Hike to Lower Crystal Lake in Breckenridge, Colorado
This past weekend I had one of my best friends, Annie, staying with us, and we were looking to get a little more hiking in before winter came. The night before the hike we weren’t sure what hike we should do because the overnight weather forecast had some snow in it, and with it being an early October storm, we didn’t know if it would bring a dusting that would melt within an hour of daylight or several inches. We had several hike ideas in mind and decided we would pick which one to do in the morning based upon the total snowfall amount.
We woke up and it was in the 20s with a half inch of snow on our deck. After having a cup of coffee to wake us up, we decided hiking up to Lower Crystal Lake from the Spruce Creek Trailhead (just outside of Breckenridge) would be our goal for the day. We took our time eating breakfast and getting ready as we were ok waiting a little bit for the temperature to warm up. We knew we couldn’t wait too long though as there was a chance for some precipitation later that afternoon. Lower Crystal Lake is in a pretty exposed basin with limited tree cover so we didn’t want to get caught in any bad weather up there as it could turn into whiteout conditions pretty quickly.
Mid-morning we drove over to the trailhead and began our hike. We began walking up Crystal Creek road, a road that could be driven with a high clearance 4WD vehicle. We gained in elevation pretty quickly from the parking lot and it didn’t flatten out for a mile or so. The first mile of this hike was the toughest in my opinion. Once we started approaching tree line, we started getting some beautiful views of Mount Helen to our left, Peak 10 to our right, and Father Dyer Peak in front of us. All of them were snow covered, as was the ground after about 11,000 ft. Because we were walking on a dirt road, the snow had mostly melted, and we avoided getting our feet too wet.
After about 2.25 miles, we finally came to the lake. The lake had not yet frozen for the winter and led to some beautiful pictures with the snow covered mountains in the background. There are probably only a few weeks out of the year where one can see this lake unfrozen with fresh snow on the mountains in the background. The clouds were starting to get darker, but we believed we had time to take a snack break in this beautiful spot before heading back to the car.
Lower Crystal Lake
Three friends and a dog in front of Lower Crystal Lake
Should I climb that peak in the background (Father Dyer) next summer?
The clouds weren’t what caused us to keep the snack break short, it was the wind that started picking up. Our fingers and cheeks were going numb within a few minutes of sitting down, and while the view was hard to leave, none of us wanted frostbite (I would guess with the wind chill the temperature was in the high teens) so we started back to the car.
On the way back, the views were just as fabulous as they were on the way up, with a great view of Bald Mountain in the distance. We hurried back to the car as we were trying to warm back up! It’s amazing how quickly your body will cool down during a short snack break. We passed a few other hikers on the way down, but otherwise the descent was pretty uneventful as the hike was just an out and back. We headed to Breckenridge to grab some lunch after the hike and just as we parked in town, it started pouring - I’m glad we finished our hike when we did!
Bald Mountain in the background
The hike ended up being 4.8 miles with just under 1,600 feet of vert, taking us just under 2.5 hours to complete (including the break). If you are looking for a hike that gets you some gorgeous views without having to hike too far, this hike should be near the top of your list.
