Welcome to a wilderness so vast you can go days without seeing anyone. The Weminuche is the largest wilderness area in Colorado, holding the most remote and inaccessible places in the entire state. There are no roads, but 500 miles of trails weave through lush green valleys and over alpine tundra.
The Weminuche (Ute for “open space”) was designated a Wilderness Area in 1975 and is part of the 1964 National Wilderness Preservation Act. At 499,771 acres, it spans the Continental Divide northeast of Durango and northwest of Pagosa Springs. Both the Rio Grande and San Juan rivers begin here, eventually reaching the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. A crucial resource, this water serves millions of people.
Homelands of the Ute people of Colorado and Utah, Spanish Explorers explored it from the 17th to the 19th centuries, followed by fur trappers, miners, government survey expeditions, and mountaineering parties. With elevations ranging from 7,700 feet to more than 14,000 feet, the WWA is a Rocky Mountain paradise. Jagged peaks rise above alpine lakes and meadows, rolling streams, grassy parks, and dense forests. Every summer, wildflowers electrify hillsides, and every autumn, aspens shimmer in gold. Wildlife flourishes. It is among the most beautiful places in the world, and you can walk right in.
Wild in the Weminuche
With 50 trailheads around the San Juan Mountains, the western flank is close to U.S. Highway 550 between Durango and Silverton. Traditional backpackers carry bigger packs, taking time to travel in comfort. Others may choose to pack light and move quickly. However you do it, you should know what you’re getting into.
San Juan Mountains Association Visitor Information Director J. Burnite said even the most experienced parties encounter challenges.
“…that is the nature of wilderness designation,” he said. “It still has a wildness to it, and it’s going to be a little harder to get into.”
Not only are there no roads, but motorized and mechanized equipment are not allowed. Trail crews use primitive tools. When an avalanche destroys trails, debris is cleared by hand. No chainsaws. No helicopters. No dynamite. Ever.
As demanding as the WWA is, it’s a delicate ecosystem where visitors should adapt to Leave No Trace ethics, including packing out their waste. SJMA distrubutes WAG bags in high-impact areas. Short for ‘waste alleviating gel’, these personal kits make packing out waste easy and sanitary, improving the watershed and the visitor experience.
“How gross to find the perfect little tree to go behind and dig a hole, and you dig a hole where someone has already dug a hole before you,” Burnite said.
It’s got it all
Mountain Guide Kam Weakley with San Juan Expeditions of Silverton guides clients on everything from scenic hikes to technically challenging mountain summits.
“What surprises people the most is the remoteness,” he said. “You can hike for days without seeing another person.”
Purgatory Flats Trail offers everything from day hiking to the Animas River to the 17-mile trek into Chicago Basin. Once in the Basin, in addition to the resident mountain goats, summit fever runs wild as many parties focus on the 14,000-foot peaks of the Eolus Group, accessible from an even higher Twin Lakes Basin. A splendor in its own right, Twin Lakes is crowned by soaring summits, including the blocky scramble of Windom at 14,087’, the airy sensation of Sunlight at 14,059’, complete with its ‘leap of faith’, and the two peaks that form Eolus North and South at 14,090’, connected via The Catwalk.
Some may elect to backpack out of Chicago Basin over Columbine Pass, past historic mining claims, on to Endlich Mesa or out the Johnson Creek to the Vallecito Creek Trail.
Molas Trail/ Elk Creek, just past Molas Pass, provides another entrance. From there, backpackers often head for the Continental Divide Trail while climbers detour up to Vestal Basin and the most remote mountain range in Colorado: the Grenadiers.
“It’s obviously some of the most spectacular rock in the San Juan Mountains,” Weakley said. “There’s everything from 1,800-foot 5.4 rock climbing to 4th class mountain traverses and mountain goats in alpine basins; it’s really got it all.”
Mountains like Arrow, Vestal, Middle, West, and East Trinity have a unique ramped shape, and climbing gets spicier as you go. In addition, the path into Vestal Basin itself is as hard to travel as it is rewarding.
Ascending Arrow Peak follows ever-steepening quartzite before solid rock gives way to chossy scrambling. The Trinity Traverse navigates the Trinity Peaks over a mind-blowing ridgeline, requiring clever route-finding, physical, and mental stamina. But the star of the show is Vestal Peak, a coveted sharp-edged ascent so impressive, there’s only one name for it: Wham Ridge.
“I’d say our bread and butter is Vestal Peak via the Wham Ridge,” Weekly said. “It’s an iconic climb, in Colorado and in the U.S. at large. Jagged Peak is another big one, and there’s a free-hanging rappel off the top, so it’s a total adventure.”
All aboard
Not everyone has an endless summer to roam in the mountains. There’s another way in: The Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. Backpackers, peak baggers, and even day hikers can hop a train to the brink of the WWA, saving miles (and sometimes days) putting areas like Chicago Basin and the CDT in their sights. Ben Rockis, owner of outfitter Backcountry Experience in Durango, said this approach is legendary.
“Being able to take a narrow-gauge train, hike into the wilderness, do a week trip, get back on the train, and have it drop you back off in Durango…it’s one of the most unique trips in the country,” he said.
Bringing it back home
With any wilderness area, maybe it’s our nature to be drawn to it.
“I think the visionaries who created these wilderness locations and spaces saw true beauty,” said Burnite. “If we keep chipping away, then no one is going to have that recollection of what solitude is like: quiet spaces, endless vistas…all these wonderful things that I think people are trying to seek.”
From his office, steps away from the Animas River, water flows, running straight from the wilderness.
“We need wild spaces,” Rockis said. “Getting into the wilderness is an escape from the day-to-day business theatrics we all go through. There’s a statement that returning to nature heals the body; I think that’s part of it.”
Preparing for another summer of guiding, Weakley added that when we visit, we take part of the wilderness with us.
“Getting to have these experiences brings us back to our roots,” he said, “and we bring them back home. Wherever that home is.”
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