Backpacking Trail Review: Conundrum Hot Springs
Trail Review: Conundrum Hot Springs
(Aspen, Colorado)
FOLLOW ALL MY ADVENTURES OVER ON INSTAGRAM: @FR33WATER
Hey guys!
And welcome back I wanted to write another trail review about a summer adventure we did back in August. In this blog post, I will talk about our hiking adventure to conundrum Hot Springs, located in Aspen, Colorado. One of the biggest things to understand about this hike is that it is required that you have a permit to backpack camp up near the natural Hot Springs that exists outside the ski town of Aspen, Colorado. Hikers are able to use this area without a permit but in order to camp in the backpacking areas a permit is required and there are also lots of hikers that like to purchase these permits the moment they are released for sale. Back in June, Ashley had her calendar marked because she was aware when the lottery system would open up to secure our backpacking permit for conundrum Hot Springs. This hike is incredibly popular because it is only accessible during a few months of the year. Doing this trip in August was interesting because it was a super hot summer weekend with bluebird conditions as we started our hike back to conundrum Hot Springs, we also told ourselves that we wish we did two nights out there instead of just one (some ideas to keep in mind as you book your adventure).
For my second backpacking trip, this was a challenging and long hike especially with a full loaded 65 L Osprey backpack on my back. You can take a look at the trail stats using the AllTrails link below and keep in mind you can do a hike this a day hike but you would be hiking 18 miles in one day which to me is an incredibly long hiking day. There may be people reading this that are far more advanced with their backpacking and hiking skills but anything over 10 miles starts to get pretty challenging for me, so that you have a better understanding of my skill level as a hiker. Plus when I load up my backpack not only am I carrying everything I need to camp out and hike but also a Sony A7riii camera kit comes along with me (further adding to the weight of my backpack). Thankfully my girlfriend and I can fit in one tent so we split the responsibility of carrying the bear can (required for this area, can or bear sack) and the other person carrying our backpacking tent… here’s a peek at the trail statistics
Conundrum Hot Springs via Conundrum Creek Trail
Roundtrip: 18.0 miles with 2,791 ft of elevation gain
*Can be done as a day hike (that would be a BIG day) but be sure to research how, where and when to get a permit using this link right here:
Conundrum Hot Springs - Maroon Bells and Snowmass Wilderness Area Permit Link
Tips from Recreation.org:
”The best time to visit Conundrum Hot Springs is July-September. From early October through the end of June the campsites and trail are snow-covered, the trailhead is inaccessible to vehicles, avalanche hazards exist in the valley and route finding is difficult.”
”You will be traveling in Black Bear country. Food, refuse and any scented items must be stored in an IGBC approved bear resistant container. Visitors without approved bear resistant containers will be ticketed and required to leave. This may sound harsh, but we want to keep both bears and people safe at Conundrum Hot Springs. Local retailers rent and sell approved bear resistant containers.”
”Dogs are prohibited in the Conundrum Creek Valley. And group sizes are limited to 10 people max.”
Alright, now let’s chat about how amazing this trail is… I think this is the perfect hike for summertime or early fall, the Aspen trees along this trail would probably explode with color during autumn. We went during August and the temperatures were hot during the daytime but definitely got down to the 40s at night but the best thing about hiking this trail during summer or late summer are the river valleys filled with Colorado wildflowers. The trail starts in a valley and crosses over a few different avalanche zones - downed trees and boulders fill up large sections of the beginning of this trail making it difficult to navigate with a heavy backpack on. We highly recommend downloading the Alltrails map before getting to the trailhead because it’s a relatively easy trail to follow, the avalanche zones have forever changed the trail so it’s good to have a GPS map to check your progress and make sure you're heading down the right trail. Be sure to bring a water filter and only carry as much water as you need to make it to the numerous river crossings along the Conundrum Creek Trail. The route on this trail is out and back and in total the hike is 18 miles long with 2,791 feet of elevation gain (in my opinion this would be BIG day hike, we suggest doing a backpacking trip and staying for two nights).
The Conundrum Creek trails jumps from side to side as you hike for nine miles along the peaceful Conundrum Creek which meanders through groves of Aspen trees and riverbeds - you cross over Conundrum Creek quite a few times on these perfectly placed log bridges. We hiked quietly along one section of the trail as we glanced to our right we noticed a large bull moose chomping away starring at us from the river bed below (in a safe spot, from a distance, we snapped pictures of Bullwinkle). There was one (new) river crossing where we read it would be wise to have sandals or waterproof boots to cross through the river, when we arrived to this spot (about 6-7 miles in) some other hikers had already created a natural bridge. Sandals however were perfect to have up at the hot springs, so bring along a pair of light-weight strappy sandals. We stopped around four or five times while hiking this trail, it felt good to set our heavy backpacks down for a moment near the creekside while we dipped our heads in the rushing river to cool off and refill our water bottles using our water filter.
I remember eating snacks nonstop while I hiked this trail, my pack is typically heavier than others with all my camera gear in tow so I find one of the best things I can do is constantly refuel and always have some high-quality hiking snacks in the waist pockets of my backpack (Honey Stinger waffles, Honey stinger gummies, Epic Bars, Peanut Butter crackers, Clif bars #clifbarcrew or mixed nuts). Different than some of our other adventures from this summer, we were unable to bring Ashley’s dog (Rizzo) along as dogs are not allowed in the backpacking camping areas and near the hot springs (be sure to read all the rules and guidelines for this hike, especially when it comes to permits!). For my second backpacking trip this was a super challenging trail and a big journey with (yet again) a heavy, overweight backpack. This trip taught me a lot about being more minimal when it comes to adding unnecessary clothing layers and how extra weight can really drain your energy on longer backpacking trips. The trail climbs the most towards the end as you get closer to the hot springs and enter the backpacking camping zones… save your energy for the climb at the end. As we approached the campsite signage to search for our campground I remember recording an Instagram story panting and sweating “That was a big, big hiking day…” we found our campsite only to discover that we were still 0.5 miles from the actual hot springs. We quickly set up our camp as a small, summer afternoon rainstorm rolled in, we all climbed in our tents for a quick nap before hiking up to the hot springs.
FOLLOW ALL MY ADVENTURES OVER ON INSTAGRAM: @FR33WATER
Before our nap, we went to the creekside to stash some beers in the river water - chilling them to the perfect temp for our hot springs soak. It was a good idea to wait for the sun to dip lower in the sky as we made our way up to one of Colorado’s most famous natural hot springs: Conundrum Hot Springs. We noticed quite a few empty campgrounds nearby and as we present our camping permit the Colorado Parks ranger she explained to us that many people book the campsites and sometimes never even show up. We recommend checking the campground/campsite map and locating one as close as possible to the hot springs, this extra 0.5 miles to reach the hot springs seemed extra challenging after hiking 9 miles earlier in the day. But alas… we made it this beautiful natural hot spring - check out the photos, keep reading about the rest of the hike below.
FOLLOW ALL MY ADVENTURES OVER ON INSTAGRAM: @FR33WATER
FOLLOW ALL MY ADVENTURES OVER ON INSTAGRAM: @FR33WATER
We spent a few hours soaking in the hot springs drinking our chilled Colorado craft beers, it was the perfect afternoon after hiking a strenuous nine miles with loaded backpacks on our backs. We shared the 40 foot diameter main hot spring pool with a few other groups and one group that decided to day hike the Conundrum Creek trail and planned to hike out after their soak. We let a group of neighboring campers borrow our water filter as theirs broke on the way up (yikes) this is one good reason to have at least two water filters if your heading up with a group of three or more. We took notes about which campground we would book next time around and I captured lots of images around the hot springs, noting how cool it would be to summit the Triangle Pass that lies just above Conundrum Hot springs campground (one member of our crew would summit this pass for sunrise before we all down hiked). I snapped some more images as we made our way back down to our campsite lower in the backpacking zone… not a single campground near us was occupied, we could have easily moved our camp to another one but we unsure if other groups would show up later in the day (always chat with the ranger that’s present up in the backpacking zone before moving into unoccupied campgrounds). One thing that was challenging during this time of summer (August) were the mosquitoes… I have a tendency to get bit up pretty bad and the mosquitoes up in this area were terrible, don’t forget your bug spray. I tried my best to stay covered up with long sleeves which wasn’t an issue as the temperatures dropped to 40s during the night up in the Aspen/Snowmass wilderness. We made backpacking meals for dinner using a backpacking stove to boil water, and after cleaning up our cooking supplies we stashed all our food items into our bear can and hid the can away from our campground. It was a peaceful night sleeping under the bright Colorado stars and as the moon shined down on our campsite late into the night - we never experienced any encounters with unwanted visitors and didn’t see any bears along this hike (only deer and a bull moose). I felt physically beat in the morning (unable to wake up in time for sunrise photos) and found myself feeling sore from the hike in the day before and not looking forward to the nine miles back to the car. We recommend obtaining the permit for two nights so you can experience more of this area, hike to the top of Triangle pass and even soak in the hot springs under the stars - hiking back to back nine miles days was challenging for our group but everyone crushed this big hike. I remember checking my watch stats constantly on the down hike wondering if we were close to the parking lot only to realize we still had a couple miles to finish out, another big hike day to make it safely back to the trailhead.
Some hiking and backpacking gear items that are essential for this hike:
Water filter
Backpacking Permit (if you plan to camp near the hot springs)
High quality hiking snacks: nut butter, Honey Stinger energy waffles, Clif Bar blocks and hydration tabs
Bear Can or approve Bag sack
Strappy Sandals
Colorado Craft Beers (to sip on in the hot spring)
A solid hiking crew (your besties)
The gps map pre-downloaded from All Trails
Backpacking Stove, I use this one from Amazon but might upgrade soon to Jet Boil
Backpacking meals and some PBJs to eat along the hike
Hiking boots / sun-hat / sunglasses and a camera (if you can carry all that)
Hella Bug spray (the bugs were really bag when we went in August 2020) & sunscreen
Wag bags at the trailhead: “There are no toilets so now’s the time to brush up on backcountry bathroom etiquette. As a visitor to the area, it’s up to you to help protect this amazing place, and we know that you will.” -rec.gov
Main Link for permits and information: Conundrum Hot Springs
All trails link: Conundrum Hot Springs
Thanks for reading my hiking blog post, leave me comment below if you have any questions about backpacking to Conundrum Hot Springs - stay adventurous,
-Frankie (@fr33water) S.
