Butler Gulch Colorado Hike Guide
Butler Gulch is a heavily trafficked hike located near Berthoud Pass in Northern Colorado. This hike is great during wildflower season but also has fantastic mountain views and the unique opportunity to see some abandoned mining equipment and shafts. The hike starts near the active Henderson Mine and takes hikers into the gulch itself while also presenting longer options to make a small loop on the ridge above. Butler Gulch is a family friendly and dog friendly hike, but is extremely busy on popular weekends and holidays, so be sure to get there early.
Butler Gulch Quick Facts
Butler Gulch Loop Hike Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 Stars)
Distance: 5.7 Miles RT
Elevation Start: 10,286ft
High Point: 12,180ft
Total Elevation Gain: 1,708ft
Estimated Time to Complete: 2-3 Hours RT
Difficulty: Moderate – What does this mean?
Class: Class 1- What does this mean?
Season: June – November (early spring or Fall is best to avoid hot temps)
Directions to Butler Gulch Loop
Trailhead: Butler Gulch
Getting Here: Start From the Empire Exit of I70, continue for 9 miles on US 40. Right before you start to climb up Berthoud Pass, take a left onto Henderson Mine Road towards Jones Pass. After 1.8 miles take a right to stay onto Jones Pass Road – from here the road turns to dirt but it should be passable by most passenger cars. After about a ¼ mile, you will reach the extending parking area, but you can continue past that point for another third mile to reach the true TH.
Parking: The parking situation for this hike is a bit layered. There is the option to park directly at the trailhead as described above but there are only spots for about 5-10 cars. In addition, there is limited parking along the road or you can park at the lower Jones Pass trailhead. This hike is extremely popular though so expect it to fill up early on most weekends and holidays. However, in most cases -you can find a spot at the initial (and much larger) Jones Pass parking area.
Summary
Dogs: This hike is dog friendly but with lots of other dogs.
Camping: The best spot to camp on this hike would be in the upper basin area if you wanted to backcountry camp or along the Jones Pass road after the parking area.
Trail X Factors: Wild Flowers
Heading to Butler Gulch during late July and early August is a great decision as the hike is LOADED with colorful wildflowers from start to finish. You do need some good timing and a little luck to hit the flowers are peak season though.
Make it a Loop: This hike can be done in an out and back format or in a small lollipop loop by adding a bit of ridge walking. In addition, hikers can extend this one even further by taking the CDT to Jones Pass and head down there. Essentially, there are a number of options to make the hike to Butler Gulch much longer if you want.
Hike Tip(s): When hiking Butler Gulch, take some time to explore a bit. There is abandon mining equipment and a few small mine entrances. I never recommend going into an old mine because they are extremely dangerous, but its still cool to check them out. When hiking the loop portion of the Butler Gulch trail, I would recommend heading all the way to the top of the trail before looping back to the start. If you hike in the opposite direction, you will have to ascend a very steep and very loose section of trail that is flat out not fun. If you hike down it, have some hiking poles and use them as leverage to make ths section a bit safer.
Best Views: This hike is beautiful from about ½ way through when wildflowers are in bloom but the best views are in the gulch itself and on the ridgeline when hiking the small loop. From here you can see several Front Range Peaks, Berthoud Pass and the Jones Pass area. For the mileage required to get to them, these views are A+.
Buter Gulch Loop Hike Route
This includes a small ridge variation loop. You could just make this an out and back hike.
Gear Needed
- Men’s Trail Runners
- Women’s Trail Runners
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Men’s)
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Booths (Women’s)
- Backpack
- Food & Water
- Optional: Garmin inReach
- Optional: Hiking Poles
- Optional: Headlamp
- 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 Butler Gulch Trail: August 2021
Although wildflower season was coming to an end, Jackie was still on the hunt to find some more before they all died for the season. After referencing one of our favorite books, Jackie landed on the Butler Gulch Loop trail. It was close to home, short mileage and would give Juno a great opportunity to stretch her legs. We arrived to the trailhead on a Saturday morning and boy was it packed.
We started hiking and the trail was very obvious to follow, using an old Jeep road as the trail for the first mile or so. Hiking up towards the namesake of the trail, Butler Gulch, was relatively easy but picked up in steepness as we got about 2 miles in. After hiking up some switchbacks, suddenly we were dumped into a massive field with colorful wildflowers everywhere. It was insanely beautiful. Before we arrived to the hike, we had read about a larger loop but weren’t 100% sure what to expect in terms of mileage and the trail itself. We ended up creating a nice lollipop loop and had an amazing day on the Butler Gulch Loop trail. This hike is a great addition to the close to Denver series and would easily be a repeat for us if we needed a quick hike or wanted to show some visitors the beauty of the area without taking up a whole day.
