Loch Lomond

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4.4/5 (89 reviews)
Idaho Springs, Colorado (Clear Creek County)
Last Updated: 10/16/2023

Trail Information

Highlights

Situated in the Arapaho National Forest's Clear Creek District, Loch Lomond offers high alpine lakes, fishing, wildflowers, and great dispersed camping, all within one hour from Denver, Colorado. This trail can be crowded on the weekends, but you can expect to have it all to yourself during the week.


Trail Difficulty and Assessment

Trail Navigation

Trail Reviews

4.4/5 (90)
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119750
Seasonal Closure
Visited: 10/16/2023

It is that time of year when the upper gate is now closed. See you in 2024!
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 09/18/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

First trail we ever did, it was so much fun. Even saw a family of moose near the lake.
Trail Review: Loch Lomond - Tom Tomasic
Open
Rated 5/5
Visited: 09/18/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Our first time off roading. WE HAD A BLAST and even saw a family of moose towards the top.
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800
Open
Visited: 09/08/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Spot On

Very easy and short trail. View of Lake at the top is great. Did this as a bonus after Kinston Peak and ran into many more wheelers and hikers than I saw all day on Kingston. Popular trail
Open
Rated 4/5
Visited: 09/03/2023
Difficulty Accuracy: Harder

this trail is extremely rocky, although the rocks are not large. overall, i'd average the trail surface as 90% rocks and 10% hard dirt, the entire length. the trail has many 'wide outs' its entire length and passing opposite-direction traffic is not a problem. no fears of pin-striping on this road either. but there are a few sections of trail where short rock outcrops will definitely have your attention and carefully driving a line over them. also think this trail difficulty is closer to a 3 than the currently assessed 2 (due to those rock outcrop sections).

saw a few 2WDs on my trip, but can't say i'd recommend it. on my descent, around waypoint 6, i was semi-astonished to pass a guy in a new VW GTI, going up. after the trail, i'm guessing his GTI was not new on the bottom anymore. any stock 4x4 with decent clearance should do OK on this trail.

the loch at the top is worth the drive up, you'll want to hang out there awhile, rather than just turn around and descend. you'll pass alot of hikers, campers and traffic (by offroad standards) on weekends. according to my GPS tracking, this trail took 53 minutes to ascend from the trailhead to the loch.

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