Hermosa Creek Trail - North Trailhead

The North Trailhead

The Hermosa Creek Trail is a very popular trail with hikers, trail runners, and mountain bikers.  The trail travels through the midst of a vast roadless area with many side trails to enjoy. To truly explore the entire area would take days, possibly weeks.  Both the north and south trailheads are easy to access, with the south trailhead just a few miles north of Durango, and the north trailhead just to the west of Durango Mountain Resort.  This post is about an out and back trail run from the north trailhead.

Directions: From Durango, head north approximately 30 miles on Highway 550 to Durango Mountain Resort (fka Purgatory). Turn left into the Resort entrance and follow the main road looking for the signs pointing to Hermosa Park Road, which will be on your right.  Follow Hermosa Park Road, which quickly turns into a dirt road and begins to climb.  The road is well maintained and easily traveled by the average passenger car. The road is also known as Forest Service Road 578 and it will fork once or twice prior to descending into the Harris Ranch area. Keep following the signs to Sig Creek Campground and Upper Hermosa Creek Campground and you will head in the right direction.

Trail descending towards Hermosa Creek.

 After about 4.5 miles heading mostly due west, you will see the Upper Hermosa Creek Campground and the north trailhead for the Hermosa Creek Trail on your left. Turn left, drive through the creek and park in the large parking lot. There are vault toilets located next to the parking lot.

The Trail:  It starts out as a nice double track that climbs for a short while through large stands of pine trees, then begins to descend and runs right along Hermosa Creek. Soon you will have cliffs on both sides of as you descend into the Hermosa Creek drainage. Multiple times you will have to cross smaller creeks flowing into Hermosa, but none are difficult to get across. The entire time we were running the trail, marmots were serenading us with their whistling sounds at every turn.

The trail does get rocky at times but overall is not too difficult as it generally rolls uphill and downhill with the terrain as it runs along the creek. At about the 5 mile mark, the trail crosses over a well-built foot bridge.  If you are doing a day hike, there is a nice open meadow just across the cross the bridge that makes for a great place to stop for lunch, and then head back to where you began. Just remember, the way back is upstream and, as a result, generally uphill.

Bridge over Hermosa Creek.

If you are seeking a rigorous day hike, or an overnight backpacking trip, you can hike the entire Hermosa Creek trail from the north trailhead to the south trailhead - a distance of approximately 20 miles. You can drop a car off at the south trailhead and then have someone drive you to the north trailhead. There are several nice campsites along the trail plus many side trails to explore. Hermosa Creek and many of the creeks that flow into it are known as good trout streams, so bring your pole and try your luck.

Hermosa Creek.

Terrain map.