Deer Mountain Trail

There are quite a few mule deer on Deer Mountain. You also might see a fairly uncommon flower. But virtually certain is an enjoyable view of dramatic peaks. The hike is more comfortable if you carry a quart of water per person, because the trail is sunny and dry.

The Deer Mountain Trailhead is at Deer Ridge Junction, where US 34 and US 36 join inside Rocky Mountain National Park. Park your car somewhere along the wide road shoulders and begin hiking uphill east of the road junction.

The trail proceeds along a level grade in an open parklike stand of mature ponderosa pines. Be sure at this point to bear right; do not follow the trail that drops downhill into Horseshoe Park and Aspenglen Campground.

As you begin to climb gradually to the east, notice the wildflowers typical of open montane zone forest: wild geranium, Indian paintbrush, penstemon, miners candle, harebell, sulphur flower, and wallflower. The less common Britton’s skullcap can be recognized by its blue-purple blossoms, each of which has a protruding lip shaped like a cap. A member of the mint family, Britton’s skullcap’s leaves grow opposite each other on a 4-to-6-inch-tall square stem.

Quaking aspens soon begin to appear at trailside, their white bark scarred black by nibbling elk. The aspens frame lovely vistas of Longs Peak and other high mountains along the Front Range. Closer are lateral moraines—glacial ridges—bordering Moraine Park and Beaver Meadows.

From the view of Longs Peak and the Front Range, the trail zigzags to the left to a view dominated by Ypsilon Mountain, in the Mummy Range. Ypsilon is named for vertical snow-filled gullies that form a Y on its face. For the first 2.0 miles the path maintains a fairly moderate grade by following switchbacks, which take you from the view on one side of Deer Mountain to the view on the other.

Eventually you reach a broad, level area on Deer Mountain, where limber pines and aspens block long vistas. The natural tendency of limber pine to drama, especially in death, is obvious here. Forest fires have left enough picturesque twisted snags of burned pine to keep photographic artists busy for days. Despite its relatively low altitude, Deer Mountain seems to be a preferred target for lightning, which probably started the fires. Remember this when thunderheads start to build; a hasty retreat back down the mountain would be wise.

For more than 0.5 mile the trail meanders up and down on the mountain until you suspect that you are headed down the other side toward Estes Park. About the time your suspicion matures to certainty, you reach a trail junction where a spur branches sharply right (south) to the summit. The final few yards to the top are steeper than most hikers like, but the reward is a good view in nearly every direction.

Beyond the junction the trail zigzags downhill to the east in the same fashion as it climbed. Following this path across the park boundary will lead you to mazes of horse trails, roads, homes, and eventually an ice-cream cone in downtown Estes Park.