Little Beaver Creek Trail

Location

Poudre Canyon. Drive 26.5 miles from Ted’s Place to the Pingree Park Road (at mm 96.1), cross the Cache La Poudre River, and drive 6.3 miles to the Jacks Gulch Campground. Drive through the campground; the trailhead is located at the west end, in the same location as the Flowers trailhead. Facilities are available at the Jacks Gulch Campground. Camping, horse accommodations, and water are available from mid May through September.

Description

(Note: The Little Beaver Creek Trail can also be accessed from the Fish Creek Trail.)

Access to the Little Beaver Creek Trail is from Jacks Gulch Campground. Follow the Old Flowers Road west of the campground for 0.75 mile. Here you will notice a Connector Trail  heading downhill and to the south. This is actually the first 0.3 mile of the Little Beaver Creek Trail. Note: If the gate is open on the west side of the campground, you can drive to this point if you wish. After hiking 0.3 mile, you will cross a small stream in Jacks Gulch, and enter the Comanche Peak Wilderness. For the next 0.7 mile the trail will climb, then traverse a hillside as it drops into the Little Beaver Creek drainage. From here the Little Beaver Creek Trail heads west up Little Beaver Creek for about 4 more miles, eventually reaching Beaver Park and connecting with the Flowers Trail. This is a very scenic and pleasant patrol, as the trail climbs gradually up along the creeek. Beaver are active along the stream, and eastern brook trout are plentiful in the crystal clear waters. Beaver Park is the destination for most backpackers, for good reason, since there are several beaver ponds in this area and by climbing the ridge to the north you will have great views of the Mummy Range to the south. The trail actually continues northwest for another mile and intersects the Upper Dadd Gulch Trail, but after Beaver Park the trail is steep and its use is low.

From Beaver Park you can either return to Jacks Gulch via the Flowers Trail or hike back down Little Beaver Creek to the connector trail just downstream from the Fish Creek Trail junction. You will know you are at the connector trail junction when you see power lines heading down the Little Beaver and uphill to the south. A Forest Service sign reading “Jacks Gulch Campground” on the south side of the trail will point out the connector trail. After a 1-mile hike to the northeast, the connector trail will intersect the Flowers Trail about 0.75 mile west of the campground. Be sure to close the gate when leaving the Wilderness.

Yet another alternative for this trail would be to do the trail in reverse, hiking from Jacks Gulch Campground up the Flowers Trail to Beaver Park, then up the last mile of the Beaver Creek Trail to the junction with the Upper Dadd Gulch Trail, then return to Jacks Gulch by hiking down the Little Beaver Creek Trail to the connector trail, then back to Jacks Gulch. Note that the Flowers Trail enters the Comanche Peak Wilderness 3.5 miles west of Jacks Gulch Campground. Look for the World War 2, B-17 crash site memorial at the Wilderness entrance. Information describing the location of the crash site is available in the Flowers Trail description.