Winter Activities with Trail Skills, Inc., the Outfitting Service at
Lost Trail Ranch
Providing a wide array of winter activities and adventures, high in the San Juan Mountains of Southwestern Colorado
Trail Skills, Inc. is our family owned and operating Outfitting Services here at Lost Trail Ranch.
Permitted by the U.S. Forest Service. Colorado Outfitters Lic. #1566
For an unforgettable winter adventure in the snowy wilderness of Southwestern Colorado, Trail Skills provides Guests with the incredible opportunity of a wide variety of exciting winter activities, from guided snow shoe or back country skiing tours, to snowcaving and winter wilderness survival clinics.
About Our Winter Activities
Trail Skills, Inc. is our family owned and operating outfitting services here at Lost Trail Ranch. We offer fully guided winter activities deep in the snow country of the Weminuche Wilderness and the Rio Grande National Forest. There is no better way to enjoy the unsurpassed winter wilderness experience. Although many of our winter guests come here to partake in their own schedules and preferences, we are available to provide you and your group with guided winter adventures! Don't hesitate to ask us to plan on guiding a snowshoe or back country ski tour on your first day here to point out the trails and help you become acclimated with this beautiful mountain!
From our day trips of guided snow shoeing or back country skiing, heading out after a comfortable night spent in one of our warm, private Guest Cabins; to our Winter Wilderness Survival Camps, lead by the knowledgeable and experienced Ernie Wilkenson; to our access to miles and miles of both groomed and untouched trails opened to snow shoers, skiers, and snow mobilers; Trail Skills Inc. provides our Guests with extreme winter activities in a pristine snow covered wilderness.
Guiding, lessons and rental equipment may all be arranged through Lost Trail Ranch, and all activities are available right from the front door of each of our Guest Cabins. Once you're here, it's all available!
Please note that our winter Guests may choose to partake in our Outfitting Services, and/or come enjoy our comfortable cabins, and enjoy the mountains on their own! The choice is yours... but if winter adventures are your thing, this is the place for you!
We are pleased to now offer GUIDED SNOWSHOE TOURS
We once read, "if you can walk, you can snow shoe." Better believe it! In fact, up here in the winter, it's easier to snow shoe than to walk. We have some beautiful, deep snow! Snowshoeing is an activity just about any one can participate in. Up here, there are some of the most pristine and private trails you can imagine. We maintain our own snowshoe routes, and here, crowds simply do not exist. Our guests are welcome to head out on their own, just follow our tracks... or if you'd prefer, we do offer very exclusive snowshoe guiding. It is our pleasure to show you the back country in the winter, in the most quiet, peaceful, and environmentally respectful manner we possibly can. This is an incredible experience words simply can not describe.
Pricing for guided snowshoe or cross country skiing: $25 per person, per hour. There is a two person minimum, and tours can last from 1 hour to 6 hours. Our trips range from a beginner's tour at a nice, leisurely pace, about 2 hours long... to a pretty intense 6 hour tour with a well deserved break for lunch mid way! (Catering is optional and additional.) And for a truly special event, come join us for a full moon tour!
And a note for our SNOWMOBILE guests
Approximately half of our winter guests come here to cross country ski or snowshoe, while the other half come for the back country snowmobile adventures that begin right from the front door of the cabins and head out up and over the Divide. With only two winterized guest cabins, that's still not too many folks (and noise, tracks, traffic, etc.) on this mountain!
Although we maintain many trails nearby to the ranch for easier access for our cross country skiers and snow shoers, there are miles and miles of unlimited trails and powder. We ask that the nearby trails and parks are kept pristine and groomed only for the "foot traffic," while the "motorized traffic" has huge parks and adventures awaiting just around the corner!
So, for the cross country skiers and snowshoers, Lost Trail Ranch is an incredible winter paradise - just get your skis or snow shoes on right on your front porch, and head out for an hour or all day! And for the snowmobiler - if experiencing some the most incredible back country trails, staying off the groomed "highway", getting away from crowds, and riding the Divide sound good to you, it's worth the trip to come to Lost Trail Ranch.
Oh, and if any of you are like our family - some of you snowshoe while others snowmobile - you can all find your own paradise here at Lost Trail Ranch!
Renting Equipment
We do not rent equipment here at Lost Trail Ranch, but we would recommend that if you need to rent snow shoes, poles or cross country skis, please get in touch with San Juan Sports in Creede. see the web page http://www.creede.com/businessdirectory/frontend/view_buslist.asp?c=5
For snowmobile rental, you may want to try Rio Grande Enterprises just this side of Creede.