Silver Dollar Lake and Murray Lake Trail

Distance: 4.1 Miles
Trail Type: Out and Back
Elevation Gain: 1066 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
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I grew up hiking on this trail and made my most recent visit here in July 2021.  This is one of my favorite trails in the area.  The trail is a great length and has some elevation gain to it allowing you to spend much of the hike above the tree line.  This provides you with some great views of the surrounding mountain ranges and the lakes that dot this valley.  



The road to get to the parking area has been greatly improved and is easy to navigate with any vehicle, just take your time.  The trailhead is clearly marked and has a decent size parking area available, however, I am sure that it can fill up quickly on the weekends.




The hike begins in the forest and rises gently up to the first lake along the journey.  Naylor lake is a good size lake and a side trail takes you up to it.  Naylor lake will provide you with many scenic views as you continue to climb up the valley.



Depending on the time of the year you can have a snow crossing along the trail.  This snow crossing is engrained in my memories of the hike as a child.  In July there was still a small spot where snow covered the trail, although it was much smaller than I had remembered.  The little mountain streams that take the melting snow to the lakes below make music as they babble and trickle down the hillside.


As you approach the base of the mountain ahead of you, you crest a rise Silver Dollar Lake avails itself to you for the first time.  The lake is clear and clean, with the far edge going right up to the edge of the mountain, but leaving you one side where it is easily approachable for you to enjoy and have lunch or to fish.  It is easy to be tempted to stop here, but the trail continues to rise a bit further up the mountain to Murray lake.


Murray lake is actually a reservoir as there is a manmade containment dam on the one end of it.  The area is peaceful and the beauty of the surrounding mountains is very enjoyable.  As it began to get later in the day we did get quite a few mosquitos up here and had to bread out the bug spray to come prepared.


The trail has a great collection of wildflowers on it, including the Columbine in many spots which is the state flower of Colorado.  We also saw a lot of marmots and picas along the trail as well.  I have seen mountain goats up here before but we did not find any on this trip.  



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