Shadow Mountain and East Shore or Outlet Trails

Shadow Mountain is not notably high or impressive looking, but an old fire lookout near the summit has a romantic, fortresslike quality and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The steps on the outside of the tower give hikers access to a view above the trees. You get to the Shadow Mountain Trail via the East Shore or Outlet Trail.

To reach the East Shore Trailhead, watch for Sombrero Stables as you drive into the town of Grand Lake. Bear right on the road that runs behind the stables and then take the first street to the right, which leads to the bridge crossing the canal that connects Grand and Shadow Mountain Lakes. After crossing the bridge, keep heading south for several hundred yards until you run out of paved road. What appears to be an old gravel pit serves for parking. The East Shore Trail begins on the right and probably will be marked with a sign.

Follow it along the shore of Shadow Mountain Lake for 0.7 mile to the park boundary and then to the Shadow Mountain Trail junction, 1.5 miles from your starting point. The first section of the trail is flat and easy to walk. Most of the way it passes through lodgepole pines, although there are a few sunny stretches where brush predominates.

East Shore Trail continues to the right along the lake (see page 203). To climb Shadow Mountain take the trail to the left, which soon begins to climb at a steady grade up the side of a lateral moraine amid lodgepoles that predominate through most of the hike. Approximately 0.5 mile from the junction, the Shadow Mountain Trail makes a switchback and you climb a bit more steeply in the opposite direction along the narrow ridgeline of the moraine.

After nearly 1.0 mile the moraine merges with the bulk of Shadow Mountain and the path bends to the right around the end of the gully between ridge and mountain. Circling a lower summit on Shadow Mountain, the path enters a level area above another gully and then bends to the right along the mountain’s flank below the fire lookout. A moderate climb takes you to Ranger Creek, once a water source for the lookout. Do not drink this water. You should carry your own water on this and all other hikes. Untreated water should not be assumed safe.

Leaving Ranger Creek the trail switchbacks steeply uphill for about 0.5 mile to a saddle east of the lookout. A right turn away from the trail then leads to the true summit of Shadow Mountain, another 0.5 mile away and 10,155 feet above sea level. The summit is surrounded by trees, which block the view.

On the other hand, following the trail to the left from the saddle leads you quickly to the lookout tower. Built in 1932, it stands on a 9,923-foot promontory directly above Grand Lake. Steps around the outside of the tower climb three stories above the surrounding pine and fir to an excellent view. Grand Lake lies to the west, and the valley of East Inlet leads away to the east, with Mount Craig on its south wall and the higher tundra-covered slopes of Ptarmigan Mountain and Andrews Peak on the north.

To the southwest, below the even ranks of lodgepole pine tops, Shadow Mountain Lake dominates the scene. Large islands at the southern end are high points on a terminal moraine marking the end of a glacier that once extended 20 miles from cirques easily visible in the Never Summer Range to the north. South of Shadow Mountain Lake, huge Lake Granby defines the route of the East Shore Trail.

Past the point where the Shadow Mountain Trail leaves the shore of Shadow Mountain Lake, the way splits again almost at once. Both branches end up at the same place. The wide path to the left is usually used by horses, the path to the right by hikers. The right-hand path continues along the lakeshore, a bit wet in places, for 1.3 miles to Shadow Mountain Dam.

You can begin hiking the East Shore Trail by driving to the dam just east of the USFS’s Green Ridge Campground in Arapaho National Recreation Area. To drive to this campground, turn east from US 34 at the southern end of Shadow Mountain Lake by the sign that reads Green Ridge Complex.

From the dam the East Shore Trail cuts inland up a draw and across a bog to join its other branch, the horse trail. The inland horse trail and the shoreline foot trail both measure about 2.4 miles, junction to junction.

From the convergence of the trails, turn right to follow the trail down to the Colorado River, which becomes Columbine Bay, an arm of Lake Granby. After 1.4 miles the East Shore Trail encounters Columbine Creek.

Past Columbine Creek, the East Shore Trail continues for 1.5 miles to cross the boundary between Rocky Mountain National Park and Arapaho National Recreation Area, administered by the forest service. To hikers on this trail, the difference between forest service and NPS land probably will not be significant. On NPS land there are to be no pets, hunting, wood gathering, or camping. Beyond a forest service cabin at Grand Bay, the trail climbs Knight Ridge for views of Lake Granby and then descends to the lake. The southern trailhead of the East Shore Trail is located at Arapaho Bay Ranger Station, 12.7 miles from the northern trailhead at Grand Lake. An easier long trail is difficult to imagine. Mile after mile of lodgepoles and lakeshore, however, might get a bit monotonous after a while.

The ideal way to walk the trail is from one end to the other, having arranged for a car to be left at the end where the hike will conclude.