This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, I may receive compensation at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Silverton, Colorado is synonymous with towering peaks and high alpine ultramarathons like the Hardrock 100. The town provides access to many recreational activities and multiple beautiful alpine lakes. These are two of my favorite high-alpine hikes in the area that lead to amazingly picturesque lakes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n One of the beautiful hikes you can do in this area is hike the Columbine Lake Trail. This is a difficult hike with over 2,500 feet of elevation gain and over 6.5 miles of hiking. The trail begins with a series of 16 switchbacks straight up the side of a mountain, so be sure to take breaks often and save your legs for when you reach the steep climbs above tree line. Once you get above tree line, the trail goes up several steep inclines before finally cresting a ridge. After this ridge, you get a long stretch of fairly flat trail to let your legs recover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As you finally approach the lake, there is another short section of incline before you are greeted by views of the spectacularly beautiful Columbine Lake. If you are a hiker, the one downside of this trail is that it is also open to mountain bikes and dirt bikes. Be on the lookout for these other trail users especially on the switchbacks where it can be a little hard to see what is around the next bend. The trail is generally accessible from July through mid to late October depending on snowpack. If you have AllTrails, you can see recent hiking conditions and reviews here<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\nHike to some of the most beautiful high alpine lakes near Silverton <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Columbine Lake<\/h3>\n\n\n\n