Pike National Forest
Shelf Lake Trail #634

This 3.2 mile trail is rated as more difficult. It sees most of its traffic in the summer and fall.

Elevations:

• Trail beginning: 10,140'
• High Point: 11,990'
• Trail ending: 11,990'

Access: On US 285 at Grant, turn north onto County Road 62 (the Guanella Pass Road) and go 6.6 miles. Turn toward the Geneva Park Campground and Duck Creek Picnic Ground. Pass the entrance to Geneva Park Campground and go another 2.8 miles to the Shelf Lake Trailhead (you'll probably want 4WD and high clearance for the last stretch of this road).

Notes: The trailhead is at the site of an old smelter that served the needs of the mines around Geneva City, further up the valley. For the first 1/2 mile, the trail is steep, going up into a hanging valley below the cirque at the head of Smelter Gulch. After that, the trail still rises, but not as steeply, toward timberline. It's easy to lose the trail as you cross the rockslides and through the willows. Then the last 3/4 of a mile above treeline are steep, with several switchbacks that finally bring you out on the shelf where the lake is. The cutthroat trout are supposed to be good and hungry but the camping sucks: because of the elevation and the normal snow depth, this area stays boggy well into mid-summer (the lake itself is usually frozen into mid-June).

USGS Maps: Mt. Logan