Meridian - trail #604

Description

This pleasant hike leads to a saddle on the boundary between Pike and Arapaho National Forests, and the boundary of the Mount Evans Wilderness. Southerly exposure makes this a good early or late season hike, and fall colors can be beautiful along this trail.

The trail leads north as it rises out of the Elk Creek drainage, then begins to bear in a northeasterly direction. This portion of the trail passes through several aspen groves, and offers some interesting vistas looking east and south. The saddle is marked by Wilderness boundary signs. Just beyond the saddle, the trail ends at its intersection with the Cub Creek Trail.

TRAIL'S HISTORY

It appears that the Meridian trail was constructed in the early 1920’s. The trail originally was called the Meridian Hill or Meridian Pass trail and followed the present trail north to the junction with the Indian Creek trail (now the Cub Creek trail), then continued west on what is now the Cub Creek trail to the Beartracks trail junction. Sometime in the 1980’s, this westerly section became part of the Cub Creek trail.

At the time of construction, a backcountry campground was established just north of the high point of today’s trail. It was shown on topographic maps as recently as 1957 and notes indicate the outhouse was torn down in 1979, but there is nothing left now to indicate it was once a developed campground.