14ers.com • Trailhead Info and Status (Echo Canyon Trailhead)

Echo Canyon Trailhead

Location

Sawatch Range
39.07113° N, -106.47047° W

Road Difficulty

1 (0=Paved, 6=Very Difficult 4WD)

Driving Directions

From U.S. 24 south of Leadville, take Colorado 82 (Independence Pass) west toward Twin Lakes. Drive about 12.5 miles and turn right onto a dirt road. When approaching the area of the turn-off, slow down because it's hard to see the turn and it's unmarked. Follow the dirt road for less than 100 yards to the unmarked "trailhead." There's parking on the left for two vehicles. Across the road, the trail (old 4WD road) heads north up into the forest.

Winter Access

Easily accessible since CO 82 is plowed at this point and the trail is not far away from the highway.

Status Updates
2020-08-29 Posted By: xnatedawgx Info: I posted to share a screenshot of the turnoff with coordinates.	1
2020-07-04 Posted By: E_A_Marcus_949 Info: Dry. Easy to get to. You have to turn onto what looks like a private drive - it’s not. Room for 2, maybe 3 cars right off the paved road. There’s a hand-written sign that says Echo Canyon parking directly across from the 4WD road. You can go up 150 yards to another parking area for maybe one or two cars, but it’s easy enough to walk.
2020-05-21 Posted By: angry Info: Dry to th.	1
2018-07-29 Posted By: madmattd Info: Easily missed as others have noted. 12715 sign still there, which helps. 4WD road could probably be driven to the old foundation by the stream crossing in a decent clearance AWD/4WD, but it can be walked much faster. Note: main road beyond the trailhead is marked as private property.
2017-12-18 Posted By: Count40 Info: Just a note, adding to Trotter and Tornadoman. Always had trouble finding the spot in first attempt, in the dark and with somebody on my tail for sure. Instead, as per Tornadoman, you can use that turn-out, even less than 0.2 miles from the house number on that Tornadoman picture. House number is at 12.4 miles from US24, turn-out at 12.5, but much easier to spot thanks to those big road signs (see pictures attached both to this trailhead status and to the trailhead description, view from both ends). It is exactly 2 miles before La Plata TH. Apparently, the turn-out is plowed. If for nothing else, then to be able to reach that pile of gravel/sand there, and bear that in mind if you leave your car there. Roads department would like to have access to it, but there is still lots of room for others. If you do not want to walk back down the highway that short distance, you can just walk straight up through the woods from the orange/yellow sign about road closure, and an old tram causeway will bring you right to those building foundations 100 feet away from that initial stream crossing. Respect private property.	2
2017-10-28 Posted By: Trotter Info: Be very careful to study the directions to TH and look at the pictures. There is an almost identical looking pulloff (Hayden Gulch) about 0.5 mile farther up indy pass, that looks close to the real one and also has a creek, and what looks like a correct trail, but it is not.
2016-11-25 Posted By: Tornadoman Info: The directions given to the th are accurate. There is a tree with a marker ‘12715‘ attached which is the correct turn to access the th. There were about 3 inches of snow on the route and in our low clearance car we elected to park at a big turnout about 0.2 mile up 82 toward Indy Pass.	1
2016-05-14 Posted By: BillMiddlebrook Info: Open and dry.
2012-06-16 Posted By: sunny1 Info: TH is 12.5 mi on the north side of Hwy 82 from the junction of Hwy 24 and Hwy 82. There is no signage at the trailhead turn off. There are currently 2 short wood posts (log like) at the turn off. A bit tough to locate in the dark. Definitely need to use your odometer! Unfortunately, I did not take any photos.