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Tanglewood Trail | Mount Evans Wilderness

Bailey, CO | 10/10/20 | 8.72 miles | 2,695′ gain

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The Mount Evans Wilderness has always held a special place in my heart, and so it may come as no surprise that I’ve wanted to explore in depth each lake, stream, and mountain. The Tanglewood Trail was one of the few remaining trails that I had yet to hike, and I quickly jumped at the chance when Diana (from Handstands Around the World) mentioned she was also interested.

The Tanglewood Trail starts on Deer Creek, but soon turns off onto Tanglewood Creek, following it for a few miles before switchbacking above treeline to a broad saddle. We started from the Deer Creek Trailhead just before 7:30am. The Tanglewood Trail is relatively popular, but this is also the access point for various 13ers and other hiking trails, so the trailhead generally fills up early.

We very briefly followed Deer Creek before turning off onto Tanglewood Creek. Most of the fall colors were long gone but it was still a pretty walk through the forest.

At the junction with the Rosalie Trail, we kept right (straight) to stay on the Tanglewood Trail.

After about 2.5 miles and 1,600′, the trail turned off Tanglewood Creek and began to switchback up the hillside. We soon reached treeline and saw our first views of the day. It was a little hazy but still beautiful.

The trail led to the saddle between Rosalie Peak (13,575′) and the Pegmatite Points. Rosalie would be an easy addition to this hike.

We found a nice rock to eat our snack just past the saddle. The trail continues down to the Roosevelt Lakes and eventually Beartrack Lakes but we decided not to continue any further.

We retraced our steps back down the Tanglewood Trail. Once we got back into the forest, we began to see a ton of people and arrived to an extremely full trailhead.

While this may not be a destination hike, the Tanglewood Trail was very enjoyable and could easily be lengthened or shortened to accommodate all abilities. It was another great day in the mountains, and that’s good enough for me!

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Chelsea

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