West Grouse Creek Trail

West Grouse Creek Trail is in the northern Sawatch Range, part of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Holy Cross Wilderness east of Grouse Mountain and south of Beaver Creek Resort in Eagle County. West Grouse Creek Trail is south of Interstate 70, near Minturn, west of Vail and east of Avon, Colorado. West Grouse Creek Trailhead, elevation 7,880 feet, is about a half-mile north of Minturn, six miles west of Vail. West Grouse Creek Trail ascends four miles before meeting a junction with the short Olsen Lake Trail, at 11,200 feet. The trail continues winding southwest through a dense forest of spruce and fir trees to a tundra basin below the summit of Grouse Mountain. The Grouse Mountain Trail merges with the West Grouse Creek Trail, at 11,500 feet elevation, in the tundra meadow. Grouse Mountain Trail continues southwest to Grouse Mountain Pass, six miles from the trailhead, at 12,000 feet. Following the Grouse Mountain Trail southeast leads to the Martin Creek Trail and Cross Creek Trail, north of Mount of the Holy Cross. Hiking Colorado: Holy Cross Wilderness, a hiking guide by Kim Fenske, provides a description of West Grouse Creek Trail.