To access the Lake Fork Trailhead, you need to travel 11 miles south of South Fork, CO on HWY 160. The Lake Fork Trail begins at 8810 feet and ascends to a maximum altitude of 10,267 feet. This trail is 3 miles long out and back, with an elevation gain of 2770 feet and a loss of 1350 feet. If you’d like to estimate your trip duration, you can use the Hiking Time Calculator.
The trail starts to climb after about 100 yards. Parts of the trail are fairly steep for the first mile as you climb from aspen to spruce trees. After the first mile, the grade is slightly less up to about the two-mile mark. From two miles to the two-and-a-half-mile mark, it climbs more steeply again. At 2.7 miles, you pass the trail marker and a faint suggestion of a junction trail to The Hill. Finally, at 3 miles, the trail disappears into a meadow.
