La Plata Mountains and the Jersey Jim Fire Lookout

Overlooking the Four Corners | Friday – Sunday, June 12-14, 2026

A few weeks ago I was able to reserve a night at the Jersey Jim Fire Lookout Tower when the reservation system was moved over to Recreation.gov without very much notice. Diane was not able to come with me on my previous visit to the Fire Tower and I have wanted to take her back ever since, so we planned an extended weekend in the La Plata Mountains around this stay. It’s kind of hard to believe that it has been almost six years since my last visit to the La Platas, so I was definitely overdue for a return! We left home early on Friday morning and took the San Juan Skyway over Lizard Head Pass to Rico and then followed the Dolores River to Hillside Drive which we turned up and followed to the end. From the end of the road we hiked up the Hillside Connector Trail and Grindstone Trail until we reached the Highline Trail, which is part of The Colorado Trail, and then followed it across the top of Indian Trail Ridge.

Hiking up the Hillside Connector Trail to the Grindstone Trail.

Once we reached the Highline Trail on Indian Trail Ridge the views opened up quite a bit.

Diane on the Highline Trail.

The sky seemed a bit hazy this morning, especially the views over the Hermosa Creek Wilderness.

It was nice being able to hike yet another segment of The Colorado Trail.

Big Rock Cairn

Highline Trail

This was the first of two snowdrifts that were still blocking the trail. We were able to backtrack a short distance and hike over the top of the ridge to bypass this section.

Snow still clinging to the ridge. I suppose this is much less snow than there would usually be here at this time of the year…

Looking back across the trail we had just hiked up.

The trail got a bit rocky on this point.

This is where we stopped to rest and then turned around. I have hiked to that point on the ridge on the left side of the photo from the other side, which is the highpoint of Indian Trail Ridge.

Heading back the way we had come.

Looking back to the La Plata Mountains.

After returning to the trailhead we drove down to Dolores for an early dinner, topped off the gas tank and then set out to find a campsite for the night off of the West Mancos Road in the San Juan National Forest.

There were quite a few people out camping in the area, but we managed to find a nice secluded site near Turkey Creek.

On Saturday morning we packed up camp shortly after sunrise and then drove up La Plata Canyon to the Kennebec Trailhead so we could hike the other end of the Highline Trail to Taylor Lake and then continue on the Sharkstooth Trail to a pass overlooking the Bear Creek drainage.

La Plata Canyon Road

Old boilers at the Cumberland Mine site.

From the trailhead we followed The Colorado Trail across Cumberland Basin. This was the second morning in a row that it was mostly cloudy out, which I don’t find to be very common in the mountains…

Diorite Peak

Snowstorm Peak & Lewis Mountain

We reached the southern end of the Highline Trail, but turned left and followed the Sharkstooth Trail this time.

Taylor Lake

Sharkstooth Trail

Diane approaches the unnamed pass that would be our turnaround point this morning.

Diane waited at the pass for me while I climbed up to the summit of PT 12117.

Lucky for me, there was a little blue in the sky when I reached the highpoint and there was a great view of the surrounding peaks.

La Plata Mountains

Bear Creek Basin

Here’s one more view of Taylor Lake as we hiked past it on our way back to the trailhead.

After returning to our vehicle we drove back down La Plata Canyon to Mancos and picked up the keys to the Fire Lookout at P&D Grocery. While we were there we grabbed an early dinner from Mancos Pizza and then headed up to the Jersey Jim Lookout.

We briefly stopped at the West Mancos Overlook on our way.

Approaching the Jersey Jim Lookout Tower.

National Forest Fire Lookout

We spent the next few hours hanging out in and around the tower.

Tower Entrance

West Mancos Road

Jersey Jim Lookout Tower

Fire Tower Cab

Later in the evening we went for a scenic drive along the Gold Run Loop to Windy Gap.

While much of the route was in the trees, there were a few open views over Bear Creek.

We took a short side trip to the Twin Lakes where there is a nice view of Hesperus Mountain.

We returned to the Jersey Jim just in time to watch the light change until sunset.

The Abajo Mountains were visible on the western horizon.

Mesa Verde was also visible to the southwest.

The Sleeping Ute is a prominent landmark.

We could see just the tops of the La Plata peaks over the trees at sunset.

Dirty Windows

Thanks to a small gap on the horizon there was a very colorful sunset this evening!

Jersey Jim Sunset

Beautiful colors with the La Sal Mountains on the horizon.

Thankfully it wasn’t windy overnight, so the tower didn’t make any noises that kept us up and we slept pretty well. It was mostly cloudy again on Sunday morning so there was no sunrise and we slept in a little later than usual. After we got up the sun did briefly come out, but it didn’t stick around for long.

Morning view from the Jersey Jim.

Jersey Jim Morning

I liked that I was able to catch the tower’s shadow in this shot.

After packing up we dropped off the keys in Mancos and then headed home by completing the San Juan Skyway loop through Durango, Silverton and Ouray. It was a very nice weekend in the La Plata Mountains and I hope that I don’t wait another six years to return again!

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