On a recent summer weekend, we headed up on an adventure to Glenwood Springs Colorado after checking out Aspen and the Maroon Bells. We were planning to hike the Hanging Lake Trail early Sunday morning, so we stayed in town that night.
A little bit about Glenwood Springs — First off, it’s adorable. The downtown area is incredibly cute, and we had a lot of fun meandering about Saturday night. We ended up having dinner at Grind, where Chris said he had the best burger of his life, and my falafel sandwich was pretty spectacular, as well. There are also a ton of hot springs in and around Glenwood Springs (hence the name), including the new Iron Mountain Hot Springs, which Chris and I plan to visit when we make it back to the area and have more time.
About this hike….Truth be told, I had read a ton of reviews on TripAdvisor about it, all of which say that the hike was incredibly beautiful … but incredibly difficult. Every review says how prepared you need to be and how rocky and hard it is, so needless to say, I was a little nervous. Having now completed said trail, however, I can tell you — yes, it’s difficult … but doable. Yes it’s steep and yes there are lots of rocks to climb, but there’s plenty of room to take breaks, and there are plenty of flat bits to catch your breathe, as well. Below, is a stunning shot of Hanging Lake Trail.
The other note I’d have to make is about the parking lot — it’s tiny. Chris and I arrived just a little after 7 a.m. to start our hike and probably got one of the last 10 or so spots to park. When we finished (around 9:20) there was a line of cars waiting to get in, which probably would have been at least an hour or so wait, if not longer. So my advice would be to get there very, very early, so you can avoid having to wait.
And when you finally do make it to your hike, you’ll be rewarded with some pretty amazing stuff!
There was something tantalizingly pretty about this moth … even though if I look at it too long it’s a bit much….
After a mile of uphill hiking, we reached the beautiful Hanging Lake as also shown above. Quite serene, isn’t it?
The water was so crystal clear and beautiful, and see the fish?!
There’s a short little extra hike that runs up above Hanging Lake that brings you to this pretty waterfall. Definitely worth the extra one minute it takes to get there.
I would highly recommend every single piece of this rural Colorado weekend getaway. From Aspen to the Maroon Bells to Glenwood Springs to the Hanging Lake trail … it’s all absolutely wonderful.
Cheryl Lock is a former magazine, newspaper and website editor turned full-time freelance writer. She has worked on staff at the Daytona Beach News-Journal, More and Parents magazines, as well as for Learnvest, the leading women’s financial website. Her work has also appeared in Newsweek, Forbes, Ladies’ Home Journal, the Huffington Post, AOL Travel and more.
Cheryl was born in Nuremberg, Germany and grew up moving around every few years as an Army brat. The urge to travel has been with her her whole life. While she calls New York City home, Cheryl makes it a priority to travel as much as possible throughout the year. Some of her favorite places include Iceland, the Great Barrier Beef, Cabo, Rome, Calabria and Munich, although she hopes to never stop exploring. Cheryl blogs about her travel adventures (and what’s happening in and around New York City) at Weary Wanderer.
