Total Mileage/Elevation: 5-13 Miles
Location: 8 miles west of Campo, CO
This Trail is Good for: Hiking, trail running, horseback riding, birding, mountain biking
Dispersed Camping Nearby: Camping at the parking lot area
Forest Service Campground Nearby: None nearby
Pets: yes, on leash with people around or under control
Duration of Hike: 3-7 hours
Possible Loops: yes, you can connect this hike with the Homestead and Arch Rock Trails. You can also only do the outer loop of the Outlaw Trail.
Time of Year I Hiked the Trail: late April
Time to Nearest Town: Campo is 30 minutes away and Springfield is 45 minutes away.
Condition of Approach Roads: Well maintained gravel roads to main Parking lot area. Roads within Picture Canyon allotment are unmaintained two track roads where 4WD and average clearance is recommended. You can get stuck in sand if you aren’t careful and they can become very slick in rainy weather.
Directions to the Trailhead
In the town of Campo turn west at the Campo Café building on the main street (Hwy 287). Cross the railroad tracks and drive 8 miles west on CR J. At CR 18 turn south and follow CR 18 until you see the Forest Service Sign for Picture Canyon on the south side of the road. The road will be curving to the east as you see the sign for Picture Canyon. Turn south onto this road and go 2 miles to the parking area.
From this parking area you can access the arch Rock trail which will take you to the homestead and outlaw trails. If you want to only do the outer loop of the Outlaw trail, which is farthest west, you will need to make your way to Holt Canyon. Hiking the loop of the Outlaw Trail from Picture Canyon Parking lot area makes the whole loop approx. 13 miles long or possibly longer if you get side tracked.
Holt Canyon Directions: Once you have turned south off of CR 18 toward the Picture Canyon parking area, go until you cross a cattle guard. Shortly after you cross this cattle guard there will be a two track road that curves off of the main road on the west side (right when heading south). This road will take you west out of Picture Canyon, across a top, and drop you into Holt Canyon about a mile (or a bit more) away. When you enter this next canyon you will intersect another two track road that runs north and south. You will want to go north. At the north end of the canyon, the road will travel up a very rocky, rough road to top out. You can either park at the bottom or drive up to the top and on a little bit farther to a sign that will start the Outlaw Trail Loop. If you hike the loop from these points it will be approx. 5-5.5 miles long.
Outlaw Trail – The Outer Loop Section
I am going to start this trail description at the outer loop of the Outlaw Trail. For the description of the whole 13 miles loop from the parking area look at trail descriptions for Arch Rock Trail and the Homestead Trail.
The Outlaw Trail is the outer edge of a series of loop hikes created at the Picture Canyon Allotment. You begin on the Arch Rock Trail, then progress to the Homestead Trail which extends the loop by another 4 miles then, the Outlaw Loop which extends the Homestead Trail by another 5ish miles. The loops work their way progressively west from the main Picture Canyon parking area which is located on the east side of the allotment.
If you just want to hike the Outlaw Loop and not the others the best place to jump on the trail is at the north end of Holt Canyon a little ways past the top of a rough road that leads out of Holt Canyon to the west toward Sand Canyon, about a quarter of a mile past the top of the hill there is a sign indicating the Outlaw Trail, and that it follows the road at that point.
The North Ridge Section
Following the road from the north end of Holt Canyon, the outlaw trail follows a ridge for awhile that eventually drops off the top of the top between Holt Canyon and the Sand Canyon drainages. The trail loops to the west toward Sand Canyon, which runs north and south along County Road 13.
The trail follows a two track road along the norther side of the loop and you always want to take the track more heavily traveled and continue looping to the west and south. The first intersection you come to will be an option to go north or west, you want to go west to follow the outlaw trail.
If you take the northern road you end up in the flater area on the north end of the Picture Canyon allotment. A nice side trip if you want to take it, but not the trail. The second intersection is an option to go west or loop back to the south. Take the road to the southish. It is by far more prominent. The little side road to the west at this point just goes about 50 yards up to a turn around/camping area.
Along the way you’ll have several good views of the canyons to the south in “No Man’s Land.” After a bit over a mile you begin to drop off into the canyons below you.
Dropping into the Canyons
As you drop off there is a little gully on your left or the north side of you and in this gully is an old homestead and a tire water tank. The water at this tire tank is usually pretty clear, so it’s a good one to take advantage of if you have a water filter.
The trail continues mostly to the south at this point into the canyon bottom. Here you are cutting across the canyons perpendicular as they run east and west into Sand Canyon area. The trail never makes it all the way to Sand Canyon proper, but there’s a road at the farthest west point of the trail that takes off to the west and the entrance to Sand Canyon off of County Road 13. It’s an easy walk over to the dry creek bed along Sand Canyon from that point. It’s probably a little under a mile. Along Sand Canyon is a great place to bird due to the large cottonwood trees and occasional seeps. A good place for woodpeckers in the cottonwood trees. It is also pretty in the fall with the changing cottonwoods. Late October early November is the best time to see this.
From the far western point of the Outlaw Trail loop you begin to loop back to the east up a canyon. It’s a nice hike up the bottom of the drainage along a two track road. You’ll pass a homestead again on your right (south side of the road). After you pass the homestead keep a look out on the canyon sides, especially the north side, for low rock walls built by homesteaders and sheep herders. At the top of the canyon is what looks like a little sheep camp, with a foundation at the base of a rock formation and rock walls all around on the canyon walls. You can also drive to this point from Sand Canyon if you want. You can’t drive past here.
Hiking out & Closing the Loop -Option 1
From this point you have two options to climb out of the canyon. There is an old road that goes out at this point to the south east. Or, you can go straight east and up a rough rocky little canyon. I tried both and the old road is easier to find at the top, but both are navigable. Hiking out the little canyon to the east is probably the shortest option as it is a straighter shot back to the road that runs north and south along the ridge at the top. You have to look closely for the little piles of rocks that had post markers at one time in the past. Or you can just make your way out the canyon and head east to the road. It’s not far off.
Hiking Out & Clopsing the Loop Option 2
If you walk out the old wagon road you will have post markers that take you to a tow track road out on top. It takes you a bit farther south and when you hit the two track on top you take a left (east & north) back to the road that runs along the north/south road along the top of the ridge. Along this trail, you follow post markers one to the next. Just look for the next one. There is another homestead to the west/south of this trail in the next little draw over to the west. You can see it when you get to the road or possibly before. It sits a ways off of the trail, but could be fun to explore.
Once you get back to the main north/south road that runs along the you have another option. From here you can loop back to the north to close the loop at the top of Holt Canyon, approximately 5.5 mi. Or you can go south down the canyon that leads to Cave Spring and the Oklahoma State line. If you loop south here to Cave Spring, it will significantly increase your hike mileage to approximately. 8-9 miles. However, if you haven’t hiked the little canyon that has Cave spring it’s worth the hike.
Cave Spring Alternate Loop – Option 3
If you choose to do this you would want to walk along the north and south ridge road until there is an intersection that goes to the east or the Homestead Trail. This leads over to a windmill that is now a solar mill and a water tank that is just on the other side of a little hill. From here the trail heads south into a little drainage and eventually the canyon. There are post markers here for the most part, but just follow the little drainage south.
The canyon gradually gets deeper, although it isn’t a huge canyon, it’s pretty narrow, but starts to have seems and springs about 1/3 of the way down. There is also a homestead about ½ way down. Be prepared for some mud, and possibly a bit of overgrown trail. Although, you can usually navigate around most of the mud if you’re careful. The canyon gets deeper the closer you get to the bottom and cave spring is about ¼ mile from the bottom of the canyon on the east side. There is a tank on the west side of the trail for horses and cattle.
The cave spring has lots of historical graffiti such as old Spanish names, old ranchers, old brands, a 1903 survey map of several states. The spring comes right out of the hillside and is safe to drink, however filter it if you think you need to. The connection between the pipe and the seep in the cave is a bit iffy.
To continue on your loop hike south out of the canyon and you will hit the Okalhoma state line and another homestead. There is a discrepancy here between the state line fences and the official state line is about 100-200 yards off to the south. You can walk over to it if you want to get a picture of the sign.
From here continue on the two track road as it bends around to the north up the canyon. This is Holt Canyon. Follow the road to the north – sometimes the trail is off to the side of the road so you can choose to hike the road or the trail off to the side. Follow it all the way to your vehicle at the north end of Holt Canyoin to close your loop.
If you started from the Picture Canyon Parking area follow the signs for the Homestead and Arch Rock Trails as they take off from the road in Holt Canyon and head back to the east. You can also hike the two track road to the east in the middle of Holt Canyon. It goes out over the top to the east between Holt Canyon and Picture Canyon and will deliver you to the main road coming into Picture Canyon from the north. Just follow it to the south to loop back to the trailhead and parking area if you loose the other trails. They can be a bit iffy on the north side of those loops.
Where to Get Maps for This Hike:
Tubb Springs 2019 SurveyProduct Number 482969
Campo SW CO 2019 Survey Product Number 465579
CalTopo Online Mapping Software- https://caltopo.com/map.html