Kite Lake 2.5

​Kite Lake trail is an enjoyable 6 mile in-and-out run.  It is less traveled than many of the Jeep trails closer to Silverton, but there is both Jeep and ATV traffic.

This appears to be a fairly deep lake with a beautiful blue color.

This trip will take up much of a day.  Stony Pass 2.0 moves right along, but the road to Kite Lake is slow.  There are mud holes, rocks and a few ledges that seldom allow you to pick up speed.

There is a GPS - gpx track file at the bottom of the page.

Lunch at Kite Lake

​Begin the trail with a chance to dip your tires in the Rio Grande. Solid, rocky bottom.  There is less flow later in the summer.

The lower part of the trail is through a wide open valley with views of the surrounding countryside.  The upper part of the trail travels in and out of the trees, but is always interesting

Fording the Rio Grande

Lower end of trail

There is a small wetland where the road is down in the valley of Bear Creek.  Kite lake drains into Bear Creek.

There is still evidence of the original corduroy road crossing a wet spot.

Small wetland area

Corduroy road

Spruce in this area were killed by a spruce bark beetle outbreak in 2014.  Most of the trees were still standing when we did this run in 2018, but they will be breaking off and falling into the road as time goes by.

This ledge is one of the reasons the trail earns a 2.5 rating.  

Trees killed by spruce bark beetle

Ledge on climb to lake

Kite Lake and the surrounding basin are beautiful.  Great spot if you are there for lunch.

Lower end of Kite Lake

Upper end of Kite Lake

Page updated 2018.

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kite_lake_2.5.gpx
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