The “Three Pass Loop”: East Snowmass to Snowmass

Descending from Willow Pass down into Minnehaha Creek, July 17th. Click to enlarge.

With the Sheep Mountain 50K coming up on August 1st (possibly the only trail race I’ll end up running in 2020) it was time to ramp up the miles and get some longer days in. This summer I’ve really tried to take advantage of the diversity of trails accessible from relatively close to home and explore some new routes to keep things interesting. In the spirit of continuing that I decided to head over to Snowmass Village and check out a cool route known colloquially as the “Three Pass Loop”.

Upper-East Snowmass Creek heading towards the first pass of the day. That’s Pt. 13,336 dead ahead, which Steve and I climbed back in 2016 as part of our Sleeping Sexton linkup.

The Three Pass Loop is a classic which shares a lot of similar traits, scenery, and even a few miles of trail with the more popular Four Pass Loop… it’s just slightly shorter and easier logistically to pull off. For one thing, East Snowmass and Snowmass Creeks see a lot less traffic these days than the traditional Four Pass Loop trails. By far and away the most people I ran into all day came along the 5 or so miles the two routes have in common. It’s also nice that the Three Pass starts and ends at the Snowmass Creek Trailhead so no reservation or shuttle is required. A far cry from the logistical nightmare that Maroon Lake is quickly turning into.

At the top of the first pass near mile 7.5, looking south. Click to enlarge.

The loop traces out a big circle around Willoughby Mountain, heading up and over the unnamed pass separating East Snowmass and Willow Creeks, over Willow Pass, then over Buckskin Pass before descending down Snowmass Creek proper back to the trailhead. It can be run in either direction; I chose clockwise on this day because I started a little late and wanted to get up and over the passes sooner rather than later to avoid any potential weather.

Some really nice alpine running to be had through upper-Willow Creek.

It really was a perfect day for running; sunny but with lots of clouds moving through the area to keep things cool. All the spring moisture really turned the area nice and green. Lots of blooming wildflowers dotted the landscape.

Don’t miss the trail split in Willow Creek – left heads down to Willow Lake while right heads up and over Willow Pass.

Willow Pass looking south towards North Maroon and Sleeping Sexton. Click to enlarge.

After dropping down off of Willow Pass I hung a right and made quick work up to Buckskin Pass. From there I had pretty much all the elevation gain over and done with for the day only 11 miles in. Another nice thing about this loop is it’s a pretty consistent climb for 5,000 feet followed by a consistent descent. Not a lot of ups and downs which tends to lend towards longer stretches of runnable terrain.

Up and over Buckskin Pass with Snowmass Lake next up on the agenda.

I opted for a pit stop on the shore of Snowmass Lake, which I had only been to once before when we backpacked the Four Pass Loop in 2014. It’s a really rewarding place not too easily attained from any trailhead no matter what your mode of travel.

At the lake with some dark clouds starting to form overhead. Click to enlarge.

I made quick work of the final 9 miles from the lake down to the car, which is almost entirely downhill. It was my first time on the Snowmass Creek Trail as I’ve always climbed Snowmass Mountain from the Lead King side. Pretty cool to finally see that trail and drainage especially in this fashion.

From the parking lot it was just a short jog back to my car at the East Snowmass Creek TH, which capped off the ~23 mile loop in just under 5 hours.

A Google Earth rendering of the loop with my GPX track overlaid. Final stats came out to 23.7 miles and 5,632 ft. Click to enlarge.

And with that Brian, Zambo and I are off to the Sheep Mountain 50K in just a few days here. Should be nice to finally run a trail race again…

Cheers!