Music Pass Trail is a 4.2 kilometer lightly trafficked out and back trail located near Westcliffe, Colorado that features beautiful wild flowers and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for hiking and mountain biking and is best used from June until October. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
Colorado Tourism Office, 1625 Broadway, Suite 1700 , Denver, CO, 80202, Phone: 800-COLORADO
February 7, 2021Road to lower lot is not maintained and impassable.
October 31, 2020Loved it! Lots of snow made it difficult but it was certainly worth the hike.
October 13, 2020October 10, 2020Great moderate trail to get awesome views. The wife, two teenage kids and I went here when visiting Westcliffe from KS. Def doable in like 3-4hrs. Gradual inclines, so no big deal. It was beautiful the day we went so no special shoes or gear needed. We hiked to the pass and went a little farther to take in the views. It'll makes sense when you get to the end of the trail head, keep going a bit. As others have said, if you can, drive up to upper trail head. It's gnarly in places, but if you have AWD or 4WD, know how to drive on dirt, take it slow, use your traction control and lower gears, let your vehicle's inner beast out finally and go for it! I do agree, having something with a high clearance is probably a good idea. We took our Toyota Highlander up and saw other Highlanders and trucks up there and felt anything lower could of gotten stuck in some of the more rutty areas. Met some folks that had lower vehicles that made it up a good way, and then just parked in an empty pull off spot and hiked up the rest of the way, so there is that option to. Very enjoyable, easy hike for sure!
September 27, 2020Nice hike from the Grape Creek TH on the dirt road to upper TH. Beautiful views
September 26, 2020Stunning views. Went on to upper and lower sand creek lakes which was totally worth it. Got to upper trailhead in a friend’s Subaru crosstrek, but I don’t recommend this as the road was tricky in sections. Did this hike in July 2020.
September 20, 2020Beautiful. The trail head is 2 miles pst where the gps takes you. The last two miles are 4-wheel drive. Stunning views.
September 15, 2020-google maps got me there with no problem. They may be updated to what the All Trails description is -that road up to the trailhead is no joke! I was in a Chevy Trailblazer and concerned I wasn’t going to make it or would do some damage to my car. I know others have posted that outbacks had made it up there but I can’t imagine how -I went Saturday 9/12 a few days after the cold front and it was still mostly snow on the trail. I was very happy that I had my spikes in my day pack still! Trekking poles wouldn’t hurt either if there’s any snow on the trail -absolutely gorgeous. Very very very worth it!
September 7, 2020September 5, 2020Profoundly beautiful. The 4WD stretch to get to the trailhead is pretty rough and feels LONG but our older 4Runner did just fine. If you are in this part of the world it is worth making every effort to hit this trail. Not a tough hike but worth noting that it is at elevation and storms could move in at any time. There were a few downpours cresting the summits of nearby peaks as we hiked down. While early in the day is good we loved hiking this later and really enjoyed a spectacular sunset as we exited via Colfax. Highly recommend. ps - LOTS of bowhunters on this trail and in this area. Probably good to wear safety orange if you can.
August 10, 2020Great hike with beautiful views at the top of Music Pass Trail. The road out to Grape Creek Campground has some annoying washboard in the road. The 4x4 trail up from Grape Creek Campground to the trailhead is very doable. Need a car with high clearance, but I did see a couple of Subaru Outbacks/Crosstreks, Toyota Highlanders and several Tacomas and Xterras up there. If you have to park at the camp ground, the 4x4 road stinks to climb and wastes much of your day. If you have a vehicle to drive to the trailhead it makes accessing the lakes very doable and highly recommended. It's 1.25 miles to top of Music Pass Trailhead and another 1.5 ish to the lower lake. It's a great hike. Highly recommended. I'd give a 4.5 if I could.
August 9, 2020August 8, 2020August 2, 2020July 25, 2020Beautiful trail. The 4x4 road should be absolutely no problem if you have a good ground clearance. My 2005 CR V made it up just fine. 2.5 miles in there is one final vertical push that I could see many cars unable to pass. I saw a brand new Toyota Highlander at the top, along with several Tacoma’s.
July 18, 2020Views were great the whole way. Started pouring on us. I recommend going early in the morning.
July 18, 2020Overnight trip on 7/18. Several groups camped around the lake. Try to go on a weekday to avoid the crowds!
July 15, 2020Google maps will get you to Grape Creek trail head where there is a pit toilet. another 2.9 miles to the Music Pass trailhead. Not much of a problem for a Subi Outback. 1.3 miles from Grape Creek is a loose rock field and at 2.5 miles in is a steep hump. the lower MP parking lot is at 2.7 miles. one final lurch will get you to the trail head. lots of places to bail out along way. The trail itself is wide and rocky but great views on all directions at the pass or 50 yards further along the ridge. About a dozen diff kinds of wildflowers seen today.
July 15, 2020Very scenic and well worth the hike up. Last part of drive up is very rough. Stopped just short of top due to one area where you bottomed out to clear in our VW Atlas. Hiking in parts a bit moderate. My teens were complaining lol, both athletes. 80 year old with us had to stay back with a friend. Some great pictures, even found a cool moon shaped rock off trail towards the top with a face I am up uploading.
June 28, 2020Pretty trail, but as the road to get to the trailhead is quite rough, it doesn’t feel worth it to just hike this section. I highly recommend continuing on to the Lower Sand Creek Lake or Upper Lake trail. Even if you just hike to the trailheads, it’s a beautiful stretch. It’s only one more mile to the lower lake from there though, or 1.7 miles (if I remember correctly) to the upper lake, so I think it’s worth it to continue on. Also notable, the trail directions on this listing are incorrect. Once you hit the Grape Creek trailhead (where Google Maps directions end) it’s another 2.7ish miles (not 1.5) to the Music Pass trailhead. A high clearance vehicle is a must. My Honda CRV made it okay, but it was an anxious 30 minute ride. I probably wouldn’t take my CRV up to this trailhead again.
June 27, 2020June 27, 2020June 26, 2020beautiful trail. the upper trail head is about 2.7 miles from the lower trail head. I agree with the other reviews about 4x4 higher clearance vehicle. was g lad I finally made it up this one. We went early and only saw a few others on the trail.
June 25, 2020Very busy trail even in the middle of the week. Lots of trash along the trail. New graffiti happened during the time I made it passed Music Pass and came back. It was very disappointing to see. One guy was walking around playing music on his phone. For a remote trail there were several things that were disappointing.
June 21, 2020
