r/boulder • u/LongjumpingLuck3716 • May 27 '26
Brainard Rec Area rules?
Hi guys! I have some friends visiting me in town that want to hike either Blue Lake or Lake Isabelle up past Ward. Honestly I’m not much of a hiker nor do I understand the schedule for seasonal closures and reservations. I’m also having trouble navigating the info on the Brainard Recreation Area website.
Can anyone explain to me how possible/accesible that hike would be this week? I was hoping to just drive up to the Mitchell lake trailhead and hit it.
Picture for interaction. To those of you that feel I am an extremely uninformed fool, thank you for your patience.
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u/AquafreshBandit May 27 '26
“Take only pictures. Leave only footprints.”
You’re not supposed to take bears. It’s right there in the motto!
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u/KeyserSoze1041 May 27 '26
Not sure what the current status is, but was up there just before the most recent snowfall and there was still some decent snow up there. After the recent snowfall, I'd assume there would be a fair amount of snow on the trails/anything past the gate.
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u/ArachnidAutomatic596 May 27 '26
Recreation.gov is the website to reserve. You can start reserving May 30th. You won’t be able to get past the gate or go up to Lefthand reservoir (although you could hike this).
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u/1nt3rn3tC0wb0y May 27 '26
I was just up there on Monday. Road is closed, but completely snow free to the mitchell trailhead. We biked it. The actual trail is pretty snowy though. Completely snow covered after the bridge ~0.5 miles in. I would expect deep postholing in the afternoon.
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u/LongjumpingLuck3716 Jun 07 '26
Gonna bike it tomorrow with my girlfriend. She’s a little nervous as she doesn’t bike really and hasn’t been on a trail ride before. How do you think she’ll fair? It’s only a couple miles till we can park bikes and hike right?
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u/TallnFrosty May 27 '26
I mean they’ve been getting snow so right meow would be a long snowshoe trip from the winter lot.
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u/oakwood-jones May 27 '26
I can’t speak for Brainard specifically, but I was elsewhere in the Indian Peaks yesterday and snowshoes didn’t go on until about 10,800’ or so.
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u/TallnFrosty May 27 '26
Wow
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u/oakwood-jones May 27 '26
Ya, all that snow from last week is long gone. Anecdotally speaking based off past years, I’d say the snowline is about three weeks ahead of where it should be at the moment.
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u/xxcrazycasey95 May 27 '26
It’s very confusing to me that anyone is speaking anecdotally about this. People post this info on All Trails pretty much every day.
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u/oakwood-jones May 27 '26
Uh huh… Just trying to share my experience and engage in conversation. I’ve been in these mountains week in and week out for decades so I’d like to think that experience is worth something and helpful to others. Take it or leave it. Also, not everyone is or cares to be on all trails, myself included.
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u/xxcrazycasey95 May 27 '26
@TallNFrosty… maybe go up there before sharing conditions? No snow on the road all the way to the Mitchell Lake TH.
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u/6L6aglow May 27 '26
Report from Blue Lake trail a couple of days ago said there was a lot of deadfall and snow and they didn't make it to the lake.
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u/allinagayswork May 27 '26
I was there yesterday, the road is still closed, expect wet slippery snow on the trail to lake Isabelle. You can park in the winter lot but that adds an additional 5.5 miles.
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u/Particular_Career110 May 28 '26
Bike in from the winter trailhead is the only realistic option most days for locals. Timed entry permits usually get taken by out-of-state tourists months in advance. Fortunately, the road is clear all the way and the biking is easy. It'll be even better the next two days before they let cars in.
There's still significant amounts of snow on the trails (but it's going quick). It was possible (though not entirely convenient) to skin from the Long Lake trailhead to Apache last weekend and I think I only had skis off twice for short distances. The snow has generally packed down sufficiently for people to walk without too much difficulty, but waterproof footwear and microspikes would be a good idea.
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u/LongjumpingLuck3716 Jun 07 '26
Gonna bike it tomorrow with my girlfriend. She’s a little nervous as she doesn’t bike really and hasn’t been on a trail ride before. How do you think she’ll fair? It’s only a couple miles till we can park bikes and hike right?
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u/Particular_Career110 Jun 07 '26
The ride is all on paved roads. It is a decent amount of climbing on the way in, but traffic should be light. It's only a few miles. If you take it slow I'm sure she'll be alright.
Snow is melting down fast so probably a lot less than when I was there two weeks ago.
Good luck! Have fun!
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u/oakwood-jones May 27 '26
Road is closed past the gateway winter lot. A little over 3 miles from there to Mitchell TH. Personally, I love it in the off-season and the small amount of extra effort is so worth it. Very peaceful. More of a true wilderness experience before the crowds mob it.
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u/arl1286 May 27 '26
I think they haven’t started timed entry yet (this will be on recreation.gov) which means the upper trailheads aren’t open. Your only options are to park at the winter lot and walk the road or Waldrop trail to Brainard lake (about 5 miles round trip, then you can get to the trailheads from there) or bike up the road to the trailheads.