Bear Creek Falls Hike Guide
Bear Creek Falls is a popular hike located in downtown Telluride, Colorado. For those who want to add onto this hike, Little Hawaii is an excellent side trip and one of the most unique places in Colorado I have ever been. Bear Creek Falls starts directly from the town and is a great hike in the Spring, Summer and Fall months. This hike is family friendly and a great way to start or end a perfect day in Telluride.
Bear Creek Falls Quick Facts
Bear Creek Falls Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5 Stars)
Distance: 4.5 Miles RT, 5 Miles RT (With Little Hawaii)
Elevation Start: 8,752ft
High Point: 9,920ft
Total Elevation Gain: 1,300ft
Estimated Time to Complete: 2-3 Hours, Add another 30 minutes for Little Hawaii
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate What does this mean?
Class: Class 1 – What does this mean?
Season: June – October – You could hike this in early November and December depending on snowfall
Directions to Bear Creek Falls
Trailhead: S. Pine Street
Getting Here: Bear Creek Falls does not have a parking area but starts at the end of S. Pine Street just outside of the main downtown area. The trail up to Bear Creek Falls continues straight towards the waterfall but in order to find “Little Hawaii” you need to do some route finding- more on that below.
Parking: There is no parking lot for Bear Creek Falls or Little Hawaii. The best bet for parking is to park on the street in Telluride itself. There are no restrooms for this hike.
Permits/Fee: No fee required.
Summary
Dogs: Bear Creek Falls and Little Hawaii are both dog friendly spots. This is a popular hike though so expect to find other dogs and as always, please pick up after your dog.
Camping: Due to this hike’s location just outside of Telluride, camping directly near the hike is not an option. If you wanted to backpack camp, you could find options further up the trail (past the falls) but nothing near the TH itself.
Make it a Loop: Without a doubt, the most common side attraction to add onto Bear Creek Falls is Little Hawaii. However, before I describe how to get there, I need to say this: it’s pretty clear that the locals are torn on this hike being online. If you want to hike down to Little Hawaii:
- Stay on the proper trail (follow my .gpx file and follow all signed areas)
- Do not create your own trail
- Practice LNT
- Be sure to avoid this section of the hike if rain is in the forecast. Flash floods are no joke.
In order to reach Little Hawaii, hike about ¾ of a mile up the Bear Creek trail and there will be a VERY obvious side trail to the left. Cross a small log bridge and continue straight uphill. Keep hiking until the trail goes left for about .2 miles until it goes left again back towards the creek. Carefully make your way down to the creek and head left again to the end of the small canyon.
Trail X Factors: Lack of Trail to Little Hawaii & Parking
Unlike most hikes, the trail to Bear Creek Falls does not have a parking area. Luckily, parking in town is not very difficult but this can add a bit more mileage to your hike depending on where you park.
As mentioned several times in this post, although the main trail here goes up to Bear Creek Falls, the side trip to Little Hawaii is 100% worth it. However, if you do want to add on this small detour, be prepared for a little bit of trail finding.
Hike Tip(s): Bear Creek is a good spot to trail run although it does have fairly steady elevation gain.
Best Views: Although this entire hike is beautiful, my personal favorite views were near the falls and looking back towards Telluride. Little Hawaii is absolutely stunning if you have the time to add that onto your hike. Bonus: this hike is great when the foliage is hitting as Aspens line much of the trail.
Bear Creek Falls with Little Hawaii Route
I got a little lost trying to find Little Hawaii + my watch bounced off the canyon walls a bit.
Gear Needed
- Men’s Trail Runners
- La Sportiva Cyklon
- La Sportiva Trango Hiking Boots (Men’s)
- Backpack (Winter)
- Backpack (Summer)
- Sunglasses
- Base Layers
- T Shirt
- Mid Layer
- Rain Jacket / Shell
- Pants
- Shorts
- Socks
- Food & Water
- Optional: Water Filter
- Optional: Garmin inReach
- Optional: Hiking Poles – 120CM
- Optional: Headlamp
- Optional: Garmin Fenix Watch
- Optional: GoPro, Joby Tripod, Selfie Stick, GoPro 360, Drone, Insta360
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