Smuggler Mountain Trail is a 14 mile heavily trafficked out and back trail located near Aspen, Colorado that features a lake and is rated as difficult. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from March until September. Dogs are also able to use this trail.
dog friendly
cross country skiing
hiking
mountain biking
nature trips
bird watching
running
forest
lake
river
views
wild flowers
wildlife
Directions from Aspen: Travelling east on Main Street in Aspen, turn left (north) onto Mill Street. Travel 1/4 mile and turn right after the bridge onto Gibson. Follow Gibson 1/8 mile to a Y intersection and bear left onto South Avenue. Shortly, turn right onto Park Circle and follow for 1/8 mile to the Smuggler Mountain Road on the left. There is parking on the right.
Monica Hyslop recorded Smuggler Mountain Trail
Beginning is wide-open fire road and after the look-out/observatory it get much steeper and very rocky. We were in a time crunch so we didn’t quite make it all the way to the lake (about a mile away) so we turned around and got down to the bottom which was all in all about 10.5 miles, 3.5 total moving hrs for us. You will encounter a good amount of people at the beginning to the observatory but after that there wasn’t anyone except some dirt bikes (moto). Also had mountain bikes further below.
Fire road and dirt road hike. Good exercise on the way up and great views!!
Did the hike on Wed 6/6. I made it all the way to the lakes but my boots were soaked. Thank God for a second pair of socks.
Trail was well marked and had amazing views. I attempted the Warren Lakes trail, which is a continuation of Smugglers Mnt trail, but it was still covered in patches of snow and I ran out of daylight.
This trail is well kept, very popular in the summer. It has gorgeous views of the city. Kind of steep & was challenging. We were sore from the first hike up it but we loved it so much, we did it 2 days in a row.
Very long a lot of ups and downs but the lakes are pretty!!!
heavily trafficked and a lot of road.
Love this trail as a warm up hike when getting to Aspen and getting acclimated. It is a great cardio workout with a moderate incline and an easy run down into town.
Great trail for the inexperienced but still excited for a workout. Beautiful view with easy cut backs. Good for groups
Loved this place!! A man jogging e a three legged dog passed me so no one has an excuse to not get out there!
Great View of town! Hike was moderate and not overcrowded
More like walking up a steep dirt road for most of the way.
Hiked only about 3.1 miles up to the huge billboard (not used, partially covered with trees) on Smuggler Road. Still a good, moderate hike.
Not the best trail. Very busy and a lot of dogs off leash.
So much fun! Great views!
Straight up hill w lots of switchbacks. Tremendous views!
Nice open trail to Mtn bike up.
The views are so worth the uphill trek!
Steep with views of Aspen, CO. Would be a fantastic sunset hike.
Brandi H.
Challenging (moderate) walk up but worth the views! It's such a great cardio and leg strengthening work out. We love starting our days by walking up and running down! If you pace yourself up you can do it much easier.
Lara M.
Moderate but challenging walk up Smuggler Road. Nice views of Aspen and surrounding valley. At the lookout point there are several other trails to enjoy. If you go to the left trail and then loop around, you descend on Hunter Creek and enjoy the river and bridges back into Aspen.
Nice hike with gorgeous views of Aspen. There are several trails that branch off at the top.
Great hike, especially one to get use to the air if visiting. I would try to run as much of it as possible and then walk when necessary. It tools about 25 minutes to run/walk it.
Great hike close to town. Great views of Aspen below.
Excellent jeep trail, followed by a number of hiking trails. So far I've only done the Smuggler's Loop.
