Wellington Ditch Trail

Wellington Ditch Trail is a 2.2-mile out-and-back from Montville Nature Trail and Mosca Pass Trailhead to Piñon Flats Campground. Follow the short Mosca Pass access connector to the ditch, then continue to the campground and return the same way. The Wellington-named section itself is about 0.9 mile one way. Allow about 60 to 75 minutes. It is a gentle way to see the dunes from the foothills without climbing across the sandy dune field; the trailhead is above 8,200 feet, so the altitude can make an easy walk feel harder. An arranged shuttle can make it a one-way walk.

Most of the route passes through pinyon pine and Rocky Mountain juniper on hard-packed dirt, with rocky patches. A short rise near the Mosca Creek drainage accounts for much of the climbing; the rest is relatively gentle. Openings in the trees give you views across the dunes to the Sangre de Cristo peaks, and the Wellington cabin sits below the trail, visible through the branches. The view comes and goes rather than staying open the whole way. For a photo, frame the dunes through the pinyon and juniper so they read as a foothill view.

The Wellington family homesteaded here in the 1920s and dug this irrigation ditch by hand in 1927, carrying water from Mosca Creek toward Buck Creek. Cabin remnants remain visible below the trail. The shallow ditch and its carefully chosen grade are the reason this path runs across the foothills instead of taking a direct line through them.

Begin at Montville Nature Trail and Mosca Pass Trailhead; retrace the route from Piñon Flats for the full out-and-back. Piñon Flats is a seasonal campground, with potable-water spigots and flush toilets in its loops during the operating season. Its store between Loops 1 and 2 sells drinks, snacks and limited camping food, but it is a campground stop rather than an on-trail service. Dogs are allowed on the route and must stay on a leash no longer than six feet.