Timber Lake Trail

The Timber Lake Trail is advocated by some hikers as the best route up Mount Ida, despite the fact that the route from Milner Pass is 1.5 miles shorter and has 1,750 feet less elevation gain. Nonetheless, the route to Timber Lake is an interesting hike, worth doing on its own merits.

The parking area for Timber Lake Trailhead is located on the east side of Trail Ridge Road, 9.6 miles north of the Grand Lake entrance to the national park and 10.7 miles southwest of Fall River Pass. From the trailhead Timber Lake Trail heads east across a level meadow, then cuts right through open woods to cross Beaver Creek on a substantial bridge. In 2011 a major landslide obliterated the Timber Lake Trail approximately 0.5 mile from the trailhead. Rebuilding or rerouting the trail in the future should result in no mysteries of route.

Past the crossing, the trail climbs fairly steeply along the flank of Jackstraw Mountain. Still close enough to Trail Ridge Road that you can hear the traffic, the trail is enclosed by dense stands of lodgepole pines.

A few miles from the trailhead and 400 feet above the valley floor, the path begins to parallel Timber Creek, going upstream. Then the grade is gentle until you arrive at the junction of the Timber Lake and Long Meadows Trails, 3.1 miles from the trailhead. Here, where a tributary flows into Timber Creek, the landscape is filled with moisture-loving flowers: marsh marigold, senecio, tall chiming bells, Parry’s primrose.

The Long Meadows Trail crosses the creek a few yards south of the junction and then climbs steeply to moderate its grade parallel to the creek, going downstream along the south valley wall. But after 0.6 mile the path disappears in the marshes of Long Meadows. It reappears 1.5 miles later at the southern end of Long Meadows and proceeds very obscurely for another 1.5 miles to meet the Onahu Creek Trail. The least swampy way to traverse Long Meadows is anybody’s guess. The NPS terms Long Meadows a “cross-country experience.”

Back on the Timber Lake Trail, the grade steepens past the junction and climbs through a series of very short switchbacks. Finally you emerge into a meadow at the base of Jackstraw Mountain. Wetland subalpine flowers—paintbrush, king’s crown (roseroot), tall chiming bells—line both sides of the trail as it parallels Timber Creek through the meadow.

The trail reenters pleasant subalpine forest but soon leaves again to wind across a very rocky area. A final set of switchbacks takes you to the marshy land around the outlet of Timber Lake. The northern shore of the lake bears some trees, but the southern end has only rock, some tundra, and snowfields that last far into summer.

Timber Lake is not as spectacular as many lakes in the park; no sheer cliffs rise above it. But the terrain is rugged enough to hide the summit of Mount Ida. To climb Ida head up not terribly steep tundra to a low point on the ridge south of the lake. From this saddle it is an uncomplicated walk to the summit.

From this saddle you can also go to Julian Lake, about 1.0 mile southeast of Timber Lake, although most hikers merely view Julian from the summit of Ida. Julian can be reached also via an unmaintained path from the lower (south) section of the Long Meadows Trail, which also is rather vague in places.

Jackstraw Mountain is an easy climb from the flowery meadow you encountered on the way to Timber Lake. Various informal trails, typically quite steep but short, lead up to the broad summit. Jackstraw was named for the view of its fire-cleared slopes as seen from Trail Ridge Road. Had the namers seen the massive spread of elk excrement on top of the peak, the name chosen might have been even more colorful.