The Trail at a Glance
Distance: Approximately 2 miles (our loop around the lake)
Elevation gain: Approximately 100 feet on our route
Difficulty: Easy for us, with a few natural obstacles
Route: Clockwise around Lake Irwin
Trail map: AllTrails
Getting to Lake Irwin
We stumbled across Lake Irwin while exploring Kebler Pass during our Colorado trip. We turned off Kebler Pass Road (County Road 12) onto Lake Irwin Road (Road 826), not really knowing what we'd find. What started as a random detour down a dirt road turned into one of our favorite stops of the trip.
We followed the road through the trees, crossed the small dam, and parked in the lot just beyond it. With mountains surrounding the lake, we were already impressed before we even started hiking.
Hiking Around the Lake
We decided to hike clockwise around the lake, following the shoreline for almost two miles. With only about 100 feet of elevation gain on our route, it was a fairly easy hike.
The trail wasn't particularly well marked, but we found it easy enough to follow by staying near the shoreline.
It was mostly flat, although we encountered a few downed trees and a creek crossing just above a small waterfall. There wasn't a bridge where we crossed, so we had to make our way across the creek.
The scenery made this one of those low-effort, high-reward hikes. We had mountain views throughout, with wildflowers scattered all along the trail.
We spotted quite a few varieties. From what we could identify, they included frasera, flax, columbine, monkshood, Indian paintbrush, and king's crown.
One of the highlights was spotting a mule deer resting near the shoreline. We noticed she had a fawn hidden among the plants nearby, so we kept our distance and continued on our way.
A Few Things to Know
On our visit, the trail was fairly easy to follow, but it wasn't clearly marked the whole way. Fallen trees and the creek crossing added a few obstacles, and conditions may be different when you visit.
Access update (October 2026): The campground closed September 8, 2026, and is scheduled to remain closed for the 2027 season while improvements are made. The project also calls for a full closure of the day-use area and its access road during 2027, with reopening anticipated in 2028. Check the Forest Service project page and Recreation.gov before planning a visit.
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