Backpacking Fall Creek Trail | Seven Sisters + Tuhare Lakes

Backpacking Fall Creek Trail and exploring the Seven Sisters Lakes and Tuhare Lakes is an adventure we would highly recommend! The entire trail is incredibly scenic and the lakes are literally some of the more magical and dramatic we’ve seen. There are numerous opportunities for side adventures that can be added on and accessed from Fall Creek Trail as well. It’s also helpful to know that there are several different options for getting started backpacking Fall Creek Trail. And after seeing the rugged and wild landscapes along this trail, it seems that you can’t go wrong!

Backpacking Fall Creek Trail has been on my radar for awhile now! On our first attempt from Halfmoon Trailhead, Tigiwon Road/FR 707 was temporarily (and inconveniently!) closed so we ended up backpacking Missouri and Fancy Lakes Loop instead (see photo below). Little did I know then that there was another access point for backpacking Fall Creek Trail off of Homestake Road.

But after spending some time camping on and getting to know Homestake Road, I realized that we could access Seven Sisters and Tuhare Lakes from the Hunky Dory Trailhead. So after looking at some maps and playing with the different access points, we finally had the opportunity to explore some more of the incredible Holy Cross Wilderness!

To follow us on our specific trip and itinerary details, skip to Quick Info below.

Helpful Information for Planning Backpacking Fall Creek Trail

Accessing Fall Creek Trail

There are two main trailheads that access Elk Creek Trail:

Tigiwon Road/Forest Road 707 – Halfmoon Trailhead

Follow Tigiwon Road for about 8.3 miles to the end where you’ll find Halfmoon Campground and Halfmoon Trailhead.

Homestake Road/Forest Road 703 – Hunky Dory Trailhead

To reach Hunky Dory Trailhead, you have to walk a portion of the Holy Cross City Jeep Road. Unless of course, you happen to have an extremely capable lifted, rock crawling machine with great suspension. Which we don’t. And we’re not suggesting you attempt to drive this road at all unless you’ve done your research and planned accordingly. You’ll see, this road is gnarly!

Back to accessing Hunky Dory Trailhead – there are still a couple different options. The first option (get directions) would be to park off of Homestake Road, at the base of the Holy Cross City Jeep Road. This would mean that you walk about 3 miles on the jeep road to where the Hunky Dory Trailhead branches off.

The second option (get directions) would be to follow Homestake Road to the large brown sign indicating the turn towards Fancy/Missouri Trailheads and Holy Cross City. Then follow this Missouri Creek Road for about two miles (keeping right at the junction) to a parking area where the Holy Cross City Jeep Road can be accessed once again. This option requires more driving but cuts off about a mile of walking on the jeep road.

Main Backpacking Fall Creek Trail Side Trip Options

Of course, there are unlimited options for additional exploring once out on the trail! But if you’re backpacking Fall Creek Trail, here are a couple “While You’re in the Area…” options.

Holy Cross City

Holy Cross City is comprised of numerous historic mining remains including a mill, a couple cabins and the old town site. If you’re walking along the Holy Cross City Jeep Road, continue for about .8 miles past the turn off for Hunky Dory Trailhead. From the road, you can’t miss the huge scattered parts of the mill. Continue further to reach the cabins and old town site.

Cleveland Lake

Follow Holy Cross City Jeep Road past Hunky Dory Trailhead and past Holy Cross City. The road to Cleveland Lake continues to the right across the creek, through the parking area and then up.

Mulhall Lakes

From the historic Holy Cross City, follow the road to the left past the gate. After about 0.5 miles you’ll reach a junction – branch right and continue another 0.5 miles to Mulhall Lakes.

Notch Mountain Shelter

The turn off for reaching the Notch Mountain Shelter is along Fall Creek Trail. From the Halfmoon Trailhead, the Notch Mountain junction is about 2.5 miles in. And from the Hunky Dory Trailhead, the junction for Notch Mountain Shelter is about 6.2 miles in. From the junction, it’s another 2.6 miles one way to the shelter.

Fancy Lake

From the historic Holy Cross City, follow the road to the left past the gate. Take the branch to the left and continue 1.5 miles to Fancy Lake.

Quick Info for Backpacking Fall Creek Trail

Directions: From Minturn, follow US-24 E for 10.6 miles and then turn right onto Homestake Road/Forest Road 703. Continue 7.3 miles to a parking area at the base of Holy Cross City Jeep Road. Park here and walk two miles up the road to the trailhead. Or continue 0.5 miles, turn right at the sign towards Missouri Lakes Trailhead and travel another 4 miles to another parking area. Park here and walk a mile up the road to the trailhead.

Difficulty: Moderate

Total Distance: About 16 miles

Itinerary Breakdown:

Day 1: Parking on Forest Road 727 near Holy Cross City Jeep Road to Campspot on Hunky Dory Lake (+ side trip to Holy Cross City) — about 3.7 miles

Day 2: Campspot on Hunky Dory Lake to Upper Tuhare Lake and then back to Campspot on Hunky Dory Lake — about 9 miles

Day 3: Campspot on Hunky Dory Lake to Parking on Forest Road 727 — about 3 miles

Our Experience Backpacking Fall Creek Trail to Seven Sisters and Tuhare Lakes

Day One

After a couple days of on and off rain, we woke up to sun and blue skies! And we were conveniently boondocking on Homestake Road at the time, so we set off from our camp spot around 9:30. By the time we waited for rangers to fix the bathroom door handle at Missouri Trailhead (we didn’t wait around long enough for them to finish) and by the time we realized we just needed to continue straight onto Forest Road 727 to where we planned on parking (after parking and walking a mile in the wrong direction), we finally hit the trail around 11:30. Not bad…

And our backpacking Fall Creek Trail adventure begins! From the parking area, we joined the Holy Cross City Jeep Road right where there is a sign indicating a transition from one way traffic to two way. The walk along the jeep road is all up and very rocky as it ascends through the trees. Water pools up or runs down along the road for much of the way. Some of the rocks and ledges are huge! It would be fun to watch a vehicle tackle these obstacles but we didn’t encounter anyone on our hike up. The road is obviously rough but the features along the way and with the river paralleling it, it didn’t feel too much like walking on a road.

Hiking to Holy Cross City

On our way up, we missed our turn for Hunky Dory Trailhead. We were checking out the river crossing and just kept on going without even seeing the small branch to the right. But it ended up working out because we ended up reaching the Holy Cross City mill just before it started to rain.

We explored the old mills remains a bit before the rain came… And since the opportunity presented itself, inside the huge metal tubes we went! It was nice and dry inside the tubes so we ate a snack, played around a little and waited the rain out – thinking it would just pass.

Once the rain stopped, we left our packs and went to check out the Holy Cross City cabins and town site. There were a couple cabins still standing (barely). After we’d seen enough, we headed back to our tube… just in time again! More rain. Cold and windy! Finally, the rain let up and we took our opportunity to continue on.

Heading to Hunky Dory Lake

So we headed back down the Holy Cross City Jeep Road to the branch to Hunky Dory Lake. It didn’t take long on the trail before we reached the sign for the Holy Cross Wilderness Boundary. We filled out our free overnight backpacking permit and realized we were already at Hunky Dory Lake!

As we continued along the trail to the opposite side shoreline, you guessed it, it started to rain again! So once again, the opportunity presented itself, and we took shelter inside the random shallow mine entrance. It was nice and dry in there, blocked the frigid wind.

The rain let up again and we thought it wise to just go with it and set up camp here at Hunky Dory Lake rather then get soaked on our way up to Seven Sisters Lakes. So we set up our tent and walked around the lake while we still had dry weather. But before long, inside the tent we went! And through the rest of the night we had on and off rain, hail, and sleet. But we got plenty of sleep that night!

Day Two

We were happy to wake up to sun shining through our tent! We weren’t sure how the weather was going to be after yesterday. So we got up early and decided to pack a day bag – not sure how long we were going to have to explore before clouds came in.

Hiking to the Seven Sisters Lakes

So we set off towards the Seven Sisters Lakes. The trail climbed up through the cold, wet woods before opening up again. We could see that there was a fresh layer of snow on the mountain tops all around. We passed several small ponds and took notice of the towering, jagged peaks all around. All of the water and the rocky mountains contrasted beautifully with the sunny blue sky and lush vegetation. Already, the beauty surrounding us made our cold and wet night worth the while! So beautiful, wild and rugged.

We passed several gorgeous lakes, wishing we were hot so we could take advantage of them. But we were still hiking in hats and gloves… The views looked unreal. Very pristine. And colorful. Just perfect!

It seemed everywhere we looked was just amazing! We continued to climb and discover more of the Seven Sisters Lakes. The clouds were forming and moving fast but the sun stayed with us most of the time. But there was definitely a crispness to the air. As we followed the trail up, we encountered more and more snow on the ground.

Up Fall Creek Pass and Down the Other Side

We left the Seven Sisters behind us and hiked up to Fall Creek Pass where we encountered the first hikers yet on our backpacking Fall Creek Trail adventure! They were stoked about what they had just seen down below at Tuhare Lakes. And that was where we were headed so we were excited to reach them! From the pass, we followed a gradual slushy path down into the airy alpine meadow. It too was simply beautiful, all around us.

The descent began to steepen and then revealed to us Lake Constantine down below. Lake Constantine looked pretty, nestled down below the treeline. Our trail led us through some huge boulders with a nice pink tint to them. Everything in Colorado seems to be colorful, I love it.

On this descent, we encountered several areas that passed through dense bushes that nearly covered the trail. The plants were all wet and so was the trail… so our pants and shoes were completely soaked. Then me and the camera went down and made sure that all of us were soaked.

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As we continued making our way down to the creek crossing down below, we passed several ponds, saw some pretty waterfalls and some chubby adorable marmots.

The scenery we encountered while backpacking Fall Creek Trail felt so wild and rugged. Everything seemed dramatic – extra colorful, extra lush, extra tall, extra beautiful, extra perfect. Like a wilderness you’d come up with in a dream. Waterfalls, lakes, open views, towering peaks, ridiculously cute marmots. Just amazing.

Finally, we reached the treeline and then the creek crossing. To continue backpacking Fall Creek Trail, follow the trail to the right. To the right, the trail will reach Lake Constantine as well as the junction to Notch Mountain Shelter.

Splitting off and Hiking to Tuhare Lakes

This is where we turned left to go to Tuhare Lakes. And when we were here, there was a cairn on the left just after the creek crossing. The trail towards Tuhare Lakes begins by climbing steeply up through the woods, then over some big rocks before opening up to more amazing views!

After the woods is a gorgeous basin with jagged peaks, a pretty pond and an awesome waterfall! And this is just on the way to the lakes!

The trail climbs towards the waterfall allowing for even closer and impressive views. Once the trail passes alongside the waterfall, it didn’t take long for a new star of the show to appear!

We dreamily approached Lower Tuhare Lake. It was freaking amazing! There were two waterfalls pouring down into it. And jagged peaks above created an incredible backdrop! With sheer walls on one side and beautiful contrasting vegetation on the other, it’s definitely a sight to see. And to sit down and really look at – take it all in. It made me feel incredibly lucky to be able to see something so pure, wild and perfect. It also made me feel so thankful that there are still such pristine places like this to experience.

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After processing the unbelievable beauty before us, we headed up to see the source of the waterfalls – Upper Tuhare Lake! The trail up to Upper Tuhare Lake started out pretty defined before reaching the rocks to the right of the waterfalls. Then there were some cairns along the way but it was pretty much just some rock hopping in the general direction.

We continued our rock hopping up above the waterfalls, towards the amazing rugged peaks up ahead. The landscapes encountered while backpacking Fall Creek Trail are truly stunning. The Holy Cross Wilderness is definitely a gem.

And then we reached Upper Tuhare Lake and it too was nothing short of amazing. So peaceful and calm among such rugged surroundings. Definitely a worthwhile destination in itself. The views back down of Lower Tuhare Lake and the mountain range below were incredible!

Heading Back to Camp

We made our way back down to Lower Tuhare Lakes before descending back down into the valley. From here, we knew we had another 4.5 miles back to camp. So hiking to Notch Mountain Summit just wasn’t going to happen for us today. We climbed our way back up Fall Creek Pass, meandered past Seven Sisters Lakes and eventually reached our camp spot at Hunky Dory Lake. The views on the way back were just as stunning. And there was a lot less snow to be found.

When we got back to Hunky Dory, we hung out and ate most of the food we had left. Once the sun went behind the mountain it was pretty chilly. So once again, we got a full night of rest!

Day Three

Since we ended up camping much closer to the Holy Cross City Jeep Trail than we had intended, we had a pretty short day ahead of us. We had breakfast, packed up and bid farewell to Hunky Dory Lake. Then we hiked the final 3 miles or so back to where we parked. And on the way, we saw one Jeep on its way up. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a very challenging section that we encountered them at…but they were super friendly. Stopped and talked a bit.

Thanks for Reading!

Backpacking Fall Creek Trail was an amazing experience. The landscapes and lakes that we encountered surpassed our expectations! Even with the rainy day and the change of plans, the beauty we experienced was incredible and so rewarding. After experiencing the snow and the new chill in the air, we know that fall is on its way. Hope to squeeze in a few more adventures before its time to head south!

If you’d like to see more of our hikes and adventures, check out the articles below:

• Backpacking Oh Be Joyful Pass + Blue Lake
• Oasis on Black Canyon Trail
• Humphreys Peak via Inner Basin Trail
• Best Hikes in Pinnacles National Park

We love adventuring and have been living on the road full time for awhile now. On our rest days we’re working hard on our hand painted one of a kind longboards! If you’d like to see our latest lineup, head over to our Lost Coast Longboarding Shop. We also design and screen print our own shirts!

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