Mineral Basin

full-limited Icon
4.8/5 (32 reviews)
Buena Vista, Colorado (Chaffee County)
Last Updated: 07/10/2023

Trail Information

Highlights

The Mineral Basin Trail allows users to explore the South Cottonwood Drainage above Cottonwood Lake. The trail snakes its way up the valley as it heads toward Mineral Basin and Emma Burr Mountain (13,538'). Along the trail, you will travel close to Cottonwood Creek and pass through open meadows and aspen groves. Along the upper sections of the trail are marshy areas frequented by moose and elk. The trail ends at a large parking area high in the basin with views of Jones Mountain and the South Cottonwood Valley below.

Trail Difficulty and Assessment

Trail Navigation

Trail Reviews

4.8/5 (33)
User Avatar
inline-aa Icon
15600
Open
Rated 4/5
Visited: 09/06/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Easy trail that’s pretty wide the majority of the way but narrow in some spots immediately after Cottonwood Lake so watch out in the blind corners. There’s a good amount of dispersed camping all along this trail and it seems to be a popular hunting base-camp area, too. It was surprisingly steep in places with a little bit of loose rock so I actually used 4LO a little bit just to go easy on my engine.
User Avatar
inline-aa Icon
300
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 08/18/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Easy in the stock Tacoma. Great for views and camping.
Trail Review: Mineral Basin - Vincent
Trail Review: Mineral Basin - Vincent
User Avatar
inline-aa Icon
600
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 07/24/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Nice easy trail with great views from the top. Tons of nice dispersed camping sites as well.
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 07/23/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

The trail was perfect. Jeep rubicon (stock) handled it with ease. Was an awesome drive and we ended up camping at ~11.5k feet.
Trail Review: Mineral Basin - Ryan Finkbiner
Trail Review: Mineral Basin - Ryan Finkbiner
User Avatar
Official Crew
inline-aa Icon
37400
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 07/10/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Fully open to the top!
Trail Review: Mineral Basin - Marcus Trusty

From the Community

Start a free trial and get this level of detail on every trail guide
Start Free Trial