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Camel's Garden

Rating: 
Round Trip Distance: 1 mile
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 8794 - 9140 feet
Cellphone: 2-5 bars
Time: 45 mins.
Trailhead: Camel's Garden
Fee: none
Attractions: Forest hike




The Camel's Garden trail is located in the Bear Creek Preserve in Telluride, Colorado. The short trail begins off of the Bear Creek trail where it climbs a moderately steep grade up a forest trail until it meets up with the Telluride trail and comes to an end. The Camel's Garden trail is frequently used by locals as an alternative route for the lower portion of the Telluride trail.


To get to the trailhead find your way to the Bear Creek Preserve at the west end of Pine Street.


Follow the Bear Creek trail for about 300 feet to where the Camel's Garden trail begins on the right.


The trail starts climbing immediately as it leaves the Bear Creek drainage.


Although the trail is slightly overgrown in places most of it looks wide enough to have been a road at one time.


The trail has several very small streams that cut across it. This one had the partial remains of an old flume that was part of a sluicing operation ran by one of the areas gold miners. Scattered within the trees in other places along the trail are other scraps leftover from past mining activity.


The lack of hikers on the peaceful Camel's Garden trail is noticeable compared to the throngs of people that hike the Bear Creek trail.


Somewhere around its midpoint the trail passes beneath a ski lift.


From the Camel's Garden trail you can hear noises coming from the town below but until you cross one of the swaths cut through the trees for the skiers all you can see is the forest.


The end of the trail has a little dip as it drops down to meet the Telluride trail. From here it is about 6 tenths of a mile to the right down to Telluride or 2.2 miles to the left to get up to the St. Sophia Station. We spoke with one person that said they hike the Camel's Garden trail every day. With a little more than 300 feet of elevation gain it is probably a nice short hike to help a person stay in shape. If you would like to see it for yourself then all you have to do is 'Take a hike'.