Hiking Colorado: Mushroom Rock

Mushroom Rock is a beautiful red rock trail near Carbondale with a view of Mount Sopris. There are several different trails to hike at this location. We started on the Blue Ribbon trail and then made our way to the Mushroom Rock trail before linking up with another trail and coming back down the mountain. We probably hiked between 4 and 5 miles that day.

We hiked this trail in early June. It was a hot day but it was still cool enough to hike because as the altitude increased the temperature decreased. As you can see, in early June Mount Sopris was still snowcapped. I loved this hike because I could look over and feel like I was experiencing both summer and winter. The contrast was very symbolic of how looks can be deceiving if you do not put them into perspective. 

After walking uphill on a dirt road for about 600 meters we reached the trail head. The trail was rocky and technical in some areas, especially on the way back down.

I love red rock. Red rock trails make all of the natural colors pop! Wildflowers and green trees just seem brighter with a red rock background.

Toward the end of the hike we briefly walked along a single track trail that had a ton of beautiful purple wildflowers and lizards scurrying around. This part of the hike was the most challenging part because there were so many bikers using the trail. We even saw a guy flip off his bike and fall. Luckily he was not seriously injured and he got right back up and kept riding.

I enjoyed this hike. I know there were some parts of this trail system that we didn’t get to explore. I’ll go back next summer because I’d prefer to wait until Mount Sopris is snowcapped again.