Fourmile Lake & Anderson Trail: Where Your Quads Go to Die (But in a Scenic Way)
Welcome to the Weminuche Wilderness, just outside Pagosa Springs — a place where the air is thin, the mountains are big, and the trails… well, they’ll test your commitment to “loving the outdoors.”
Today we’re diving into the Fourmile Lake & Anderson Trail loop: 14 miles of waterfalls, alpine lakes, and switchbacks that go on longer than your uncle’s fishing stories.
I stretched this one into two days, camping at Fourmile Lake, which was scenic enough to make me briefly forget I had willingly brought all my fishing gear for a vacation of their own. Yes…I suck at fishing.
Now before we start, I already made a video about Fourmile Falls. If you want all the blow-by-blow of the first three miles, go there. This one mainly picks up after the falls, where things stop being “aww, pretty!” and start being “oh, my legs are filing a complaint.”
The Basics (a.k.a. What to Tell Your Friends to Sound Smart)
Fourmile Lake sits at a casual 11,190 feet, right below treeline. It’s technically considered one of the more “accessible” subalpine lakes in the Weminuche. Translation: it’s hard, but not hard enough to brag about at Thanksgiving.
Fourmile follows the watershed that also provides Pagosa Springs’ drinking water, so — friendly PSA — maybe don’t turn the creek into your personal Gatorade bottle.
Now, Trailhead’s at 9,200 feet, and both Fourmile Trail and Anderson Trail start from the same parking lot. From here, you choose your own flavor of suffering.
Fourmile Trail is shorter, steeper, faster. Great if you want the express route to sore calves. Anderson Trail is longer, with endless switchbacks and big mountain views.
I chose to go counter clockwise, so up Fourmile trail and down Anderson.
Fourmile falls is the warm-up act.
The falls sit 3 miles from the trailhead, perched on Falls Creek, a tiny tributary of Fourmile Creek. There’s actually an even bigger waterfall upstream on Fourmile Creek. But doing this trail in late August means there’s usually not much water left at Fourmile Falls.
If you want all the details on this section, check out my other video.
Beyond the Falls is where the Real Work Begins.
From mile 3 to 5, things get spicy. You’ll gain 1,500 feet on rocky terrain, cross Fourmile Creek four times, and maybe question your life choices once or twice. In spring, those crossings can be knee-deep or completely impassable, so plan accordingly.
Around mile 4.4, you’ll hit a junction where Turkey Creek Trail splits off. Stay left for Fourmile Lake. The trail in this area can be hard to follow at times with a lot of overgrowth.
Not long after, you’ll pop out into an open field with ridiculous views of Peak 12,603. Which by the way, shouldn’t all mountains have names by now?
But Peak 12,603 is where you’re headed. And Fourmile Lake sits near the base. Eventually after another mile or so, you reach this lake.
Fourmile Lake
Sitting at 11,190 feet on a stunning alpine bench, this is your reward for not faking an ankle injury earlier. The shoreline’s open, flat, and perfect for… well, collapsing. And a little fishing. If you know how to fish. Which apparently, I don’t.
If you want to keep the suffering going? Hike another half mile and 500 vertical feet to Upper Fourmile Lake. Rumor has it the fishing is best up there. From there, you can summit Peak 12,603 or Cherry Cairn (12,511 ft).
Anderson Trail
After camping overnight at the lake, it was time to hike back to the trailhead via Anderson Trail. This is where it gets magical. From the lake, drop onto Anderson Trail and score views almost no one else gets: the backside of Pagosa Peak (12,658 ft). Everyone else in town Instagrams the front side like tourists. You? You’ll see the VIP angle.
The descent kicks off with what seems like a 100 switchbacks. Maybe not a hundred, but enough to make you invent new curse words that future hikers will probably overhear. Along the way you’ll encounter cinematic vistas, rolling past wildflower-lined wetlands, and eventually drop into a stunning aspen grove where the light filters through like Mother Nature’s personal screensaver.
About 1.5 miles from the Trailhead, you’ll hit a killer overlook.
Stop. Sit. Stare. This isn’t optional — it’s one of the best views in the Weminuche. If you blow past it without pausing, I can’t help you as a human.
From there it’s a mellow stroll back to the car — where you’ll either high-five yourself for finishing or wonder why you didn’t just go tubing in town.
Conclusion
Overall, this hike has it all: waterfalls, alpine lakes, ridiculous peaks, and just enough existential suffering to make your beer taste better back in town. Bring trekking poles unless you enjoy collapsing like a lawn chair. And for the love of Zeus, check the weather before you attempt that exposed ridge. Lightning is not a trail snack.
And if you’re new here — this isn’t just about trails. At ThisIsPagosa.com, we share the mountain lifestyle: the hikes, the food, the hidden corners of Pagosa Springs… and yes, the real estate too, because somebody’s gotta pay for all these snacks we keep hauling into the wilderness.
Till next time, cheers.
