Trail #40 - Silver City

Deerfield Lake Trail #40 begins at the Deer Creek Centennial Trailhead and runs to Deerfield lake totaling around 23 miles or so. When we hiked it we decided to start at the Silver City Trailhead and hike west towards Deerfield Lake, cutting about 6 miles off the beginning of the trail. We hiked abut 5 1/2 miles before we turned around. We plan to do the rest of the trail in the future when time allows.

The section that we hiked followed Rapid Creek for about 3 miles and then Slate Creek for the next 2 1/2 miles. Since the trail follows the creeks, the grade is very gradual making it so you hardly notice that you are gaining elevation. That bad part about following creeks is that can mean creek crossings. In the 5 1/2 miles that we hiked, there were 26 creek crossings. Almost all of these crossings had some type of bridge although there were some that had been washed out. The Rapid Creek section has very nice footbridges, 9 of them in all. Once you start following Slate creek, that is where it can start to get interesting. This section has 16 plank bridges (bridges that are about 10 inches wide with no side rails) but 7 of them were washed out. Luckily the water in the creek was pretty low, so it wasn’t much of an issue, but keep in mind that if you’re hiking this in the spring, be prepared to get wet.

The Section along Rapid Creek is also a walk in fishing area and is pretty well maintained. Besides fishermen, this trail is also accessible to mountain bikers and horses. The hike itself is quite beautiful, and the trail follows the canyon that the creek runs through and is lined with sheer granite cliffs for most of the hike.

Hiking along a creek in a beautiful canyon with a hardly noticeable grade makes this hike well worth your while.