Piedra Ice Fissures Colorado Hike Guide
The Piedra Ice Fissures trail is a short out and back hike located outside of Pagosa Springs, Colorado. This hike features small caves, deep fissures and a great view at the top of the hike. Although the fissures and caves are very cool, they are dangerous to explore. The Piedra Ice Fissures trail is family friendly, allows dogs and is suitable for hikers of all skill levels.
Piedra Ice Fissures Quick Facts
Piedra Ice Fissures Rating: ★★★★ (4/5 Stars)
Distance: 2.11 Miles RT (Closer to 3 after exploring the fissures)
Elevation Start: 7,681 ft
Highest Point: 8,100 ft
Total Elevation Gain: 550 ft
Estimated Time to Complete: 1-2 Hours RT
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate What does this mean?
Class: Class 1 – Class 3 depending on how much you explore
Season: June – November (Expect snow outside of this period)
Directions to Piedra Ice Fissures
Trailhead: Piedra River
Getting Here: First, navigate towards Pagosa Springs. Next, find your way to Piedra Road. Stay on Piedra Road for 15.7 miles. It will turn to dirt along the way but still is fine to drive with any car. After 15.7 miles, you will reach Taylor Lane, continue past Taylor Lane for about .1 mile until you reach the small parking area on your left. You can enter Piedra River/Ice Cave Ridge Parking lot into your favorite navigational device, but you will lose service along the way.
Fees: None
Parking: Piedra Ice Fissures has a medium sized lot that can fit 10-20 cars. This lot can get busy on weekends and does not have any bathrooms of any sort.
Summary
Camping: There are a ton of options for camping near the Piedra Ice Fissures. At the trailhead itself, there are no great camping options, but if you continue down Forest Road 631, you will find loads of dispersed camping options.
Dogs: The hike to Piedra Ice Fissures iis dog friendly and a nice little walk for any dog. Piedra Ice Fissures does require dogs to be on a leash and can get quite crowded. Keep in mind this spot has several areas to explore that could be dangerous for dogs.
Make it a Loop: Piedra Ice Fissures trail is an out and back hike. However, there are loads of other hikes in the area including the Piedra River trail and the Piedra Falls trail.
Trail X Factors: Choose Your Own Adventure
I have done a lot of hiking in my life, but the Piedra Ice Fissures trail was probably one of the most unique hikes I have done. The hike was short and sweet, provided excellent views at the top and also some unique exploring opportunities along the way. This hike really can be anything you want to make it. If you want to take time to explore the fissures/caves you can or you can just hike to the top and soak in the beautiful views.
Hike Tip(s): When exploring the ice caves and fissures, be extremely careful. We found that the sides of the fissures were extremely fragile in places and could easily cause rock fall. If you do plan on venturing into the fissures and caves, be sure to bring a flashlight and hiking partner in case something goes wrong. If you use the right amount of caution, the fissures provide a great opportunity to explore the unique terrain of the Piedra Ice Fissures Trail.
Best Views: I think the best views on the Piedra Ice Fissures trail are at the summit of the hike. To reach this point, be sure to bear right at every trail junction until you reach the obvious top of the ridge. In terms of the fissures, having a camera with flash will help you maximize the dark spaces in many of the small fissures.
Piedra Ice Fissures Hike Route
Gear Needed
- 14er Day Hike Packing List
- 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.
My Trip to Piedra Ice Fissures: September 2018
Southwest Colorado is hands down my favorite section in the state. Jackie and I planned a mini road trip and found the Piedra Ice Fissures as one of our short hikes to tackle while we were down there. After a quick walk to Piedra Falls, we decided to head to Piedra Ice Fissures which is located just down the road. We arrived to the parking lot around 11AM and there were about 5-10 other cars in the lot. Jackie, Juno and I packed our day pack and hit the trail. This lot also serves as a starting point for the Piedra River hike, so we took a right after about .10 miles of hiking to continue up the hill towards the ice fissures.
The trail wound through a field of yellow aspens and into the thick forest covering the hillside. After about 10 minutes of hiking, we found a little side trail that led us up to a small cave, the first spot we explored that day. The cave worked about 20 feet into a thick slab of rock cliffs and was a cool spot to kick off the hike. We worked our way back down to the main trail and continued up the hill. After another 5-10 minutes of walking, we found the first series of fissures on the trail. These fissures ranged in size from 2-3 feet wide to 5-50 feet deep. Some of the Piedra Ice Fissures were safer to get down into and explore vs others.Jackie and I marveled at the deep cuts in the earth, but Juno did not seem very happy to be around them. Jackie and I took some time to explore a handful of the fissures, finding one that was a full blown underground cave. As we were exploring, we noticed that the sides of the ice fissures were extremely testy. I was getting out of one and used a root for a handhold. As a grabbed the tree root, dirt and rocks came flying down the sides hitting my arms. Luckily, there was no harm done but it was a reminder that while these fissures were very unique, they were not the safest spot.
After some more exploring, we found one last massive ice fissure that we were able to walk Juno down into. The fissure was 10-20 feet wide and about 50 feet deep in the largest section, with a temperature difference of about 10-15 degrees from the surface of the earth. Juno was really not happy about being down in the fissure, so we didn’t spend long down there. We probably spent around an hour exploring the ice fissures but were all getting hungry, so decide to move on.
In order to continue the Piedra Ice Fissures hike, we backtracked to the trail and continued up the hill. We hiked for 10 minutes or so and reached a couple of trail junctions along the way. At each one we stuck to the right and reached the top of the ridge shortly after. The views on the top of the Piedra Ice Fissure trail were great. We could see the Weminchue Wilderness mountains to the north and a sprawling valley of colorful aspens to our south and east. The views were great, but we did not linger long since the day was getting late. Looking back, I think we could have explored the top of the ridge more to get additional views to the north and east.
All in all, we all really enjoyed our time on the Piedra Ice Fissures trail. Although the lot was full of other cars, we did not see anyone on the trail until we were heading back down to the cars. Albeit dangerous, it was really cool to explore the caves and fissures on the side of the hill. If I was in the area, I would certainly revisit this spot again.
