Sign up for our daily email newsletter or to receive breaking news delivered to your inbox: Choose from several print and digital subscription packages, © 1996–2020 Durango Herald | Ballantine Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. There were several trees down on the trail but nothing you can’t walk around. There are numerous, simple options for rustic camping, established Forest Service campgrounds, Mom & Pop RV campgrounds, hotels and B&Bs in the Silverton area, the closest town to Engineer Mountain. Help keep our trails and parks open during COVID-19 by committing to social distancing. After about 2.5 miles of forest trail, you emerge into meadow with Engineer Mountain looming above you. It was a good gig that I spent 30 years at and enjoyed immensely....but life is too short... and you can stay too long. but the reward of getting to the top is amazing! Notably, Engineer Mountain features a massive rock glacier on its northern side, quite the site to behold. Start at the Coalbank Trailhead on the Pass Creek Trail (get there early in the summer because the parking lot can fill up with other visitors working their way up to Engineer Mountain). Children refers to the set of objects that logically fall under a given object. Cross-state hikers on the Colorado Trail are now completing journeys from Denver to Durango, and local mountain bikers are joyriding this gorgeous segment. The downhill portion is nothing to take lightly either. Climbing gently, step up limestone bands and break out into the high open on a ridge at 1.3 miles, 11,300 feet. In 1879, the Lime Creek Fire burned 26,000 acres of forest. The Pass Trail is well defined but do expect to encounter mtn bikers. One mile from the trailhead pass, a perfectly round disk of water. Crest Molas Pass and take the first signed left toward Little Molas Lake, 0.4 mile north of the pass. Lots of flowers blooming! Cross yet another expansive flower-infused meadow and enter a rich stand of conifers. It climbs steadily through aspens and pine trees, and traverses under the East Face of Engineer Mountain. (50), Comments The reopening coincides with peak wildflower season in the high country. Trail was muddy in only a few spots. Engineer Mountain Trail is a 12.7 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Silverton, Colorado that features a lake and is rated as difficult. Route: The trek begins on the Colorado Trail near Molas Pass, elevation 10,900 feet, and makes an arc westward and then south to the Pass Creek Trail, concluding at Coal Bank Pass. A delightful block scramble terminates at Corner Wall, a seven-foot downclimb located on the east side of the prominence.