Milner Pass Trail - 8.2 Miles Round-Trip

The Milner Pass Trail runs 4.1 miles from Poudre Lake to the Alpine Visitor Center in Rocky Mountain National Park. The hike begins with a short, steep climb that moderates through treeline and open tundra to Fall River Pass on Trail Ridge Road.

Trail Map | Photo Gallery

Views are exceptional, highlighted by lengthy sections of the Never Summer Range, Cache La Poudre River valley and Forest Canyon. Few Park trails offer as much alpine exposure on such mild grades.

The Poudre Lake Trailhead is located on Milner Pass (10,759') along the Continental Divide. The 'Great Divide' separates drainages that flow into the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The Cache La Poudre forms just north of Milner Pass and drains into the Platte River, which flows into the Missouri River and eventually the Mississippi before reaching the Gulf of Mexico (Atlantic).

South of Milner Pass, Beaver Creek drains into the Colorado River, which flows through the Grand Canyon and into the Gulf of California (Pacific):

The trail begins on the south edge of Poudre Lake, where you’ll find signs for Milner Pass and Mt Ida a few steps from the trailhead on the lakeshore. It turns sharply uphill and winds through a pretty subalpine forest to the Milner Pass – Mt Ida Trail split (.6 miles : 11,072’).

The Milner Pass Trail turns northeast and levels in a thinning forest with emerging views of the Never Summer Range. It moves quickly through glades that widen to expansive meadows where elk and deer are common (1.75 miles).

It rises nominally to  Forest Canyon Pass (2.5 miles : 11,320’), where you can take a few steps off trail and peer down Forest Canyon and the headwaters of the Big Thompson River. Look for bighorn sheep on higher slopes, and moose by a string of alpine ponds and meadows just beyond the pass.

The trail clears treeline with views across the upper Cache La Poudre River Valley, which runs over 9 miles north from Milner Pass (read about x-country travel on the Cache La Poudre River Trail).

It keeps a modest grade to the terminus on Trail Ridge Road at the Alpine Visitor Center (4.1 miles : 11,796’). Take advantage of the visitor center’s educational resources, and back deck with terrific views of the Mummy Range across Fall River Pass.