Hike Gold Dust Peak and Pika Peak via Lake Charles Trail White River National Forest, CO

Directions

Route Map

Download GPX

Gold Dust Peak and Pika Peak via Lake Charles Trail GPX Track

I need to offset my substantial website costs somehow! You can download a hike/drive GPX to assist you here. Before sharing my GPX tracks with others, please remember my site is otherwise a free resource.

Add to Cart

View Cart

Aug 21, 2025 — The Holy Cross Wilderness is most well-known for its sole 14, Mount of the Holy Cross, as well as for various 13ers around Halo Ridge, but while many of the peaks in the wilderness are less-visited, they still reflect the beauty of the range. Today I was hiking two such 13ers accessed from Eagle CO, starting with Gold Dust Peak, then taking its south ridge to traverse over to Pika Peak.

Fulford Cave Campground served as my trailhead, the parking lot located just past the campers. This trailhead is surprisingly popular for being quite a drive, but mostly for folks heading up to the cave or for backpackers heading to Lake Charles and Mystical Island Lake. The roads were good and any car can make it, at least until the last mile where passenger vehicles might need more caution.

I started from the trailhead along doubletrack, but the Lake Charles Trail wasted no time ditching it, slipping into a lush and forested walk. The trail follows the East Brush Creek drainage for nearly its entirety, but only sometimes directly next to the flowing water. Occasionally the trees opened up a bit and I got views into the marshes/meadows within the valley around me.

The trail climbed steeper as I worked my way toward Lake Charles, and a good view of Fools Creek Peak on the horizon was my cue to leave the main trail and aim northeast up a nondescript drainage. A faint social trail led the way for a bit before fading, but cairns appeared now and then, not so much to mark a trail, but enough to smugly suggest I wasn’t lost. I managed to avoid most of the brush within the drainage, and eventually, I popped above treeline.

I ditched the drainage for a grassy ramp heading north, then cruised across tundra toward Gold Dust Peak’s base. A view toward the saddle separating my two peaks revealed a pair of rock spires that would later define the day’s Class 3 entertainment. But first came the steep initial grassy scramble up to gain Gold Dust Peak’s southwest slope. Once there, I was surprised to find basically a sea of talus completely covering the slope. In fact, much of the views and terrain above treeline out here was bare talus in every direction, uncharacteristic of the green tundra I look forward to most in Colorado, but I still gawked at the impressive north face of Fools Peak and the bright blue lakes below.

Eventually I reached Gold Dust Peak’s summit, then continued along the ridgeline toward Pika Peak for the traverse. The ridge began with a surprise nearly-knife-edge section with a couple of Class 3 moves, before arcing south and dropping while maintaining consistent Class 2 boulder-hopping all the way to the saddle. A loose dirt section had me clawing at loose rock for a brief moment, but otherwise it was an uneventful descent.

I reached a pair of rock spires at the saddle, which guarded the way. I wrapped left around the first since the right side was far too steep, fortunately locating a Class 3 chute on its opposite side to gain the notch between the first and second spires. I then chose to wrap to the right around the second spire, finding it fairly tame and straightforward on blocky ledges.

Past the spires, a few sketchy feet of loose terrain gave way to genuinely fun scrambling. I kept right of the crest, opting for a chunky, more civilized Class 2+/3 route that led me up to Pika Peak. The final stretch was an ascending traverse over enjoyable rock that made me grin like an idiot all the way to the summit.

From Pika Peak, I gazed southeast toward Mount of the Holy Cross, then turned west to descend terrain very similar to that which I experienced up Gold Dust Peak. The descent was mostly Class 2 talus-hopping, followed by grassy slopes littered with some small cliffs to navigate. I found a wide gully to get through cliffs lower down. I then dipped back under treeline, where it took a tiny bit of navigating to avoid brush and outcroppings, but I soon rejoined the Lake Charles Trail at the lake itself and headed back to the trailhead.

PEAKS ON HIKE
Elevation (ft) / Prominence (ft)

Peaks on hike

Elevation

Prominence

Gold Dust Peak

13398 ft

914 rise

Pika Peak

13129 ft

514 rise

Hire me or show me some love!

Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I'm not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!

The Lake Charles Trail veers away from the doubletrack shortly after starting from the trailhead.

The Lake Charles Trail is lush.

Little meadows and swamps pop in once in a while.

And sometimes it lingers next to the sounds of East Brush Creek.

View south through the trees along the Lake Charles Trail.

Some steeper ascending as I made progress up to Lake Charles.

Fools Peak seen on the horizon. A bit before reaching Lake Charles, I left the Lake Charles Trail in order to ascend northeast through a drainage with some flowing water.

A social trail led up this drainage for some time, but it was difficult to follow. Mostly, cairns just aided in avoiding little cliffs along the watercourse.

I was able to avoid most of the brush, but sometimes I made mistakes and ended up talus-hopping or bushwhacking for a few feet.

Looking back as I continue up the drainage off-trail.

The drainage was pretty and very green, and while I had no trouble following its trajectory, I'm sure there are more efficient micro-routefinding choices I could have made.

I emerged above treeline and into the talus slope below Gold Dust Peak (left) and Pika Peak (right). I left the drainage and ascended the grassy slope on the left here, heading north.

Tundra hiking for a bit to the base of Gold Dust Peak, seen ahead.

A view toward the traverse I'll be on later between the two peaks. Note the two rock spires seen at the saddle: wrapping around those would be the Class 3 crux of the day.

View back at my progress up the tundra.

Class 2 scramble to gain Gold Dust Peak's southwest slope. It was steep, but not troublesome.

A view back down the steep ascent. Fools Peak seen top left. I came up from the center of this photo.

I soon reached the southwest slope, view back down. Pika Peak top left.

Close-up at the Class 2 slope.

Class 2 up to the summit. Short sections of grassier terrain broke up the predominantly talus schlep.

Nearing Gold Dust Peak, view back at the Class 2.

Gold Dust Peak, view north toward New York Lake. Finnegan Peak seen right.

Close-up into the valley housing New York Lake.

Onward for the traverse to Pika Peak. Seen here I'm looking back toward Gold Dust Peak along a surprise near-knife edge scramble with a couple of Class 3 moves.

The ridge curved south and began descending from Gold Dust Peak. Big Spruce Lake seen on the left, Pika Peak far right. Mount of the Holy Cross top left.

View back up toward Gold Dust Peak as I kept along the ridgeline, or just beneath it.

A steep, loose Class 2 section.

Looking back at some broken terrain along the crest.

Nothing exceeded Class 2 until reaching the saddle below.

Some more loose Class 2 to reach a pair of rock spires at the saddle. I wrapped to the left (east) around the first, which is seen center.

After wrapping around the first, a chute led up to a Class 3 series of moves seen above.

View back down the Class 3 moves, Big Spruce Lake seen below.

I then wrapped to the right (west) around the second rock spire, Class 2+.

Now past the second spire, a bit more Class 2/3 terrain (depending on your route choice) leads up. The initial 50 feet was loose and dangerous, but I found the subsequent part to be pretty fun.

View back toward the second and first spires, Gold Dust Peak top left.

Close-up back down at the loose ascent.

I kept to the right of the crest from here because it looked far too steep, using a must more reasonable Class 2/2+ chunky and broken face to gain the summit.

An ascending traverse up this fun, blocky route to Pika Peak's summit.

Nearing the summit of Pika Peak, view back along the traverse to Gold Dust Peak.

Pika Peak just ahead.

Pika Peak summit, view southeast. Mount of the Holy Cross seen left of center, Mount Jackson far left.

I descended west from Pika Peak on terrain very similar to the approach for Gold Dust Peak. Fools Peak seen left.

Class 2 talus-hopping for a while. Lake Charles, my next landmark, seen below.

There were a couple of little cliffs to avoid on my way down, but overall it was a straightforward descent choice. Fools Peak seen right.

Looking back, I found what seemed to be a wide, key gully yo get past the little cliffs, seen here.

I then dipped back under treeline and found my way back to the Lake Charles Trail. I managed to avoid pretty much all bushwhacking.

Along the Lake Charles Trail once again.

Lake Charles, view up toward Fools Peak.

Hire me or show me some love!

Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I’m not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!