Sea of Sage, Lost Dog and Broken Shovel Loop

Sea of Sage, Lost Dog and Broken Shovel Loop

The Sea of Sage, Lost Dog and Broken Shovel Loop is located in the Hartman Rocks Recreation area. The area is popular for camping, hiking, biking, and climbing and is well used. The trail begins near some campsites near the middle of the area. Make sure to bring your own water as there is none that I saw anywhere in the park.

Getting Started

Sea of Sage begins at a small camping area with a pit toilet to mark where the parking spots are. The signs are a little hard to find from the car so you may want to have a map with you when you go, especially your first time. The entire area is full of interconnected trails and there are several options to take and loop around so you can make your loop up, I arrived later in the day and was fighting the fading light so I did a shorter loop trail.

Sea of Sage Trail

The Sea of Sage Trail starts out this loop and starts as a wider road before quickly turning into a narrow single rut trail. There is no cover at all on the trail and that becomes obvious as you start your way up and away from the trailhead. The first section here is about a mile and third and will cover all of the uphill section of the hike. It isn’t much, just over two hundred feet of elevation gain in that initial mile and a third, but it is noticeable.

Sea of Sage isn’t the most scenic section of the trail, mostly it is low sagebrush and hill tops covered with rocks. The views don’t really get nice until you make the turn towards the Lost Dog. I still enjoyed the more desert style hiking of small plants and hard packed dirt.

Lost Dog Trail

After the mile, the trail will come to a junction where you can keep going straight to get to a road or curve to the right to meet up with the Lost Dog trail to head back to the west. I took Lost Dog and that is where the views really started to impress.

Lost Dog is just over half a mile long from this junction and is mostly flat, if not a little downhill. Since it is at the top of a small hill the views show the whole area that you have just walked from and I found it really pretty. The trail does a great job of showcasing the rolling hills and mesas of the Gunnison area.

Broken Shovel Trail

Lost Dog is short and soon you will come to another junction with the Broken Shovel Trail. If you take Broken Shovel to the right, it will head northwest and lead you back to the trailhead to complete the loop. Left will take you deeper back into the park.

From this direction, Broken Arrow is all downhill and lasts about eight-tenths of a mile. It is a really nice and gradual descent back down the 200 or so feet that lead you up to this point. The best views are when you get on the trail from Lost Dog. You are still high enough to see the valley, hills and mesa’s before they get below the horizon.

The views disappear but the hike is still really nice and relaxing. It isn’t very challenging and the hardest part is avoiding bikes as they cruise by. I really like hiking in areas like this. It is a big contrast from the pine trees of the Front Range of Colorado and really shows the diversity of lands in this state.

Video of the Sea of Sage, Lost Dog and Broken Shovel loop.

I have put this time-lapse video together of hiking the Sea of Sage loop so other hikers can get a feel of what the hike is like. If you enjoy this video make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel. It is free to subscribe and you will get the latest outdoor content.

Distance and Elevation

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 2.8 miles and had a total elevation gain of about 223 feet including undulations. That put the high point at around 8,307 feet. I was also moving for a total of 58 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 entire loop is really nice and easy. The trail does get narrow at times and there are a lot of bikes to avoid but for the most part it is an easy trail. There is only a couple hundred feet of elevation gain over the nearly 3 mile loop which shouldn’t be much of a problem. It is exposed so make sure you are prepared for sun and weather.

Terrain

The three trails that make up this loop are all very similar. This is a very popular mountain and dirt bike area so the trails are more narrow than most hiking trails. They are also very packed down from all the bikes. For a section, there is a dirt road that makes up the trail. The most important thing to know is how exposed this area is. There are no trees in sight and you will be completely exposed to the sun and elements. Please make sure to take sun protection.

Access to the Sea of Sage, Lost Dog and Broken Shovel Loop

The Sea of Sage loop is part of the Hartman Rocks Recreation Area south of Gunnison, Colorado. This is an expansive recreation area and Sea of Sage is near the middle down a long dirt road. There are several campsites around the trailhead and a pit toilet. There is parking for 3 or 4 cars and no fees for Hartman rocks.

Wrapping up the Sea of Sage, Lost Dog and Broken Shovel Loop

The Sea of Sage, Lost Dog and Broken Shovel Loop in the Hartman Rocks Recreation Area outside of Gunnison, Colorado was a really enjoyable and easy hike. It was the perfect hike to do as I got into town late and just wanted to get out and stretch my legs. There are so many cool trails in the Hartman Rocks Area that I wish I had more time.

The trail is very exposed and can get very hot, so make sure you are prepared with sun protection and protection from wind and rain. Otherwise, this is a pretty easy hike that has some nice views of the surrounding lands and plenty of rocks and sage!

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 or you can follow me on any of the below social media platforms. Happy Hiking!

Gallery of the Sea of Sage, Lost Dog and Broken Shovel Loop