Piedra Falls Trailhead — Attraction in Colorado

Great short hike out and back. It's a bit of a drive to get there, and this year the aspens haven't even really begun to change except in a few spots - and it's the first weekend in October! The hike to the falls is short and easy (half mile one way, relatively flat the whole way), good for little ones as they will feel like they accomplished something afterward. The falls looks like it would be impressive in late Spring / early Summer - one can see where the Piedra river blew way out of its banks earlier this year - the falls must have been thundering, and likely inaccessible then. Deep plunge pool at the base of the falls, no easy way in or out - not recommended for swimming as I'm sure there's undertow and a number of traps underneath, but like any flow it probably varies year to year. Combine this with a visit to the Ice Fissures and other destinations in this wide prairie-filled valley and enjoy the scenic drives in this remote bit...

It's gorgeous to visit in the wintertime, and the falls are still active! The creek that runs down is also quite stunning and very cool to walk on when frozen (always use extreme caution and sound judgment when walking on any sort of frozen body of water). The trail is relatively simple I usually measure my hikes but I forgot on this one. It was for sure only mile or two of mainly slight uphill hiking until the waterfalls.

I do highly recommend Piedra Falls Trail, the scerery was beautiful and the hike was perhaps my Wife's favourite part of our trip to Pagosa Springs.

Something big to keep in mind is that it is nearly 20 to 25 miles of driving on a purely dirt road which may have snow, ice, or water running across it. If you do not have an offroad vehicle this may not be the best...

The drive in is long and the road has lots of bumps and dips so enjoy all the beautiful scenery. The hike to the falls starts off kinda easy but then turns kinda rough in places especially when you get to section that is very narrow be extra careful because dirt is slippery because it's so fine I actually lowered my center of gravity to make it through this part on the way back it's alot easier. It would be great if the forest dept would install something to keep people from falling since you're literally walking on the edge of a cliff. The waterfall was robust and the area around falls is really breathtaking lots of big rocks - if you take the whole hike slow and exploring carefully it will be a wonderful adventure my day...