Horsetail Falls

This year June turned out to be the perfect month for waterfalls, thanks to late spring storms. Right off of Hwy 50, just outside of the small town of Strawberry in the Eldorado National Forest is the trailhead to Horsetail Falls.
View Larger Map Park Services provides a parking lot, but there is a $5 parking fee. (Last year when we checked out this hike, we talked to one of the parking attendants and learned that while it's only a $5 parking fee, the fine for not paying the fee is $50-$75, just so you know.) The trail makes a loop up to the edge of Desolation Wilderness. If you stay to the right side of the trail (which is easy to follow if you look for the trail markers pinned to the trees) the path stays close to the water, with little waterfalls and rivers along the way, including Cascade Falls. Be carefull about going off of the trail, it does give some beautiful views of the water, but you never know what you might find along the way. Papa came less then a foot from stepping on this guy bathing in the sun. Thank goodness he seemed to be sleeping as this rattler never moved once. Whew- that sure got our hearts pumping. There are also some beautiful views of horsetail falls along the way. Once you get to the top of the loop trail you enter the Desolation Wilderness Forest, which requires a day use permit (which they provide right there). This part of the trail gets a bit more adventurous. There are a few streams to cross on makeshift fallen log bridges, but the trail can be a bit difficult to follow. Just follow the low trail, if you head up on the rocks, you eventually have to come down from the rocks and further along on the trail the more difficult it gets to get down from the rocks. At one part the low trail looks impassible due to water, but the water is just for a bit and there are usually stepping stones to keep you out of water. We had a great picnic lunch just below the waterfall. Of course I spent the whole lunch throwing rocks into the falls. There was so much water that the power was just amazing. The sunny weather made for a beautiful day, but there was a bit of a cold breeze which required at least a sweatshirt. We spent about three hours on the hike, but that included about an hour by the falls. The hike is 2.8 miles round trip. There is a way to get to the top of the falls and the lake above, but since there is no path that way and it requires scrambling over rocks, we haven't tried it, yet. I love waterfalls or 'totertalls' as I call the them, 'big totertalls.' There is also some really cool big rock formations. If you want to know a bit more about the hike, check out this site, it's quickly becoming our favorite site for planning waterfall trips. This hike is best in the late spring or early summer, as the waterfall gets smaller as the snowmelt ends during the summer. Yeah for 'big totertalls.'