Chinns Lake

4.4/5 (81 reviews)
Idaho Springs, Colorado (Clear Creek County)
Last Updated: 11/26/2022

Trail Information

Highlights

Chinns Lake is a fun and short trail that offers excellent camping on the water, hiking and fishing within an hour or so of Denver, Colorado. The trail leads to two lakes to fish from, along with plenty of hiking around the lakes or bushwhacking up through timberline. With such good camping and other activities, Chinns Lake is an ideal location for a quick overnight trip. This area gets a lot of use, and litter can build up quickly. Pack out what you have packed in, plus some.

Trail Difficulty and Assessment

Trail Navigation

Trail Reviews

4.4/5 (81)
Official Crew
40050
Partially Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 11/26/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Calvary 4-Wheelers ran Rainbow Road as part of our annual "Turkey Wheeling" trip the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We had three rigs along: me in my stock TJ, Rich in his stock Ford Ranger, and Jon and Delila in Jon's stock Dodge Dakota. we got to Fall River Reservoir early enough that we decided to see how far up the spur to Chinn's Lake we could get. Besides being steeper and rougher, this trail was quite a bit snowier than Fall River Reservoir. We made it to Waypoint 2 without much trouble but, with the snow covering it, the rutted section was challenging for our stock rigs without chains. I managed to get the TJ through it in a couple of attempts. Jon needed a couple of tugs with a strap to get the Dakota through, and Richard took a couple of attempts but got the Ranger through unassisted. From there it got increasingly harder as the fine powder got deeper and the tracks on the trail had not packed it. I got the TJ up the hill and around the corner to within a few hundred yards of the hair pin before the final ascent to the lakes. Jon, however, was not faring so well and could not make it to the corner. It was time to either chain up or turn around. We decided to turn around and head up to Yankee Hill, however, in turning around I started sliding toward the edge and could not go forward or back without sliding further toward it. I radioed down to Jon and Rich that I was going to need assistance. They hiked up the hill from where they had turned around with shovels, straps and a come-a-long. We spent the next two hours using the come-a-long to extract the TJ and get it turned around. We never did make it over to Yankee Hill.
600
Open
Rated 4/5
Visited: 10/09/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Lead our group of 4 Broncos up the trail. There are a couple of sections with ruts. The Bronco with 32" tires said he scraped his bash plates a couple of times. However, he is a relatively new offroad driver and thought he could have picked better lines. The other 3 Broncos had 35" tires and did not have any trouble. Beautiful scenario although I think it would be better earlier in the year when the reservoirs are full.
Open
Rated 4/5
Visited: 09/10/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

I took my friends up this trail for an easy camping experience with mild offroading. We made it just fine. One Ram 1500 on 34" tires, two stock 4Runners, a stock Tacoma, and me in a '08 Trailblazer with 3" lift and 32" tires. There was a stock Trailblazer ahead of us that had to be careful with line choice and got high-centered entering a campsite. The trail had deep ruts in places. It probably should have the "optional" portion of this difficulty rating increased, as the trail was wide enough to go around these. We left the campsite cleaner than we found it and definitely plan to come back. The lake is beautiful. Definitely drink extra water. 11,000 feet of elevation is no joke.
100
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 09/04/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

One of the most exciting trails I’ve done so far in CO. Compared to other level 3 trails, this felt more difficult. The road is rocky, and there were a couple sections where careful tire placement was necessary. Tagged my skid plates 2 or 3 times. I was incredibly surprised to see a couple Subarus and other crossover SUVs at the lakes. Awesome area at the end of the trail, plenty of room for camping, but crowded due to Labor Day. Vehicle: 2021 4Runner SR5P, stock size KO2s, no lift.
3600
Open
Rated 4/5
Visited: 09/03/2022
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

Fun trail. Lake levels are down this time of year. Still very scenic views make it worth the trip. It's pretty rocky and worth your time airing down. A couple spots on this trail are closer to a 4 than a 3. Since it's Labor Day weekend most of the camping sites were occupied.

From the Community

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