Willow Creek Falls Silverthorne Colorado Hike Guide
Willow Creek Falls in Silverthorne Colorado is a great medium hike that brings hikers to the base of a beautiful set of waterfalls. Willow Creek Falls is a popular option during summer months but can also be hiked during the early winter to see a unique semi-frozen version of the 20ft+ waterfall. This hike is unique as it has a number of different ways to access with a variety of starting points. The version I have here is the most direct (shortest) and the easiest to navigate. This hike is perfect for families or hikers looking to get outside without a super hard hike.
Willow Creek Falls Silverthorne Quick Facts
Virtual Trail Guide: Willow Creek Falls
Willow Creek Falls Silverthorne Rating: ★★ ★★ (⅘ Stars)
Distance: 4.75 Miles RT
Elevation Start: 9,765ft
Willow Creek Falls Elevation: 10,017ft
Total Elevation Gain:1,250ft
Estimated Time to Complete: 2-3 Hours
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate What does this mean?
Class: Class 1 – What does this mean?
Season: May – November (expect snow outside of this period)
Directions to Willow Creek Falls Silverthorne
Trailhead: Buffalo Mountain Trailhead
Getting Here: Willow Creek Falls has a number of ways to get to the trailhead, but in general, navigate to Silverthorne on I70 and head into the neighborhoods behind the Lowe’s.
Parking: Willow Creek Falls shares a parking lot with other extremely popular hikes in the area: Buffalo Mountain and Lily Pad Lake. Add on Willow Creek Falls Silverthorne being a popular hike in its own right, let’s just say that parking can be tricky. The road parking area can fit about 25-28 cars and will absolutely fill up on most spring, summer and early fall weekends. Be sure to get to this spot early or later in the day for your best bet at securing a parking spot. There are no restrooms at the TH.
Fee: There is no fee for this hike as of 2021.
Summary
Dogs: Willow Creek Falls Silverthorne is a dog friendly hike, just be sure to keep your dog on a leash since this popular trail works through Eagles Nest Wilderness 90% of the time.
Camping: If you are looking to camp in the area, you could certainly backcountry camp but there are no established campgrounds along the trail to the waterfalls. However, if you hike just past Willow Creek Falls, you are on the CDT (Continental Divide Trail) which will likely have camping spots along the way. In general though, this isn’t a great spot to camp.
Make it a Loop: If you were looking to add on miles to this hike, it would be so easy to just keep hiking past Willow Creek Falls and continue on the CDT. Alternatively, you could add on neighboring Lily Pad Lake or Buffalo Mountain for a very long day.
Trail X Factors: Limited Parking & Rolling Elevation
There is no way around it – parking for this hike can be a real pain in the ass. My best advice would be this: if visiting during the summer – head here super early or later in the afternoon. If you don’t mind hiking in colder conditions with a unique version of the waterfall – head here in late Fall (late October – early November) as you get almost no crowds and a very beautiful version of this hike.
Along the hike, you will figure out pretty quickly that this is not a straight up and down hike. The trail has a bunch of rollers (up and down hills) before you eventually make a small climb to Willow Creek Falls Silverthorne. In some sections, especially during the early winter, the trail can be steep and icy so having extra traction and hiking poles is recommended. Ultimately though, there is only 1,250ft of elevation gain so it’s not a super hard hike.
Hike Tip(s): Once you get to the waterfall(s) themselves – take some time to explore. You can easily navigate towards the bottom set of falls or even get a unique view of Willow Creek Falls from the top too. Be careful exploring though and try to avoid any and all type of erosion while poking around the area.
Best Views: This hike has really great views almost from start to finish. Wide open views of Silverthorne and the mountains behind it, unique views of Buffalo Mountain and of course the waterfall itself. I really was not expecting much on this hike, but would easily tackle this one again during the warmer months.
Willow Creek Falls Silverthorne Hike Route
Gear Needed
- Men’s Trail Runners
- Women’s Trail Runners
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Men’s)
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Women’s)
- Backpack
- Food & Water
- Optional: Garmin inReach
- Optional: Hiking Poles
- Optional: Microspikes – only during winter months
- Optional:Gaiters– only during winter months
- Optional: Snowshoes– only during winter months
- 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 Willow Creek Falls: November 2021
When people come to visit us in Colorado, 9/10 times their visit will involve a trip to Summit County. I have to be honest, I don’t do a TON of hiking in this area. I drive through it on a weekly basis but heading there JUST to hike, is not usually my plan. I always want to explore more areas of this part of the state so that I can continue to add recommendations for hikes. Let’s say that we found a new one that will be on everyone’s future list: Willow Creek Falls Silverthorne.
It was November but with a low snow year, there was still plenty of ability to hike above 10k feet with minimal extra gear. Juno, Jackie and I arrived at the TH for Buffalo Mountain around 9AM on a Saturday morning and were one of three cars in the lot. The benefits of hiking in shoulder season. We hit the trail and began the hike. Conditions were a bit icy, but nothing microspikes couldn’t deal with and only a small dusting of snow covered the well packed down trail.
We worked our way down into the valley and enjoyed the several small stream crossings before heading up to the waterfalls themselves. The waterfall was beautiful – partially frozen but flowing so hard. The icy and snowed over lower sections were still beautiful to look at even though we couldn’t really see them. With a backdrop of the jagged northern ridge of Buffalo Mountain behind us, this was really an insanely picturesque spot. Overall, all three of us (Juno + Snow = A+ hike) enjoyed Willow Creek Falls Silverthorne and would easily hike this one again.
