Mount Garfield near Grand Junction, Colorado is considered a classic hike by the locals. It's popular for being steep, the presence of wild horses sometimes seen on the trail, it's dramatic terrain (steep cliffs and adobe hills) and great views.

Carrie and I had a big breakfast at Starvin Arvin's before the hike. Honestly, we were both a bit glum about the 1800 feet of gain in 1.8 miles, but off we went anyway.

The first section of the trail is basically straight up an adobe clay slope. We gained 300 feet in the first 10 minutes on this slope. Then a rockier, but still steep section got us another 300 feet in 8 more minutes. 18 minutes in and we are 1/3 done... maybe this won't be that bad!

The trail would continue like that, really steep sections, then a bench... so on and so forth to the summit. We both thought the coolest section of the trail was the traverse under the cliff bands at around 6400 feet. This section is a bit eerie with a large drop-off on one side, but it is on a good trail.

Eventually you reach the final plateau to the summit. The summit has great views of the Roan Cliffs, town of Grand Junction, Grand Mesa and Uncompahgre Plateau.

All things said, this was a great, and somewhat quick, trip. Not as tough on our legs as we thought.

We simply used Google Maps and Mount Garfield trailhead to get there. Do beware that after rainstorms, the tunnel under the Interstate is prone to flooding.

See the GPS track above. Do note that in many locations there are a spider web of trails. Take time to study the terrain for the most used trail, although most of these side trails quickly merge back in.