| Distance | 4.25 mi |
| Elevation Gain | 863 feet |
| My Time | 1 hr 57 min |
| Difficulty | Moderate |
| Closest Town | Idaho Sps. |
| Food Nearby | El Rancho |
Mestaa’ėhehe Mountain formerly Squaw Mountain
A few weeks back I hiked Chief Mountain and really enjoyed the hike and the view. On the way to the trailhead I saw a sign for the Squaw Mountain (to be renamed Mestaa’ėhehe Mountain) hike and decided I wanted to give that a try as well. It is a gorgeous area and I was excited to make it back.
Getting Started
In the winter the hike to Mestaa’ėhehe Mountain, formerly Squaw Mountain, is a bit longer as the deep snow makes the road unavailable. There is room for a few cars to park at the beginning of the road and you will have to hike up the road from there.
The road is relatively easy as it is a dirt fire service road. In the winter the snow on this very popular trail gets pretty pocked up. That made footing a little tough and your ankles will not be happy after!
The trail itself is fairly simple. The fire road makes for a simple walk and there is a steady but not terrible incline in the teens to low twenty percent grade throughout the hike.
Halfway Home
When you get about halfway up the trail the trees start to thin out a bit and the views of the surrounding mountains really come into view.
This is around the mile and a half point and the trail gets really enjoyable from this point going forward. At the 1.8 mile mark of the hike you will come to a T-intersection with a chance to go left or right. To the right is the peak of Mestaa’ėhehe Mountain, formerly Squaw Mountain, and you will be able to see the observation post.
Mestaa’ėhehe Mountain, Formerly Squaw Mountain
The peak of the mountain contains this sturdy looking fire lookout post. I did find out that you can actually rent this fire lookout for the evening and it comes with a few amenities. There were signs up saying that the tower was currently rented and the trail up to it was closed. The views from the base were still pretty stunning.
After the Mestaa’ėhehe Mountain, formerly Squaw Mountain, peak I decided to head down the other spur of the trail. This lead to a broadcast tower and facility. There is a gate but it was open but there is a possibility of limited access to this area. The spur ends and a power station on the north-western part of the mountain with some views of the northern part of the range.
Squaw Mountain Video (Now named Mestaa’ėhehe Mountain)
Elevation and Distance
If you don’t have the AllTrails app you might want to check it out, I really love mine. It records your progress and is a great way to search for hikes that are nearby and gives you difficulty measurements. According to AllTrails today’s hike was around 4.25 miles and had a total elevation gain of about 863 feet including undulations. That put the high point at around 11,444 feet. I was also moving for a total of 1 hour and 57 minutes.
I am a Pro member of Alltrails and love it. If you are interested in the platform, please consider using my affiliate link for AllTrails. It gives me a small commission with no extra cost to you.
Effort
This was a bit more effort than I was expecting. The hike is up a steep service road which isn’t too bad but on the day I went it was covered in about a foot of snow. The trail is very popular so the snow was pretty pot holed which made for tricky footing. My Fitbit watch broke during the sand storm of my last hike so I don’t have step count. I did get a new Garmin watch which doesn’t collect step count data but it does give a pace data which I will add to here as a test.
Terrain
The Squaw Mountain trail is a fairly easy walk up a fire service road. The road is about 2 lanes wide in most places so plenty of room to hike in a group. On the April day that I went the snow was still about a foot to eighteen inches deep. This is a very busy trail and the snow was very pock marked which made some of the footing tricky.
Access
The Mestaa’ėhehe Mountain, formerly Squaw Mountain, trail is located on CO-103 just above the Echo Mountain Ski area. There is very limited parking on the side of the road that could fit about 5 cars. There are no restroom facilities available. In the summer months there is some parking up the road but only high clearance vehicles will be able to make the road.
Wrapping up Mestaa’ėhehe Mountain, formerly Squaw Mountain
I really enjoyed my trip up to Mestaa’ėhehe Mountain, formerly Squaw Mountain. The trail itself is an easier fire road but it does have a pretty steep elevation gain. It is also at around 11,000 feet so it might be a struggle for some who are not used to the altitude.
The higher you go up the trail the better the views get. The mountains are obscured for most of the bottom half of the trail but once you get a bit above the tree line the views get pretty spectacular. I really enjoyed it as it isn’t too challenging and leads to some great views on a shorter trail.
I have added this hike and all of my hikes to the interactive map page you can find here. If you have any suggestions for hikes or comments feel free to email me at fatmanlittletrails@gmail.com. You can follow me on any of the below social media platforms. Happy Hiking!
