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Horseshoe Park
See Map Below |
A 500-foot thick glacier once covered this valley. As the valley
glacier inched along over hundreds of years, it scoured out the distinctive
U-shaped valley. Like giant slow-motion conveyor belts, the glacial ice
eventually carried it rock debris down the valley. At the farthest point of the
glacier's advance it deposited a load of rock fragments, called terminal
moraine. About 15,000 years ago, the glacier began to recede.
As it
dissipated, the glacier dropped rubble along its flanks, forming lateral
moraines, and the melt water also left behind sediments that became the meadows
of Horseshoe Park. Here, huge ice chunks split from the glacier and were buried
in gravel. These massive blocks created depressions which, when the ice melted,
became the kettle ponds known as Sheep Lakes.
See photograph from
Rainbow
Curve.
| Area Name |
Location / Information |
| Fall River Visitor Center |
Open daily from 9:00 to 5:30. June 17 to August
18 9:00 to 6:00. |
| Fall River Entrance Station |
Rocky Mountain Park Fees |
| Aspenglen Campground |
A first come, first serve campground area.Aspenglen
Campground Information |
Sheep
Lakes   |
Elevation 8,650. Good chance of seeing Big Horn
Sheep at the lakes. Meadows of Horseshoe Park are close to humans! |
| West Horseshoe Park |
West Horseshoe is a turnoff from US 34 at the
western edge of Horseshoe Park. This road will grant you access to Lawn Lake
Trailhead, the Alluvial Fan, Endovalley Picnic Area and Old Fall River
Road. |
| Lawn Lake Trailhead |
Elevation 8,540 feet.
Access to:
- Lawn Lake (4.5 Miles, 2,249 feet)
Lawn Lake trail follows the Roaring River to Lawn Lake
and Crystal Lake. Note that "Hiking Rocky Mountain National Park" book list
this hike as 6.2 miles! |
| Alluvial
Fan |
The great washout of July 15, 1982 when 39
million gallons of water washed down the Roaring River. |
| Fan Lake |
The gate at this parking lot is close in winter.
It is 1 mile to the entrance to the Endovalley picnic area and the gate to
Old Fall River
Road. In winter you can park here and hike, snowshoe or cross country ski
into Endovalley. |
| Endovalley Picnic Area |
This is also the gate for the
Old Fall River
Road, a one-way dirt road to the summit. The loop around the Endovalley
Picnic area is 1/2 mile. NO OVERNIGHT CAMPING. |
| Little Horseshoe Park Overlook |
On US 34, overlook on the way uphill to Deer
Ridge Junction. Overlook is a paved pullout about 75 yards from Deer Ridge
Junction. |
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Park Areas