A Hike Around Face Lake

There is an informal trail around the east side of Face Lake which connects to ATV tracks and backroads for a loop route in the area below Chuwhels Mountain. The trailhead is on the edge of Mile High Resort at the camping area at the northeast side. Anyone accessing the Resort property should check-in at the main office.

The first part of the trail is well-marked and has been maintained. There has been a fair amount of cleanup of the lodgepole pine slope for the first kilometer.

As the trail continues north, it is a little harder to see the path and it is easy to follow other faint tracks. The Loop Trail stays by the lakeside. I ended up heading up the slope where the grown-over route was more difficult and eventually disappeared. I bushwhacked back to the lake to find the trail and stayed on it to the end of the lake.

The trail comes out on an ATV track that goes around the north arms of the lake and eventually comes onto a rough forest service road. That road connects the Greenstone Mountain Road to the Paska Lake Road. I turned left and followed it around the lake, stopping at the Face Lake Rec Site. In the past I had driven the rough road to the Rec Site to paddle the lake, but found it very rough. It has been improved, but is only still suitable to high-clearance vehicles. Rather than drive this road, I usually pay a small fee to the Resort to park and launch from their property.

I continued back to the start on a double track. Most of the loop route is in the forest, with a few view spots to the lake along the way. On a hot summer day, the shaded trail was appreciated.

The hike was about 2.5 hours, but I stopped along the way to observe nature, to take photos, and to explore a bit. Some photos are shared here. Click an image for a lightbox view and a caption/ID.