One-way Distance: 2.7 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation: 8,807 - 10,542 feet
Cellphone: 3-5 bars
Time: 1 hr. 30 mins.
Trailhead: Telluride
Fee: none
Attractions: Forest hike
The Telluride trail is located in the Telluride Ski Area of the Uncompahgre National Forest at Telluride, Colorado. The trail follows a road that connects the St. Sophia Gondola Station with the Telluride Station. During the winter months the trail serves as a ski run and during the summer it is used as a hiking trail.
This post begins at the top of the Telluride trail and follows it in the downhill direction. The easiest way to get to the trailhead is to take the gondola up the mountain to the St. Sophia Station. After exiting the station follow the road past the restrooms and other buildings. The trailhead is just beyond the last building which is the Nature Center.
As the trail starts out it passes an overlook where there is a kiosk that explains how the Telluride Valley was carved out by an ancient glacier.
Besides the impressive scenes of the surrounding mountain peaks and basins there is a pretty nice view of a good part of Telluride.
The Telluride trail is a pleasant stroll through the woods as it begins dropping down the mountain.
The road comes to a fork where the Telluride trail follows a switchback on the left. The mountain bike portion of the See Forever trail continues by following the road to the right.
At the next junction the Coonskin trail continues straight ahead while the Telluride trail turns sharply to the right. Up to this point the Telluride and Coonskin trails have been sharing the same route. Mountain bikes are allowed on the Coonskin trail but not on the Telluride trail. I suppose that due to the ambiguity of the signs one should try not to be alarmed if they encounter a mountain bike or two.
The road gets a bit steeper in a few places as the long journey down the mountain continues.
Footing can get pretty slippery when the steeper spots are coated with gravel.
As the trail gets closer to the bottom it is connected to on the right by the Camels Garden trail which can be taken advantage of as an alternate route for the remainder of the way back to town.
Another trail sign comes up at a split in the road where you need to take the right fork to get down to the Telluride Station. It's kind of obvious if you look overhead at the gondola.
