Mount Zirkel Trail

Mount Zirkel is the 12,180-foot high point of the Park Range and the wilderness named for it, and climbing it is a long day from the Slavonia trailhead north of Steamboat: the Gilpin Lake trail to the lake, the pass above it, and then an off-trail ridge walk north along the Continental Divide to the summit. The listing's 17 miles is the out-and-back by way of Gilpin Lake; adding the Gold Creek side of the Zirkel Circle on the way down makes it about 18.

From Slavonia, take the Gilpin Lake trail, which climbs through spruce and old blowdown along Gilpin Creek for about 4.5 miles to Gilpin Lake at 10,300 feet, with the peaks of the Divide behind it. The trail continues around the lake and climbs steeply to the pass on the ridge south of Big Agnes Mountain at about 10,800 feet, the high point of the Zirkel Circle loop.

From the pass the summit route leaves the trail and follows the Divide north over tundra and talus, Class 2, with Big Agnes to the east and Zirkel's rounded summit ahead. The ridge is broad and easy to follow in clear weather and confusing in cloud. The summit at 12,180 feet looks over the whole Park Range, into Wyoming, and across North Park. Return to the pass and descend either the Gilpin trail or the Gold Creek trail to close the loop.

From Steamboat Springs, drive about 20 miles north on County Road 129 to Clark, turn onto Seedhouse Road (County Road 60, then Forest Road 400) just beyond town, and follow it about 15 miles, the last part gravel, to the Slavonia trailhead at the end, roughly an hour from town. Passenger cars manage it in summer. The lot fills on July and August weekends and overflows along the road. Parking costs $5 per vehicle per day, paid online at Recreation.gov or in cash at the trailhead; there is a vault toilet and a self-registration box. No permit for day hiking.

Dogs are allowed on leash in the wilderness. Not a kid hike. Carry three liters and a filter; Gilpin Lake is the last water. A map and compass or GPS track are worth having for the ridge, which has no trail and few cairns. Deadfall from the 1997 blowdown and later beetle kill lines the lower trail. Moose are common along Gilpin Creek. Camp at Seedhouse or Hinman Park campgrounds on the access road, or in the wilderness at least 100 feet from lakes, streams, and trails; camping is banned within a quarter mile of Gilpin and Gold Creek lakes. The Gilpin Lake trail covers the loop without the summit, and the Mount Zirkel Wilderness page has the access detail.