Zapata Falls, CO

Date	Distance	Time	Elevation Gain	Average Moving Time	Year to Date Miles
5/20/2024	1.2 miles	52 minutes	264'	1.9 mph	347.7 miles

Parking: 

• Zapata Falls Trail (alamosa.org) 
• Steep gravel road to the parking area

Map:

• Gai GPS app

Directions: From the parking lot, take the trail to the falls. Return the same way.

After a morning of hiking dunes, there wasn't much else to see at Great Sand Dunes National Park, as we were tired from hiking the dunes. We had seen a sign for Zapata Falls outside of the park, so we decided to check it out. It's a short hike but is at 9,000' altitude. There were quite a few people out to do this hike. The first part of the trail is rocky terrain. Near the end, you have to enter the water. You can't see the falls at all without wading. The water was icy cold! It became painful to walk in it. Then I saw why. There was a sheet of ice next to the falls. I went in as far as I dared. I could have gotten a little closer, but I didn't want to stand in the water for more than a few seconds, because my feet were getting too cold. Also, the falls were raging. After we got out of the water, I had to stop at a bench and take my socks off and rub my feet to get them warm. It was well worth the hike, and we also got great views on the way down. 

We decided not to return to our campground by the pool, and instead drove to Pagosa Springs. This would give us the chance to see another park first thing tomorrow morning.

Have to continue wading....you can see the ice sheet in the center.

I couldn't force myself to stand in the pool of water here.
I had one rock to balance on to see the falls.
They are mostly iced over.

Heading back down.

Although this is miles away, you can still see the sand dunes.

Another tasty dinner from Sprouts :)