Flat Tops and Adams Lake

White River National Forest must have more lakes than any other national forest in Colorado. The Flat Tops are a lime stone wonderland filled with springs, caves, sinks and lakes. We were on the flat tops looking for a cave that we never found. Our destination was Adams Lake. We had already attempted to make Adams Lake but we had been stopped by a large mud hole in the road.

A new day brought a new attempt to make the lake taking an alternate route. After exiting the south route back to Bison Lake our friend in the Jeep headed home and we decided to attempt the north route to Adams.  I had been told that the route was not nearly as muddy and should be an easy drive.  What we found was a rocky and twisty decent into the valley where Adams Lake is located.

We continued the drive south and then up the climb to Adams Lake making camp at about 12:30. Adams Lake is a great fishing destination with the lake nestled below a long limestone cliff band.

It rained on us most of the afternoon so we were unable to explore the sink hole that I wanted to look at. Instead we hung out a camp and did a few hikes looking for other caving options.

The following morning brought sunshine and warmer temperatures. We packed up and got a start home at about 9:30. We took the south road as our route out. There is a very rocky climb out of the valley that Adams Lake is in. This climb requires high clearance and 4 wheel drive. Pulling the trailer there was one point where I had to use A-TRAC and the rear locker to get enough traction.  The rest of the drive out was relatively uneventful with one mud hole in the road being a challenge. This was the same hole that we got stuck in 3 nights prior. With a downhill run through the hole it was little problem for the Toyota FJ Cruiser.

On the drive out we stopped and enjoyed the wonderful view of Deep Creek from the overlook then it was back home to Colorado Springs.

Adams Lake Google Earth KML file