Trail Name: Dolores River Trail
Best Use: Hiking, Trail Running, Horseback riding, Birding, Paleontology, Archeology
Best Time for Use: Year-round use, trail can be muddy after storms and hot during the summer
Difficulty: Advanced Beginner
Length: 7.2 miles (11.6 km) as a down and back, 7.5 miles (10.1 km) down and out combined with the La Sal Creek / Cashin Mine Trail
Start Elevation: 4,960 ft (1,512m) Maximum Elev: 40 ft (10 m), -0 ft (0 m)
Trail Surface and Use: A lightly used, single track trail that has been developed on a long- abandoned 2-track dirt road
Trail Head Access: Suitable for 2WD auto in fair to good weather, 4WD in poor weather
Trail Head Coordinates: 684,040 E; 4,241,650 N UTM Zone 12 WGS84
Best Feature: Great views from inside the Dolores River canyon, which in this area is a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wilderness Study Area (WSA), plus archeological and paleontological features.
Cautions: Few. The trail is a good one with very little grade. One short section about a mile from the trailhead crosses a slope where some care is warranted.

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Description: The trailhead parking is at a BLM developed campground. The ascending trail, which follows a narrow, long-abandoned state highway roadbed active from the 1890’s to the 1930’s, stays on the west side of the river. Trail end is the junction with the La Sal Creek / Cashin Mine trail. A shuttle can be made between this trail’s trailhead and the La Sal Creek / Cashin Mine trailhead so that both trails can joined for a single trip. At a point about 2.5 miles upriver from the trailhead, a large boulder field can be seen on the right. Amongst the boulders, petroglyphs, pictographs and dinosaur footprints can be found.