From the Top of Booth Falls
8/23/2022: Booth Falls is a very pleasant hike. It parallels Booth Creek for 2. 5 miles one way. There is enough altitude gain that I would not call it Kid Friendly, but older kids would be just fine if they are hikers in good condition. There was no trailhead parking, and you will need to take the bus from the Vail Village Transportation Center. It is free. I haven’t been there in fall, but I suspect the aspen color is gorgeous and could make this a 5-heart hike. Continue hiking past Booth Falls to Booth Lake for 10-mile roundtrip hike or backpack.
Key: Waterfalls | Forest | Meadows | Wildflowers | Beautiful Views | Bus to Trailhead | Backpackable | Colorado | US Forest Service | White River National Forest
Marg’s Notes: Marg was lazy again!! Can you believe it. Stay tuned; it’s coming.
Rod’s Ramblings from the Trail: Starting to hike at 8:13 after getting a bus ride from the Vail parking center. Actually, starting the hike at 8:18 because there's a 0.2 mi hike to get to the trailhead from the bus stop. You get some highway noise at the beginning. I'm not sure how long it will last. Even at this time of year there are still quite a few wildflowers. Not prime season but they're very pretty. At about 1 mi in from the trailhead we can still hear the traffic noise but not too bad. As you hike along, you will see a mountain side that is basically nothing but Aspen on the other side of the canyon. It would be awesome to come here in the fall when they are turning color. There are also tons of thimbleberries that I'm standing around looking at right now. The last half to ¾ of a mile has some beautiful scenery between the two sides of the canyon.
Mourning Cloak Butterfly
We feasted on thimble berries and wild raspberries. Near the top with less than a quarter mile to go you will run into some steep areas but just take your time and you will be fine. Again, it is very good to go early because it is much cooler and also you just don't see as many people. We even hiked very slowly and didn't see more than 10 people but now on the way down we're seeing lots of loud people and so forth coming up right around noon. This has reached the level of being “a very pleasant hike.” There's quite a bit of variety on the trail what with the Aspen's, meadows, and of course the creek and falls. And we saw a beautiful Mourning Cloak Butterfly. You don't really get many views of the falls.