Fall River Road to Chasm Falls, Estes Park, CO

Wildlife, waterfall, and great views of the Rocky and Estes Park.

Near: Estes Park, CO

Distance: 2 miles round trip

Elevation Gain: 500 ft

Hike Time: 1.5 hours

Difficulty: Easy

Trail Condition: Fire road/pavement

Hike Type: Out and Back

This is a short hike up old Fall River Road to Chasm Falls. It’s best to take this hike in the winter (wear a jacket), just after it has snowed. The road will be closed to traffic, and you can easily follow the road in the newly fallen snow.

There are great views of the mountains in front of you, and wide vistas of Estes Park behind. There is an obvious trail marker for Chasm Falls on the left side of the road, about a mile up the road. There is a very short trail down to the falls, but use caution if there is too much snow or ice on this trail.

For the more ambitious, you can continue on Fall River Road for another 9 miles, where it intersects with the parks Trail Ridge Road. Note that there could be some avalanche danger beyond the falls, depending on snow conditions.

Trailhead

From the Rock Mountain National Park’s Fall River entrance, follow highway 34 for about to mile to the Fall River Road turnoff. Follow this road past the Alluvial Fan parking are to the Endofvalley picnic area. Park either in the picnic area or at the turnouts before the old Fall River Road gate. (Lat:40.41407 Lon:-105.65532).

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