The Woody Creek Trail runs 9.2 miles through diverse forests across the Woody Creek and Hunter Creek drainages. This long and lightly used trail follows Woody Creek to its south fork headwaters, then rolls over a steep ridge and drops to the Hunter Creek side. The Woody Creek Trail is primarily used to access the Marcy and McNamara huts, and visitors will find a great deal of solitude once past these connections.

The Woody Creek Trail follows Woody Creek to its headwater under a ridge separating it from the Hunter Creek drainage

Bistort is in the Buckwheat family; it's sometimes jokingly referred to as 'miner's socks' for its pungent smell

At 5.6 miles the trail cuts across a long, slender meadow into a patch of old growth subalpine forest leading up to the ridge

At 1451 square miles the Roaring Fork Watershed is approximately the size of Rhode Island

Travel moderates on the Hunter Creek side through sunny, south-facing glades and through two large meadows - Deer Park and Slab Park

Elephants Head (Pedicularis groenlandica), a member of the figwort family (which also includes foxglove and snapdragons), favors damp alpine meadows

High open glades on the south side of the Woody Creek Trail offer panoramic views across the Elk Mountains

8300 acres along Spruce Creek were added to the Hunter-Fryingpan Wilderness area in 1993

Dusky grouse (formerly known as blue grouse) is the 2nd largest grouse in North America; this female may weigh 2 lbs while males can exceed 3 lbs

High points on the Woody Creek Trail offer great views across the Williams Mountains, and down the main drainage

The trail follows Woody Creek up to its south fork headwaters before scaling the valley wall and dropping into the Hunter Creek drainage