located near Carbondale, Colorado that features a river and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for hiking and mountain biking and is best used from March until October. Dogs are also able to use this trail.
Colorado Tourism Office, 1625 Broadway, Suite 1700 , Denver, CO, 80202, Phone: 800-COLORADO
Directions from Carbondale: From the Forest Service office in Carbondale, travel west past the stoplight, following road #108 for 7.4 miles. Turn left onto a dirt road that immediately goes downhill. The road travels for 2.5 miles to a stream crossing, then uphill for about a mile to a pass. In another half mile take the right fork onto road #306. This is a good spot to park for a loop ride. You are now on an old railroad grade. At the end of the grade the road heads uphill and crosses Middle Thompson Creek. Travel about 1.5 miles to the trailhead sign on the left side of a meadow. After that, continue down the hill a short distance until the road forks. Take the LEFT road that travels downhill (the right takes you on an extremely narrow, steep mining road). Stay on this “main” road the whole time. It is 305 FR, there are signs to keep you on the right path. You will cross a small bridge. Continue following the road through a series of meadows for a while until the maintained road ends at an obvious parking area that opens on the RIGHT in front of a gate. The trailhead sign is on the other side of the gate. You’ll know you’ve gone too far if you turn left down a hill that quickly turns into a 4x4 road.
July 4, 2020Hey this was a beautiful trail, but heads up the mosquitoes were insane!!!!! I’ve never seen this many on any trail I’ve ever hiked. Bring bug spray and then also bring more bug spray.
June 21, 2020Inordinate amount of mosquitoes at lake. Directions are correct except you make a left instead of right at top of pass. Other comments are right to check Leah’s instructions.
May 26, 2020nice hike enjoyed lunch at the lakes.
May 21, 2020Just hiked in on this trail for the night. The road to the trailhead is in good condition, I did it in a low clearance vehicle, definitely follow the directions in the comments and not the trail description. Also I didn’t look at the map or comments close enough and ended up walking over a mile on the trail past the lakes and camped at the bottom of the valley which is also very nice. Saw a bear and a silver fox. Passed back by the lakes on the way back and they are beautiful, just look for a small trail that goes over a little berm shortly after the top of the mountain.
October 5, 2019Short but beautiful hike up to the lake with views of the surrounding mountain range and a ton of fall foliage all along the way. The trail is pretty overgrown (wear pants) and there were about 7 fallen trees you have to hop over. At the lakes, I saw a bull moose just after sunset and then again just after sunrise. The road to get to the trailhead is slightly rough but any normal car could make it with some mindful driving. Just be sure to take Leah Anderson's directions and stay LEFT at the fork once you are over the pass, stay straight on that road until you make it to a little field with a gate.
September 25, 2019This trail was nice and secluded, offering great views of peaks across the valley and lots of fall colors. We found the provided directions to the trailhead were extremely inaccurate. Follow the above directions to the top of the pass. After that, continue down the hill a short distance until the road forks. Take the LEFT road that travels downhill (the right takes you on an extremely narrow, steep mining road). Stay on this “main” road the whole time. It is 305 FR, there are signs to keep you on the right path. You will cross a small bridge. Continue following the road through a series of meadows for a while until the maintained road ends at an obvious parking area that opens on the RIGHT in front of a gate. The trailhead sign is on the other side of the gate. You’ll know you’ve gone too far if you turn left down a hill that quickly turns into a 4x4 road. The road up until this point was in great condition as of September 2019. We took a RWD Sprinter van down it with zero trouble.
August 13, 2019August 10, 2019You will need a 4x4 vehicle to drive the backroad to get to the trail. We got almost all the way to the trail head in a minivan with a lot of fancy driving to avoid hole, large rocks and deep crevices in the road and had to turn around because the road was impassible. A 4x4 with a higher clearance is definitely needed.
July 2, 2018
First to ReviewGreat little hike up to the lakes. The trailhead is across the creek on the other side meadow, look for an old fence and sign. When you get near the lakes the trail cuts to the right and you may have to bushwhack a little to get to the lakes. On an exciting note we saw a bear across the far lake from us, which motivated us to cut our break short. Overall fun little hike.
September 26, 2020September 19, 2020July 21, 2020July 3, 2020August 25, 2018September 1, 2013
