State: Colorado
Location: Pike & San Isabel National Forests
Length, One-Way: 4.5 miles
Trail Type: Out and Back
Minimum Elevation: 9800 feet
Maximum Elevation: 10400 feet
Best Season: Summer, Fall
Difficulty: Difficult
Usage: Light
The Rocky Mountains
Trail Information
The Apishapa Trail will tie into the Wahatoya Trail at mile 1 1/2. You can continue on for 2 miles to tie in with the West Peak Trail. This trail is good for car shuttle because of the trailheads being located on the same county road #46.
Directions
Take State Highway 12 from LaVeta to Cucharas Pass turn left on County Road 46 and travel 10 miles to the Apishapa Trailhead located on County Road 46.
Comanche Trail
State: Colorado
Location: Pike & San Isabel National Forests
Length, One-Way: 5.1 miles
Trail Type: Out and Back
Minimum Elevation: 9100 feet
Maximum Elevation: 11720 feet
Best Season: Summer, Fall
Difficulty: Difficult
Usage: Light
Trail Information
The 5.1 mile long Comanche Trail provides access to Comanche Lake and the Phantom Terrace.
This hike is in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, which is one of the longer mountain ranges on earth. It extends from New Mexico up into central Colorado. The “Sangres” started forming during the Laramide mountain building episode (70 to 40 million years ago) along with a number of other ranges in the Rockies. However, uplift activity in the Sangres continued longer, ending about 25 million years ago. While other Laramide uplifts were being leveled by erosion, this one was still growing. Some faults on the west side of the Sangres are still active.
As you hike up the valley and as you look out at the surrounding mountains from Comanche Peak, you may notice something odd. It looks as though the rock outcrops in many places have linear features that are slanting and sometimes almost vertical. The linear aspect relates to the originally horizontal bedding planes that formed during the deposition of sediments, which later became cemented into rocks. During mountain building, these rock units were faulted, uplifted and strongly tilted in response to forces deep in the earth.
Directions
From Westcliffe:
Take Highway 69 south to County Road 140 (Schoolfield Lane). Turn right on CR 140 and follow it to the Comanche / Venable Trailhead.
The access is mostly on good paved roads, with a mile or two on good unpaved road. There are some signs along the way to keep you directed. Passenger cars won’t have any problem. The trailhead has room for 20 or 30 vehicles.
