Heart of the World | Thursday, November 6, 2025
As it’s getting closer to the end of the year and I’m getting very close to completing all of the trails for my Heart of the World project in the Colorado National Monument, I thought today would be a good day to hike the Old Gordon Trail right after work. While this has never really been one of my favorite trails in the Monument, which is probably why I haven’t hiked the entire trail since 2011, that’s part of the reason I started this project and I was a little interested in seeing the trail again with fresh eyes since it’s been so long. After work I headed over to the Devils Kitchen Trailhead and started hiking up the Old Gordon Trail which follows the route of a historic toll road built by John Gordon in the 1880’s that was used to move stock and timber between Glade Park and the Grand Valley. The temperature out this afternoon was mostly comfortable and nice, but it was a bit breezy at times which made it feel cold- but not quite cold enough for me to want to put on a jacket. The round-trip hike was 7.5 miles with about 1700 feet of elevation gain which I finished up in just about three hours.
The hike started out by dropping down into No Thoroughfare Canyon before beginning the climb up the Old Gordon Trail.
Looking back across the ‘Face of the Monument‘ near the beginning of the trail.
There are nice views into Echo Canyon at the lower end of the trail.
Old Gordon Trail
Sandstone View
The upper portion of the Old Gordon Trail looks more like the old wagon road that it once was.
When I reached the boundary of the Monument I continued past the fence and across a parcel of BLM land until I reached private property, then I turned around and started heading back down. There wasn’t much to see here, but I had not hiked this segment of the historic trail before and wanted to complete it.
On my way back down I stopped to climb up a colorful sandstone outcropping next to the trail for a different perspective.
I also detoured off the trail to hike along the rim of No Thoroughfare Canyon for a little bit, which is a much more scenic route than following the actual trail and offers nice views across to the Serpents Trail.
Echo Canyon in the shadows.
Eagle’s Wing
Point 5513
