Blue Lakes Trail

Blue Lakes are three lakes stacked in a cirque under Mount Sneffels, Dallas Peak, and Gilpin Peak in the Mount Sneffels Wilderness, and the lower lake, 3 miles from the Dallas Creek trailhead, is the most photographed water in the San Juans. The color is real. The trail climbs 1,600 feet through aspen and spruce to the lower lake and another 700 feet, steeper, to the middle and upper lakes for the full 6-mile day and beyond.

From the trailhead at the end of Dallas Creek Road, the trail enters the wilderness at once and climbs steadily through aspen and then spruce, with Dallas Creek below and glimpses of the cirque ahead. The grade is constant rather than steep, and the trail is well built. At about 3 miles it arrives at the outlet of Lower Blue Lake at 10,980 feet, with Sneffels' north face above the far shore.

The trail continues around the lake's east side and climbs the headwall on tight switchbacks, about 700 feet in under a mile, to Middle Blue Lake and, a short distance beyond, Upper Blue Lake at about 11,700 feet in a bowl of talus. Beyond the upper lake the trail climbs to Blue Lakes Pass and drops into Yankee Boy Basin, and Sneffels' standard route branches off the pass. Return the same way.

From Ridgway, drive west on Colorado 62 about 5 miles to Dallas Creek Road (County Road 7) and follow it 9 miles south to the trailhead at about 9,350 feet. The road is gravel with a few rough spots; passenger cars manage it in dry conditions. The trailhead was closed from June through early October 2025 while the Forest Service rebuilt the parking lot, added a restroom, and restored the trampled ground around the lakes; it reopened with the new lot in October 2025, and restoration work continues in 2026. The lot still fills by 7 AM on summer weekends. No fee or permit is required for day use in 2026. The Forest Service proposed a $5 per-person day-use fee and $25 overnight permits for the peak season, to take effect in 2027 if approved, with a limited-entry permit system planned for June through September 2027; check the Ouray Ranger District's Blue Lakes page before a 2027 trip.

Dogs are allowed on leash in the wilderness. The climb to the lower lake is fine for older kids; the headwall to the upper lakes is steep and loose. Carry a filter; the creek and the lakes are the water. Under the Mount Sneffels Wilderness order that took effect June 1, 2026, camping is prohibited at Middle and Upper Blue Lake; overnight visitors camp at the designated sites below Lower Blue Lake, 100 feet from the water, with no fires, and the sites are few and first come. Mountain goats work the upper basin. Ridgway, 30 minutes away, has groceries and restaurants; Ouray is 15 minutes farther. The Blue Lakes guide covers the trip in more detail, and the Ouray hikes page has Yankee Boy Basin on the other side of the pass.