I hiked this trail with my three-year-old daughter and a friend. We arrived at the gate by Deer Creek, where the road is closed around 10:30 a.m., and there were around 10-15 cars parked. The road getting there was fine up until the last half mile, where it was very icy and there was some snow on the road. After our hike, we saw two vehicles that were stuck and were getting help from other vehicles, so be careful.
The first 2 miles to get to the Big Four trailhead are pretty flat and covered in snow. We just had our hiking boots on and did not slip or sink into the snow too much. It was nice to have the entire road to walk on - I would suggest just walking to the trailhead if you just wanted a nice, car-free walk in the snow with pretty views.
We stopped at the Big Four picnic area to put on our snowshoes, which we ended up taking off a little bit down the trail because we didn’t really need them. The trail is compact with snow, so our boots did the trick, although we heard from other hikers that the snow gets a lot deeper the closer you get to the caves. There are a few large trees down across the trail that you do need to go over and/or under - but be careful! We saw some big holes where it looked like people had sunken into the snow pretty deep.
We ended up turning around about a third of a mile from the caves (my toddler gets to make the call, and she was ready to go back). We trekked back to the picnic area, where we enjoyed a hot lunch and cocoa before walking the last 2 miles back to the car.
Overall, it is a gorgeous area to explore if you are looking for a not too crazy snow hike. We will try this one again when the snow is gone to check out the caves.
Comments