horsethief trail

Very challenging, especially for people who are accustomed to having oxygen in their air. However, the views are totally worth all of the effort!

This begins just across the road from Hot Springs Inn where we stay. Hadn't noticed the sign before and were told it had been recently re-opened. We decided about 4:30pm on our last day in Ouray to give it a try. It was rather steep and we only went about 25 min before deciding we needed to wait till next year and start early in the day.

There are actually two trails called "Horsethief" in Ouray. "Old Horsethief" starts south of town and is extremely steep with a 2,900-foot elevation gain over just two miles. If you can make it to the top, however, the views and the waterfall are breathtaking. "Horsethief" begins just off County Road 14 and is a trail leading to Bridge of Heaven involving a 3,000-foot elevation gain over four miles. Both are extremely strenuous and have portions that are either washed out or very narrow with steep dropoffs. If you are a hiking diehard, however, these trails are for you.

We of course did not read the difficulty level before attempting so were surprised by the difficulty of the trail. On our first attempt we climbed for about 45 minutes and then turned around. Kind of scary but very well marked and maintained we didn't take any water. The second attempt was much more fulfilling and we knew what to expect, after climbing and balancing on very narrow trails for about 90 minutes and an elevation of around 8800ft we found a beautiful waterfall and a cave to explore. Well worth the hike up the mountain,just be prepared it is not easy to climb !

Very nice hike that is moderate to difficult; the FALLS at the top are amazing....pack lots of water, and take a lunch...you will want to spend time up there. The picture taking is great too!!!

But a fun trail to hike anyway. Our horses have theft insurance, so it wasn't a problem for us. I think the horse stealing occurs more in the summer, anyway.