Hiking the Brookside/McCurdy Trail from Twin Eagles Trailhead

Hike with Karen and Sunday T. Dog on July 9, 2009
Trailhead: 39º9’14”N, 105º28’40”W, 8,556 feet
Lizard Rock Trail: 39º9’51”N, 105º27’13”W, 9,240 feet
Lunch above Lizard Rock: 39º9’47”N, 105º27’39”W, 9,534
feet
Hiking distance: 5.2 miles
**********************************************************************

The Brookside/McCurdy Trail is one of the longer of the Forest Service Trails in Park County. Its north end is on Park County Road 64 near Bailey. From there it goes over the Platte River Mountains, through Craig Park, over the Kenosha Mountains,through Lost Park, and winds between the highest peaks in the Tarryall Mountains, finally ending at the Twin Eagles Trailhead on Tarryall Creek. I haven’t walked its length, but have been on the north end and on a couple of miles in the Lost Park area. Karen, Sunday the teacup Newfoundland, and I tackled the south end on a warm day in July.

I had hiked in the area before, going up Lizard Rock Trail from Spruce Creek Campground two miles south of the Twin Eagles Trailhead. Pete and I hiked most of that trail before being stopped by spring snow. We never did find Lizard Rock.

Twin Eagles Trailhead is about a quarter mile east of Tarryall Road (PCR77). There’s a sign for the trailhead and picnic area just south of mile marker 26, which is 26 miles south of Jefferson on U.S. 285, or 16 miles north of U.S. 24 just east of mile marker 264, north of Lake George. The trailhead and picnic parking is in a fee area. If you’re cheap (oops! I mean thrifty) you can park on the wide shoulder on Tarryall Road and extend your hike a bit.

Once at the trailhead, cross the footbridge over Tarryall Creek, and turn left. There’s a sign on the far end of the bridge, and all the arrows, to Spruce Grove Campground, Hankins Pass, McCurdy Park, and Lost Park Campground, point left. To the right, you’ll find the picnic area. We went left.

The central and southern Tarryall Mountains are full of rocks, and the Brookside/McCurdy Trail heads for the heart of them. There are a few smaller cliffs that the trail dodges as it goes up Tarryall Creek for a bit before turning east and climbing up a side valley.

At about 4-tenths of a mile, there is a T in the trail, and a sign that says Forest Service Trail 607 goes to the left. 607 is the Brookside/McCurdy Trail, so left we went, down slope and again paralleling Tarryall Creek. We got a view of cone-shaped Bradley Peak to the north.

We had begun our trip with high, thin clouds but warm temperatures. By this time, the clouds had burned off, and we were looking at a sunny, maybe even hot, day. The warm breezes brought out the wonderful smell of the ponderosa pines along the trail, and lit up the bright, yellow buttercups and innumerable other wildflowers. The trail turned east again, and went up steeper than before. At the end of the steep bit, we found a sign, “Please respect private property, stay on trail,” and a view up the valley of Hay Creek, with the ranch there. The valley was lush and green and inviting,
but we stayed on the trail.

At the next break in the trees that gave us a view to the peaks to the east, we found the Twin Eagles. High on a ridge north of Hankins Pass two large stone monoliths stand, and look for all the world like a pair or eagles, perched up high. To the north of them and lower, more rocks stand; perhaps the pair have a nest of eaglets. I took a number of photographs of them as we went up the trail, hoping to catch the optimum view.

The unusually wet weather this summer has made for an unusual mix of plant and animal life. The trail followed the Hay Creek valley, but did so outside the private property boundary, and in the trees. With the views of the eagles and other rock formations in the Tarryall Mountains blocked from view, I looked closer at the plants. Wildflowers this year are unusually abundant, in number and variety. Butterflies are not; I imagine that their numbers were significantly reduced by the late spring snowfall.

I did see something flitting around the flowers, and was surprised to find iridescent green dragonflies. I expected to find them near ponds, but the nearest standing water was probably on Hay Creek, perhaps half a mile away. Joining them were bright, blue damselflies, their smaller but similar cousins, and gray-green damselflies, too.

The trail continued up the valley until the meadows below us ended, then turned south, up the hill and deeper into the conifers. We came to an intersection of trails: Brookside/McCurdy trail continued up the valley, while we turned and went up the Lizard Rock Trail. This trail wound past a few boulders and small meadows as it turned south and went up the hill. In one of the clear areas, I saw it: Lizard Rock. Pete and I hadn’t seen it on our hike a couple of years before, because we just weren’t on the right side of the ridge. It looks like a head and neck of an iguana, raised to catch the sun’s rays.

At the top of the ridge, we had options: Continue south on the Lizard Rock Trail, turn east on an unmarked trail, or go

west to Lizard Rock. It was nearing lunch time, and we needed a destination and a view, so we chose Lizard Rock. It was only about a quarter mile to the end of the trail, but it was the steepest section of trail on the trip. The path went straight up in places, opening the trail up to erosion from running water, making the trip up harder yet.

The path didn’t lead to Lizard Rock, but to the high point on the ridge above the rock. This was good because we were higher and had better views, but wasn’t quite the same as “being there.” The rest, the views, and the lunch assuaged my pain.

We were on a relatively low ridge between the highest of the Puma Hills and the highest of the Tarryall Mountains, so the best long view was up Tarryall Creek.

In the distance were Mount Silverheels and Bald Mountain; Observatory Rock peeked around the ridge in the middle distance, and Bradley Peak was close by. To the left of the valley were the forested Puma Hills, in contrast to the rocky Tarryall Mountains on the right.

Return trips can show you what you’d missed on the way up. We got different angles of the Twin Eagles and Lizard Rock, as well as the views through the trees to the lush valley along Hay Creek.

What a great day and a wonderful hike it was. Whenever the clouds began to gather, the sun sent them packing again. We found Lizard Rock, and discovered the eagles that the trailhead is named for. A longer hike on the Brookside/McCurdy Trail is in order; surely more wonders await there.