Colorado Trail: Segment 3
Colorado Trail: Segment 3
4/19/2026
Little Scraggy Trailhead - Rolling Creek Trailhead
Miles hiked: 12.5 mi
Elevation gained: 1,847 ft (7,834 - 8,057 - 7,363 - 8,266)
Animals seen: deer, chipmunks, squirrels, free-roaming mountain doggo
Elevation map created on AllTrails
Amanda and I are back at it again. Last year our CO segments were cut short from travel plans and hot weather. This year we wanted to set out as early as we could because it looks like it will be a bad fire season. Jake sat this one out due to recent traveling and the need for a rest day. Leinie and I met Amanda at Rolling Creek Trailhead bright and early at 7am.
“Get in the car loser, we’re going hiking,” I greeted her. If the reference is lost on you, I can’t help you. The drive to Little Scraggy Trailhead showed just how worn down my shocks are on the Mazda, you feel everything. We both forgot cash for parking, so street parking it was. A quick pit stop at the pit toilet (lol) and we started Segment 3.
It was cold, not as cold as the start of Segment 2, but enough to warrant puffies, hats and gloves. The growth was starting to bud despite the cold and there was plenty of green which is always nice to see after so much brown during winter. A mile or two into the segment is a common stop for “rock formations”. They are decidedly rock formations, with a sort of overgrown overlook. We took the obligatory picture.
Another mile or so and we got to a real overlook with a sick spot for camping if thru hiking. Another obligatory picture.
Our trusty trail review from the Trek (online hiking website) had rated segment 3 as the worst of the whole bunch, even below segment 2. Granted, she also had her first trail poo on this segment which I can empathize with. The first one is always the worst on any trail. That said, she also didn’t like the lack of good water sources and lack of view points. Neither of these points did I understand as I found the start of the segment utterly delightful. While not open mountain viewscapes, the pseudo-moountain meadows with tree sprinklings were pleasant to walk through and the peaks of the surrounding mountains were spectacular.
We hit the kinda, sorta, first high point with quick timing. There is a really nice camping area and we met our first set of hikers, complete with dog off leash. Yes, I know, that soapbox again. Hear me out, Leinie and I have been working diligently at his reactivity while on leash. This dog came straight up while I was having Leinie do his good boy sit and concentrate on me, not the loose dog. Of course the response from the hikers were “He’s friendly.” OMG, not the point. I called out that mine can be a jerk and they half-heartedly called their dog to them. Zero recall, the dog completely ignored them, evaded their attempts to grab his harness. So the best type of dog to have off leash, naturally. Whatever, they continued on their way.
A short while later a large group of adolescents and adults with big overnight packs came through. We pulled off to the side to let them pass since they were traveling uphill. After that there were periodic bikers on trail. We made such quick time to the road intersection that splits the segment, I naively thought we were appropriately prepared for this hike. Spoiler: I was wrong.
We attempted to take a snack break at this point. No sooner did I have my nut butter slathered on my crunchy bar did we see a large Bernese Mountain dog in the distance. Off leash, naturally. Of course with no owner in sight. Sigh. I shoved my bar into my mouth whole and tucked the remaining nut butter in a poop bag and quickly plopped Leinie on the boulder we were resting again. I hurriedly attempted to pack up as the free roaming mountain dog approached. Thankfully Amanda was there, I have no idea how I would have dealt by myself. While the dog wasn’t overly aggressive, he wasn’t overly friendly. Definitely curious. But when a dog that size is curious at best in Leinie, I am overly cautious. I carried Leinie while we started the anticipated giant up to end the last four miles of our hike with Amanda behind us between Leinie and the dog. While Leinie is small-ish, he is a solid 12 pounds to carry and a steep-grade incline.
The dog followed for about a half mile until we got past the super steep section before it wandered away. Definitely lives locally and clearly comfortable navigating the mountains. Fully exhausted at this point with several miles of incline left, the pace noticeably slowed down. A not small number of choice words left our mouths.
Snow in various areas in the distance looked similar to vehicles which chipped slowly away at morale. While not the pain from segment 1, my legs were getting very stiff and leaden. Amanda reported that her lower back was tightening. Yes, segment 1 stands as the standard for suckage, but this was a different type of trail pain. Even Leinie was not at full capacity asking for a lift over a small log in the trail rather than jumping over it. We were all spent.
We had one single punchy up at the very end of the segment before we spotted the vehicles at the trailhead with a short, switch-backed down to the end. Preparing for the hike, weather app said a high of 55 with moderate cloud coverage. Well, it was super sunny and the car thermostat said 78 degrees. We sat there enjoying the ac while taking off the hiking boots asking ourselves why we do this while simultaneously planning the next segment. We may be ill.
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We are back at it, following along the epitome of Colorado hiking on Segment 3 of the Colorado Trail with our fearless trail doggo leading the way.