Maroon Lake Scenic Trail + Crater Lake
✓ Verified against the agency · NPSThe accessible iconic walk of the Colorado Rockies. From the shuttle stop at Maroon Lake (2,920m) the Scenic Trail follows the lakeshore to the postcard view of the Maroon Bells — the most-photographed mountains in North America, twin 4,300m pyramids of crumbling maroon mudstone doubled in the water. Past the west end of the lake the route enters the Maroon Bells–Snowmass Wilderness and climbs gently through aspen groves on the Maroon-Snowmass Trail (#1975) to Crater Lake (3,071m), directly beneath the north face of North Maroon Peak and Pyramid Peak's amphitheatre. Access is the managed part: mid-May–October the road is closed to private cars in the daytime and nearly everyone rides the reserved shuttle from Aspen Highlands. Golden aspen weeks (late September) are the crush.
Safety classification
Mid-May through October. Maroon Creek Road is open roughly May 15–early November; access reservations (private vehicle or shuttle) are required May 22–Oct 18, 2026 via visitmaroonbells.com — private vehicles only before 8 AM or after 5 PM. Outside the road season the valley closes to vehicles and Maroon Lake is effectively unreachable without a long over-snow approach — do not plan this as a winter walk.
- ▲Extremely rocky, dry trail to Crater Lake (USFS) — ankle-turning footing; good hiking shoes required
- ▲No potable water anywhere at the Scenic Area — carry all water; dehydration and altitude compound above 9,500 ft
- ▲Rapid mountain weather changes and afternoon storms — carry layers and a rain jacket (USFS)
- ▲Black bears — strict food-storage rules enforced in the wilderness
Two named USFS system trails from Maroon Lake: the flat Maroon Lake Scenic Trail #2197 and the Crater Lake Trail #1975 continuation (~3.6 mi round trip, climbing to just over 10,000 ft inside the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness). The scenic-trail portion is a walk; the Crater Lake leg makes the combined outing a moderate day hike on rough rock. Day use needs only the access reservation; overnights in the permit zones need an advance recreation.gov permit plus a bear canister. Live fs.usda.gov was CDN-blocked from our network; content read from dated Internet Archive captures of the exact agency URLs (see sources) — re-check live when possible.