Los Pinos Pass
Los Pinos Pass (Doyleville, CO)
Los Pinos Pass is Spanish for ‘the pine trees.’ This is an easy trail that is useful if you are looking for a way to get from the Sawatch Range over to the San Juan Mountains without hitting the pavement. The Hayden Survey crossed this 10,200 foot pass back in 1874 and Otto Mears built the Saguache and San Juan toll road over the pass the same year.
Starting from US 50 in Doyleville, the trail starts out heading through relatively flat range land. Watch out for cattle in this section. This trail passes by Tomichi Dome and then crosses Colorado 114 before starting the gradual climb to the Pass. Shortly after the pass, it’s a short drive to Cathedral Junction, and then to Colorado 149 where you can head to either Lake City or Creede.
This trail is easy it’s entire way, and any high clearance vehicle should have no problems navigating it’s length. There are also a number of excellent camping locations closer to Cathedral Junction.
Please feel free to leave your comments and post your pictures from Los Pinos Pass below.
Los Pinos Pass KML Track
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Open file above in Google Earth.
