If you are looking for a winter adventure, I suggest planning a visit to Rifle, Colorado to see the Ice Caves and Rifle Falls State Park. The two attractions are located within three miles of one another, along highway 325. Traveling from Grand Junction along I-70, the drive takes an hour to the West Rifle exit 84, then another 30 minutes to the Rifle Mountain Park. From the interstate, take US 6 to CO Highway 13, then take a right onto Highway 325, follow CO 325 for 14 miles to the Rifle Mountain Park.
Rifle Mountain Park is locate along East Rifle Creek, within a canyon with prominent rock walls, making it a popular climbing spot in the summer. During the winter months, the canyon walls are transformed into mystical Icy cascades that draw curious minds in for a half day adventure. The park is maintained by the City of Rifle, there is a fee box at the entrance into the park; the fee is $5 per vehicle. I had heard there were more than three frozen falls but was unsure how far we would have to travel into the canyon. Having seen the first two caves shortly after the fee station, we drove past the fee station a few miles, stopping when we saw the third formation. There were several ice climbers at this spot, we watched for a bit before driving down to the lower caves.
We parked at the middle cave, also known as the Final Curtain, and we explored the inside of the cave before taking Koper’s trail to the lower cave. The lower cave is also called the Ice Palace and it was about one mile round trip from the middle to lower cave and back. Exploring the inside of the caves is the best part; there are large ice formations inside the caves and giant icicles dropping in from the ceiling. Inside the Final Curtain, there is a thick column that extends from the floor to the ceiling. At the Palace, there are many jagged icicles dripping down like pieces of art. The view of the backside of the falls is quite a sight, especially if the sun hits the outside of the cave just right. The icy floors are slippery, it is highly advised that all visitors wear Yaktrax or MICROspikes on the bottom of your boots to avoid falling. Many kids were inside the caves without spikes, but they were also scooting around on their bums like they were sledding. Our dogs joined us on the journey, but they were very cautious about entering the caves; they weren’t crazy about ice skating.
After the ice caves, we headed back down the road to Rifle Falls State Park for another short hike. Admission into the park is $7.00 per vehicle, unless you have a Colorado State Parks pass. The park is accessible year round and the scenery changes with each season. While summer is most popular, the falls are equally impressive in the winter. Rifle Falls is a triple water fall that cascades about 70 feet over limestone rock. Beneath the falls, there are two limestone caves which formed many years ago. The falls can be viewed from the Coyote Trail, which passes the falls and eventually works up over the top of the falls and back down the other side, for a total 1.5 mile loop. The trail coming back down from the upper view was slippery in spots, but there are handrails on steep spots. We wanted to hike a little longer so we followed the service road about a half mile in before turning back. There was about eight inches of snow on the road, and it was very peaceful. Overall we probably hiked 2.5 miles total while we were at the state park. My husband and I made this trip the last weekend of January. If you want to visit the ice caves, the best times are December through February.