blue lotus adventures

The Gold Digger Trail is about 4 miles long. You can only access this trail from the Two-Spot Trail as it branches off and ascends/traverses the side of Woody Mountain but never comes near the summit. I used this as part of a loop hike with the Two-Spot Trail in a clockwise direction. The trail is easy to find and begins to gradually ascend as it crosses several forest service roads. There are trail markers only when it crosses a forest service road. After about two miles, you’ll reach an aspen grove and a Ramada with picnic table and water collection feature. This is a good place for lunch.

After the Ramada, the trail climbs a hill crossing over another forest service road. As you top out on this hill, the trail appears to turn left with a single large cairn. This well-worn and traveled trail is the wrong way! It seems to be a mountain bike trail but I could not find any information about it. The trail that looks less traveled and turns slightly right and downhill is the Gold Digger Trail. There was no marker, and I went a bit out of the way until I realized I was going the wrong way and turned back. See the route below and avoid the left turn to nowhere.

From that point, the trail has a gentle descent through an open forest. This is a prime area to encounter elk however, I did not see any during my late afternoon hike.