About Bridal Veil Falls and Spouting Rock
Few waterfalls could take your breath away, but the Bridal Veil Falls at Hanging Lake pretty much did just that – both literally and figuratively.
This waterfall was actually modestly-sized (possibly 40ft tall) as it was wider than it was tall when we saw it in mid-April 2017.
However, as you can see from the picture you see above that size wasn’t the only thing this waterfall had going for it.
Indeed, that photo only hinted at the breathtaking scene with its colorful yet clear lake fronting a wide travertine waterfall.
The landscape was also flanked by tall cliffs with more cascades further downstream as well as a great view of the canyon carved out by Dead Horse Creek.
It was the kind of scene that reminded Julie and I of places like the Plitvice Lakes in Croatia, or Jiuzhaigou in China, or even the Havasu Falls.
In all of those examples, the clear water amongst travertine dams and waterfalls created a feast for the eyes and made us not want to leave.
As if that wasn’t enough, there was a very impressive waterfall further upstream called Spouting Rock, where quite literally, the falls gushed out of a cliff in dramatic fashion.
That secondary waterfall even let us go behind it, while it also featured a pool of its own with an idyllic setting.
Heck, that even compelled our daughter to pick out a little nook in a rock and treat it like her couch looking out towards the pool.
The high scenic rating we’re giving this combination of Bridal Veil Falls and Spouting Rock was reflective of the consensus amongst Julie, Tahia, and I that it was the waterfalling highlight of our Spring Break Desert Southwest trip.
About the Hike to Hanging Lake, Bridal Veil Falls, and Spouting Rock
In addition to taking our collective breaths away in terms of sheer beauty, it also did so physically.
That was because as the name of the place suggested, the lake was “hanging”.
So that meant, we had to go on a hike that was relentlessly climbing to even get up to the famed Hanging Lake.
Since the lake itself was said to be at an elevation of over 7,000ft, it also meant that the air was thin and our lungs were beating harder in an effort to get as much oxygen as possible in the thin Rocky Mountain air.
Even though the hike had a modest round-trip distance of 4 miles to take in both Spouting Rock and Bridal Veil Falls, it still took us as a family about 3.5 hours away from the car to complete and ejoy the entire excursion.
By the way, it was about 3.2 miles round trip just to get up to Hanging Lake and Bridal Veil Falls alone.
Therefore, given the demands of the Hanging Lake Trail, I’d say that in order to have a good time with the Bridal Veil Falls and Spouting Rock, an early start would do you some good.
It would help out both in terms of finding parking as well as ensuring that there’d be more available shade to take rest breaks along the way.
It would also tax your body less as a good chunk of the trail was exposed to sun.
Hanging Lake Trail Description – from the trailhead to Dead Horse Creek
The hike began from the Hanging Lake Rest Area, which was an exit right off the I-70 (see directions below).
From the parking lot and restroom area next to a man-made lake on the Colorado River, a paved and flat trail followed along its north shore for about a half-mile.
This part of the trail was already scenic in that the lake was flanked by tall cliffs and the lake created opportunities for those reflection shots.
Another thing we noticed about this part of the hike was that most of this section of the park was devoid of the I-70 highway noise (at least until we got closer to the half-mile point).
It was a testament to the community activism that was involved to force the development of the interstate to preserve the character of Hanging Lake Park even if it meant higher development costs.
That said, environmental costs are typically externalized so perhaps the “increased” cost was more indicative of the true cost of having the highway in the first place.
Once we were at the half-mile point, there was a bridge over Dead Horse Creek, a small cascade on the creek itself, as well as a smaller restroom facility.
On the near side of the bridge, the Hanging Lake Trail began to climb in earnest as it left the concrete path and became more of a conventional dirt and rock trail.
It climbed almost immediately past a large scree and boulder field and ultimately followed along Dead Horse Creek.
The trail was quite obvious and easy to follow as this very popular trail had gotten a lot of use over the years.
On the far side of the bridge, the concrete path continued along the north shore of the man-made lake towards the highway noise from the I-70.
Naturally, we proceeded to climb up the Hanging Lake Trail, and it didn’t take long before we understood why the park signage rated this trail as “strenuous.”
Hanging Lake Trail Description – hiking up along Dead Horse Creek to Bridal Veil Falls
The Hanging Lake Trail ascended up several inclines and zig-zagged switchbacks, which caused us to take frequent water breaks.
The entire time, the ascending trail was flanked by vertical cliffs while also ascending alongside minor cascades on Dead Horse Creek.
So the scenic distractions somewhat helped to take our minds momentarily off the physical exertion.
In addition, we noticed that bridges were sequentially numbered, and we saw quarter-mile posts acting as “milestones” (or progress indicators) to further distract us from the physical challenge.
Nevertheless, the relentless climb meant that we made very slow progress.
Heck, we wound up climbing so high that we even got to spots where snow was still covering parts of the trail!
Eventually after what seemed like forever, the trail made a turn away from the canyon carved out by the West Fork Dead Horse Creek.
Then, it started hugging the tall cliffs segregating the West Fork and East Fork of Dead Horse Creek.
This cliff-hugging section was narrow but contained railings to help assure and protect us from the dropoffs.
It also involved a steep and pretty dramatic climb up steep rock steps.
The higher we went, the more dramatic the views became when we looked back down the main canyon.
Eventually, after cresting this dramatic ascent, we encountered a trail junction where the trail on the left continued to ascend towards Spouting Rock while there was a boardwalk on the right leading to Hanging Lake and the Bridal Veil Falls.
Naturally, we did the latter first, and after all the work it took to get up here, we were quite relieved to finally see Bridal Veil Falls and Hanging Lake.
Indeed, it was well worth it!
At the Hanging Lake, in addition to the scenery, we also noticed fish in the lake.
There were benches alongside most of the boardwalk for sitting and viewing, and there was also a viewing platform right in the middle of the semi-circular boardwalk.
Despite how much work it took to get up here, this area was still very busy.
We never recalled a moment where there was no one here though admittedly, we showed up right at midday and easily spent an hour here.
Hanging Lake Trail Description – continuing to Spouting Rock
Back at the trail junction, we then continued upwards to the Spouting Rock.
As we did this, the trail continued its ascent (albeit less steep), and followed the base of more tall cliffs before heading right to the dramatic spring.
The trail allowed us to go right behind the Spouting Rock Waterfall.
Moreover, like Hanging Lake, this spot was also very popular so it would be difficult to take people-free photos.
Spouting Rock also featured a plunge pool of its own though it was shallower and featured less travertine than Bridal Veil Falls and Hanging Lake.
That said, we thought the waterfall here was pretty impressive as I’m guessing it had a height of around 60ft.
When we had our fill of this both waterfalls, we then descended back down the way we came.
Since the trail was mostly downhill, it only took us 70 minutes to return to the parking lot (as opposed to over 2 hours that it took us to get up to Hanging Lake).
Authorities
Bridal Veil Falls and Spouting Rock reside in the White River National Forest near the town of Glenwood Springs in Garfield County, Colorado. It is administered by the USDA Forest Service. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions and permits, visit the USDA Forest Service website or Glenwood Springs website.
We happened to drive to the Hanging Lake Rest Area from Grand Junction even though the nearest major town was Glenwood Springs.
So we’ll describe the driving directions from Grand Junction since that was how we did it.
We’ll also describe the driving directions coming from Denver.
Driving from Grand Junction to Hanging Lake Rest Area
So from Grand Junction, we continued driving east on the I-70.
We pretty much followed this high-speed interstate for about 94 miles.
Note that the Rifle exit was about 59 miles east of Grand Junction and Glenwood Springs was about 85 miles east of Grand Junction.
We then took the exit 125 for Hanging Lake on the right (just before the I-70 entered a tunnel).
The off-ramp pretty much took us right past a dam and onto the parking lot for Hanging Lake.
Overall, this drive would take about 90 minutes without stops.
Driving from Denver to Hanging Lake Rest Area
Coming from Denver, we would drive west on the I-70 for roughly 140 miles to the exit 121 for the Grizzly Creek Rest Area.
This exit was actually past the Hanging Lake exit, but there’s no such exit for westbound lanes on the I-70.
That’s why the signage would have us exit, then go under the freeway and get back on the I-70 going east before finally taking the exit 125 for Hanging Lake.
Overall, this drive would take about 2.5 hours without stops.
For context, Grand Junction was 243 miles (under 4 hours drive) west of Denver, 167 miles (3.5 hours drive) north of Durango, 113 miles (under 2 hours drive) east of Moab, Utah, and 284 miles (4.5 hours drive) southeast of Salt Lake City, Utah. It would be 775 miles (12 hour drive) from Los Angeles.
Find A Place To Stay
Long video starting from the far right side of the boardwalk before slowly walking all the way over to the far left side of the boardwalk all the while examining the falls and the colorful lake
Long video showing the approach to the Spouting Rock and then examining the surrounding cliffs as well as the falls before the video ends behind the falls
Checking out an intermediate cascade that was just downstream of Hanging Lake
Related Trip Reports
Related Top 10 Lists
Related Itineraries
Trip Planning Resources
Nearby Accommodations
Featured Images and Nearby Attractions
Visitor Comments:
Got something you'd like to share or say to keep the conversation going? Feel free to leave a comment below...No users have replied to the content on this page
Visitor Reviews of this Waterfall:
If you have a waterfall story or write-up that you'd like to share, feel free to click the button below and fill out the form...No users have submitted a write-up/review of this waterfall
Nearest Waterfalls
