West Grouse Creek Trail is in the northern Sawatch Range

Sawatch Range

The Sawatch Range is a mountain range in central Colorado which includes eight of the twenty highest peaks in the Rocky Mountains, including Mount Elbert, at elevation, the highest peak in the Rockies....

, part of the Rocky Mountains

Rocky Mountains

The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...

 in the US state of Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

. It is located in the Holy Cross Wilderness

Holy Cross Wilderness

The Holy Cross Wilderness is a U.S. Wilderness Area located in San Isabel and White River national forests near Leadville, Minturn, Avon, Edwards, Eagle, and Vail, Colorado. The wilderness with of trails was established in 1980. The wilderness was named after its highest peak, Mount of the...

 east of Grouse Mountain and south of Beaver Creek Resort

Beaver Creek Resort

Beaver Creek Resort is a major United States ski resort near Avon, Colorado, run by Vail Resorts. The resort comprises three villages, the main Beaver Creek Village, Bachelor Gulch, and Arrowhead to the west...

 in Eagle County

Eagle County, Colorado

Eagle County is the thirteenth most populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado in the United States. The county is named for the Eagle River. The county population was 41,659 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is the Town of Eagle...

. West Grouse Creek Trail is south of Interstate 70

Interstate 70

Interstate 70 is an Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from Interstate 15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a Park and Ride near Baltimore, Maryland. It was the first Interstate Highway project in the United States. I-70 approximately traces the path of U.S. Route 40 east of the Rocky...

, near Minturn

Minturn, Colorado

Minturn is a Home Rule Municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,068 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Minturn is located at ....

, west of Vail

Vail, Colorado

The Town of Vail is a Home Rule Municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,589 in 2005. The town was established and built as the base village to Vail Ski Resort, with which it was originally conceived...

 and east of Avon, Colorado. West Grouse Creek Trailhead, elevation 7,880 feet, is about a half-mile north of Minturn, six miles west of Vail. West Grouse Creek Trail ascends four miles before meeting a junction with the short Olsen Lake Trail, at 11,200 feet. The trail continues winding southwest through a dense forest of spruce and fir trees to a tundra basin below the summit of Grouse Mountain. The Grouse Mountain Trail merges with the West Grouse Creek Trail, at 11,500 feet elevation, in the tundra meadow. Grouse Mountain Trail continues southwest to Grouse Mountain Pass, six miles from the trailhead, at 12,000 feet. Following the Grouse Mountain Trail southeast leads to the Martin Creek Trail

Martin Creek Trail

Martin Creek Trail is in the northern Sawatch Range, part of the Rocky Mountains in the US state of Colorado. It is located in the Holy Cross Wilderness east of Grouse Mountain in Eagle County. Martin Creek Trail is south of Interstate 70, near Minturn, southwest of Vail and southeast of Avon,...

and Cross Creek Trail, north of Mount of the Holy Cross. Holy Cross Wilderness Area: Northern Trails of Eagle County, a hiking guide by Kim Fenske, provides a description of West Grouse Creek Trail.