Mayflower Lakes - 5.2 Miles Round-Trip

The Mayflower Lakes are located high above Breckenridge at 11,365' along the Spruce Creek Trail. While there is one main body of water, the name's plurality comes come various tarns - or glacial pools - and small water pockets near the lake's main outlet. The Spruce Creek Trail is open to hiking, fishing, backpacking, mountain biking and winter recreation, but no motorized vehicles are allowed.

The trail heads west over Spruce Creek (.1 miles) and climbs steadily through a mix of lodgepole, aspen and Engelmann spruce for 1.4 miles to the Wheeler Trail junction (1.5 miles : 10,974'), also known as the Wheeler National Recreation Trail. The landscape opens considerably past the split in a large, marshy meadow with impressive views of Mt Helen (13,164'). Look for deer, elk, moose and grouse in this food-rich habitat. Visitors are encouraged to admire the fragile marsh ecosystem from its edge and avoid treading on sensitive vegetation.

The trail skirts the meadow, re-enters the forest and climbs .6 miles to a clearing at an intersection with Spruce Creek Road and two green utility sheds (2.1 miles : 11,151'). It runs into the dam of a small reservoir about 100 yards past the utility sheds and veers right toward signs for Mayflower and Mohawk Lakes. It resumes in a thinning forest past mining and homestead ruins (2.5 miles : 11,331') to the edge of Mayflower Lakes (2.6 miles : 11,365').

Close examination reveals a single body of water flanked by numerous outlying ponds to the east, a collection of disjointed pools rather than a second 'formal' lake. Those wanting a longer, more arduous adventure should consider hiking past Mayflower Lakes to Lower Mohawk Lake (11,861') and Upper Mohawk Lake (12,110').