This amazing route begins and ends at the Comanche - Venable Trailhead outside just west of Westcliffe, Colorado. From the trailhead, head out of the parking lot to the north. This spur trail will head about 0.5 miles until it connects with the iconic Rainbow Trail. The route then continues north on the Rainbow Trail for another 3.5 miles before it hits CR 160. Turning left (and uphill) on CR 160, the trail is now a road all the way to the top of Hermit Pass. But this route requires that you stop and catch a cutthroat in both Hermit and Horseshoe Lakes before summiting Hermit Pass (Pass #1) at about 11 miles total.

From Hermit Pass you will descend to the west all the way to Rito Alto Lake (at about 13.5 miles on your watch) where you must catch your third cutthroat trout. Once you have released that beautiful fish, ascend back up the way you came for about 0.5 miles before heading to the south up Pass #2 (don't go back up Hermit Pass...).

At the top of Pass #2, you will descend for a bit before climbing again toward Pass #3. Along the way, you will see San Isabel Lake perched over to your south.

From the top of Pass #3 (at about 17 miles on your watch), you will again descend for about a mile, this time into the North Crestone Creek basin. At about 18 miles, you will reach a trail junction where you will continue straight and begin ascending again where you will see your fourth and final pass (Venable Pass) zig-zagging up the steep hillside in front of you. At approximately 19 miles, you will reach the summit of Pass #4, Venable Pass.

From the top of Venable Pass, descend approximately 1 mile until you reach Lower Venable Lake where you will need to catch your fourth and final cutthroat trout. Once you have released this fish, begin the long descent back towards the parking lot via the Venable Trail. The Venable trail will dead end into the Rainbow Trail where you will make a right and then a quick left onto the spur trail that you came up in the AM.

Once back at your car, celebrate in an appropriate manner and call it a day!

Cutthroat trout are present in good numbers in Hermit, Horseshoe, Rito Alto, and Lower Venable lakes.