Plan with
Confidence
Due to its low elevation and proximity to town, the trailhead below Willow Lake Trail is fairly easy to reach year-round. Dogs will be able to do all of this rxh except the Kit Carson North Ridge. If planning on incorporating this into your tour de Kit Carson, leave Fido at home/camp.
Path Type
Loop
It's a hard 2WD/easy 4WD 2 miles to the Willow Creek trailhead. Camp here for a day trip, and be sure to start early. Like 3-4 AM early. Start up Willow Lake Trail and follow to the top of the lake. If splitting this hike up, there's excellent camping just below Willow Lake. From the top of the cliffs above Willow Lake, continue to Kit Carson North Ridge, hiking along the willows until you find the start of the awesome scrambling. Summit Kit Carson Peak and start down the connector to Challenger Point (Kit Carson Trail). While on this trail you may choose to climb Columbia Point, adding about 1 hr round trip, although this isn't included as part of this featured hike. Summit Challenger Point and descend Challenger Point Trail back to the top of Willow Lake. You really should be back at the Lake before storms hit - it's fairly safe below treeline on the way back down.
Challenger Point was dubbed as such in 1987, in honor of the seven astronauts who perished in the infamous space shuttle accident.Kit Carson's namesake is more controversial: Kit Carson was a US Civil War General and pioneer known for his extreme cruelty toward a number of American Indian tribes.
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