The Fryingpan Lakes are located 4.55 miles from Road #505 in the Hunter-Fryingpan Wilderness. The two main lakes are separated by a wide isthmus, and a third lake .7 miles below offers a comparable aestehtic with accommodating meadows for camping. The Fryingpan Lakes form the headwaters of the Fryingpan River, a major tributary of the Roaring Fork celebrated for its 14 miles of Gold Medal Waters on the tail of Ruedi Reservoir.

The name origin of the 'Fryingpan' is uncertain, but one story is that a group of prospectors fled from hostile Indians only to run into another and remarked that they had gone from the 'fryingpan into the fire'

Only 168 miles (approximately 2 %) of Colorado's 9000 miles of trout streams carry the Gold Medal Signature

Red foxes have excellent hearing and are thought to be able to hear a watch ticking 40 yards away

Gold Medal Waters specify that a stream provides at least 60 lbs of trout per acre, and at least 12 trout greater than 14" per acre

The Columbine's name is derived from the Latin word Columba, which means of or relating to doves

The trail passes through a long level meadow leading to the first lake, where backpackers will find better camping terrain than at the two upper lakes

The Ruedi Dam and Reservoir was completed in 1968, part of the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project which diverts water from the Fryingpan and Roaring Fork Rivers to the Front Range

Indian Paintbrush belongs to a genus of 200 species of partially or fully parasitic plants that derive nourishment from the roots of other plants

The Fryingpan Lakes (11,032') are ringed by large talus slides from steep walls off the Continental Divide

The Fryingpan Valley includes pinion-juniper, montane, subalpine and alpine zones between Hagerman Pass and its confluence with the Roaring Fork

The Roaring Fork Watershed has one of the longest contiguous sections of Gold Medal water in Colorado, including 14 miles of the Fryingpan and 28 miles of the Roaring Fork

Mule deer are named so for their oversized ears that resemble a mule's ears

The Fryingpan Lakes are separated by a wide isthmus covered in thick willow mats

The valley opens to views of Deer Mountain (13,761') and Mount Oklahoma (13,845')

The west valley wall is topped by three unnamed 13,000'+ peaks

Bistort, a type of Buckwheat, are high in starch and serve as an important food source for many animals