Browns Creek Falls Colorado Hike Guide
Browns Creek Falls is a waterfall located in between Buena Vista and Salida Colorado. This out and back hike is a great option for almost the entire year as the waterfall runs fairly steady throughout the year and snow is not a major obstacle during the winter months so long as you have some snowshoes. Browns Creek Falls is a family and dog friendly hike with most of its elevation gain in the first 2 miles of the trail.
Browns Creek Falls Colorado Quick Facts
Browns Creek Falls Rating: ★★★★(4/5 Stars)
Distance: 6 Miles RT
Elevation Start: 8,909ft
Highest Point: 10,012ft
Total Elevation Gain: 1,100ft
Estimated Time to Complete: 2-3 Hours RT
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate What does this mean?
Class: Class 1 What does this mean?
Season: Year Round – Best time to hike (April – August)
Directions to Browns Creek Falls
Trailhead: Browns Creek Trailhead
Getting Here: From US 285 about 10 minutes south of Buena Vista, take CO Rd 270. Continue for about 1.5 miles until you reach a 4 way intersection. Stay straight and drive for another 2 miles, you are now on CO Rd 272. At your next intersection, take a left and drive the remaining 1.6 miles to the trailhead which is on your right. The roads here are all passable by passenger cars but can get muddy in the spring creating deep ruts which could be tricky for some lower clearance cars.
Fees: There is no fee for this hike.
Parking: The parking area is huge for Browns Creek Falls but this popular spot can fill up on busy summer weekends. This trail is popular for horses, mules, hikers and of course backpackers who are segment hiking the Colorado Trail which shares TH access. The parking area does have two non-plumbing bathrooms but no trash cans so be sure to pack everything out including your dog poop.
Summary
Camping: Camping for this hike is an A+. You can snag a spot along the County Roads before the hike, hike in a bit and backpack to the several awesome camping spots along the way or even camp near the trailhead if you want to.
Dogs: Browns Creek Falls is absolutely dog friendly, but dogs should be kept on a leash since it’s so popular.
Make it a Loop: The hike to the waterfall itself is an out and back hike but you can easily extend this hike to 14er Mt Antero (LINK), or other alpine lakes in the area. If you wanted to, you could also hop right on the Colorado Trail and hike as long as your heart desired. Loads of options in the area.
Hike Tip(s): When visiting any waterfall in Colorado, the time of the year you do so is key. Arrive here too early in the season and you will be dealing with loads of mud and snowmelt. Too late in the year and the waterfall could be much smaller or even dried up. For the best experience, I would recommend hiking Browns Creek Falls April – August. It’s certainly possible to hike this one outside of this period and chances are this waterfall flows year round since it’s fed by the snowmelt from many mountains high above.
Best Views: The star of the show on this hike is the waterfall itself, however there are nice views of the mountains in the area and valleys below at the start of this hike and towards the end. In the summer this is also a nice spot to see wildflowers. In general though, most of this hike is through the woods.
Browns Creek Falls Hike Route
Gear Needed
- Snacks/Water
- Dakine Poacher Winter Backpack
- Optional: Hiking/SkiPoles
- Optional: Garmin inReach
- Optional: Garmin Fenix Watch
- Optional: Camera and Lens
- Optional: GoPro, Joby Tripod
- *Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you.
Our Trip to Browns Creek Falls: May 2021
After I had a tough outing up a couloir the previous day, a family hike was on the books for this weekend day in late May. I had heard about Browns Creek Falls through someone I followed on Instagram but knew nothing about it. After a quick google, this looked like the perfect hike so Jackie, Juno and I made the drive down to the TH.
The hike started off with a bit of elevation gain which on my spicy ass hot sauce the night before, stomach, didn’t bode well. After a quick bathroom break, I was refreshed and had a new lease on life. The start of the trail provided nice views into the valley below and up towards the Collegiate Peaks above us which were still capped in snow, some from the night before. The trail was relatively crowded but most hikers were going the opposite direction which was nice.
After a few trail junctions that were extremely well marked, we arrived at the waterfall which was raging with spring snow melt. We had the area to ourselves for a bit so we took some family pictures and I broke out the DSLR for some long exposure shots. The hike back to the car was much quicker and most of it was downhill which was nice on our legs. Overall, we all enjoyed this hike and I was glad that I finally checked it out!
