White River National Forest · Colorado
Middle Lake
3.7 mi of trail, end to end · native material surface · trail No. 2223 · trail class 3 · typical grade trail_grade · tread 18-24 inches wide · hiking, horse
Begins at the forest's mile 0, 39.5392, -106.6166 - no trailhead mapped Drive to where the trail begins
Dead Dog TH #2220 the Forest Service's write-up
The Dead Dog trail begins 0.8 miles up the East Lake Creek Trail #1880 and ends after another 4.3 miles at Middle Lake Trail #2223: The trail begins in an aspen grove and as you gain elevation turns to spruce/ fir forest. As you approach the ridge before Middle Lake, the trail becomes steep.
Restrictions <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/whiteriver/recarea/?recid=81113">Holy Cross Wilderness </a>regulations apply to areas within the Wilderness boundary.
This hike on fs.usda.gov
Every trail in White River National Forest
About this trail's facts
The lines are the US Forest Service's National Forest System trails layer (public domain), read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end, and the class, surface, grade and tread width are the forest's own entries where it publishes them - a forest that publishes the centreline alone has none. The trailheads and the points along the way are the Service's recreation points, and the write-ups its own recarea text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the forest's own site before you go.
