Trailhead: Fourth of July
Distance: 3.7 mi
Elevation Change: 1699'
Follow the trail to the Fourth of July, then head west on a poorly defined trail. I crossed the creek after about 0.4 miles, but the lakes can be reached by paralleling the creek on either side.
Trailhead: Monarch Lake
Distance: 3.7 mi
Elevation Change: 1996'
From Monarch Lake, hike 1.5 miles to the Crater Lake trail junction. Bear left and go 1.7 miles to the junction with the Buchanan Pass trail. Bear right and continue 3 miles to the junction with Pawnee Pass. Follow the trail to the right. A series of quick switchbacks deposits you at Mirror Lake. Follow the trail another quarter mile to Crater Lake.
Trailhead: Monarch Lake
Distance: 4.0 mi
Elevation Change: 2463'
From Monarch Lake, hike 1.5 miles to the Crater Lake trail junction. Bear left and go 1.7 miles to the junction with the Buchanan Pass trail. Bear left again and continue 2.2 miles to the junction with the Gourd Lake spur trail. Go left. Climb about 1250' on a series of switchbacks. After passing a small pond, continue to Gourd Lake.
Although not within the boundaries of Indian Peak Wilderness, I include it here because it's at the trailhead used to reach several IPW destinations.
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fgrunschev.com%2Fkoken%2Falbums%2Fneva-lakes%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fgrunschev.com%2Fkoken%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F001%2F449%2FIMG-1616-stitch-s%2Flarge.1724108660.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fgrunschev.com%2Fkoken%2Falbums%2Fneva-lakes%2F" title="Neva Lakes"%3ENeva Lakes%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ETrailhead%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E+Fourth+of+July%3Cbr%3E%0A%3Cstrong%3EDistance%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E+3.7+mi%3Cbr%3E%0A%3Cstrong%3EElevation+Change%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E+1699%27%0A%0AFollow+the+trail+to+the+Fourth+of+July%2C+then+head+west+on+a+poorly+defined+trail.+I+crossed+the+creek+after+about+0.4+miles%2C+but+the+lakes+can+be+reached+by+paralleling+the+creek+on+either+side.%3C/p%3E){kind=link}
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fgrunschev.com%2Fkoken%2Falbums%2Fmirror-lake-and-crater-lake%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fgrunschev.com%2Fkoken%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F001%2F466%2F2024-08-06-123917s%2Flarge.1724192042.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fgrunschev.com%2Fkoken%2Falbums%2Fmirror-lake-and-crater-lake%2F" title="Mirror Lake and Crater Lake"%3EMirror Lake and Crater Lake%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ETrailhead%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E+Monarch+Lake%3Cbr%3E%0A%3Cstrong%3EDistance%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E+3.7+mi%3Cbr%3E%0A%3Cstrong%3EElevation+Change%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E+1996%27%0A%0AFrom+Monarch+Lake%2C+hike+1.5+miles+to+the+Crater+Lake+trail+junction.+Bear+left+and+go+1.7+miles+to+the+junction+with+the+Buchanan+Pass+trail.+Bear+right+and+continue+3+miles+to+the+junction+with+Pawnee+Pass.+Follow+the+trail+to+the+right.+A+series+of+quick+switchbacks+deposits+you+at+Mirror+Lake.+Follow+the+trail+another+quarter+mile+to+Crater+Lake.%3C/p%3E){kind=link}
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fgrunschev.com%2Fkoken%2Fsets%2Fmonarch-lake-trailhead%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fgrunschev.com%2Fkoken%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F001%2F442%2F2024-08-06-080129s%2Flarge.1724105992.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fgrunschev.com%2Fkoken%2Fsets%2Fmonarch-lake-trailhead%2F" title="Monarch Lake Trailhead"%3EMonarch Lake Trailhead%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3E%3C/p%3E){kind=link}
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fgrunschev.com%2Fkoken%2Falbums%2Fgourd-lake%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fgrunschev.com%2Fkoken%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F001%2F459%2F2024-08-15-112700s%2Flarge.1724125305.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fgrunschev.com%2Fkoken%2Falbums%2Fgourd-lake%2F" title="Gourd Lake"%3EGourd Lake%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ETrailhead%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E+Monarch+Lake%3Cbr%3E%0A%3Cstrong%3EDistance%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E+4.0+mi%3Cbr%3E%0A%3Cstrong%3EElevation+Change%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E+2463%27%0A%0AFrom+Monarch+Lake%2C+hike+1.5+miles+to+the+Crater+Lake+trail+junction.+Bear+left+and+go+1.7+miles+to+the+junction+with+the+Buchanan+Pass+trail.+Bear+left+again+and+continue+2.2+miles+to+the+junction+with+the+Gourd+Lake+spur+trail.+Go+left.+Climb+about+1250%27+on+a+series+of+switchbacks.+After+passing+a+small+pond%2C+continue+to+Gourd+Lake.%3C/p%3E){kind=link}
![](https://www.tumblr.com/widgets/share/tool?posttype=photo&canonicalUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fgrunschev.com%2Fkoken%2Falbums%2Fmonarch-lake%2F&content=http%3A%2F%2Fgrunschev.com%2Fkoken%2Fstorage%2Fcache%2Fimages%2F001%2F443%2F2024-08-06-164344s%2Flarge.1724105995.jpg&caption=%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3E%3Ca href="http%3A%2F%2Fgrunschev.com%2Fkoken%2Falbums%2Fmonarch-lake%2F" title="Monarch Lake"%3EMonarch Lake%3C/a%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EAlthough+not+within+the+boundaries+of+Indian+Peak+Wilderness%2C+I+include+it+here+because+it%27s+at+the+trailhead+used+to+reach+several+IPW+destinations.%3C/p%3E){kind=link}