This post will detail how to visit the Top of The Vail, Colorado hiking trail loop during summer. This hiking trail provided stunning views of wildflowers in July when we visited it.

Parking and Eagle Bahn Gondola

If you come by car, head to the Lionshead village near Vail. The gondola that will take you to the trailhead is located in Lionshead village, not Vail. Parking is currently free during the summer months in Lionshead, Colorado. But, this can change in the future. You can check the webpage of the town of Vail for more parking information.

After that, take the Eagle Bahn Gondola to the top. The loop starts to the left side of the Epic Discovery center.

Top of Vail Tour Trail Map

The Top of the Vail hiking loop is of moderate difficulty with a steady climb. The total distance of the Top of Vail loop is 3.8 miles. But, the trail transitions into the Ptarmigan loop trail at some point. If you add the Ptarmigan loop hiking trail, count another 1.3 miles. This makes the entire hike a 5.1-mile adventure.

When we were there, the Ptarmigan loop was unfortunately closed. We walked along the side of the Ridge Route trail first (lower leg on the map).

Then, we turned around at the beginning of the Ptarmigan loop trail and walked along the Grand Escape hiking trail (upper lag on the map) back to the gondolas.

Wildflowers on Top of Vail Tour Trail

The variety of flowers there was stunning.

The splashes of bright red, blue, pink, white and many more colors among the lush greenery were indescribably beautiful.

Among the flowers we saw there were lupines, paintbrush, daisies, and arnica flowers. But, the paintbrush flowers stood out the most for their variety of colors.

The mountain views from the Grand Escape trail were like from the movie “The Sound of Music”.

We hope you will get the chance to walk these trails one day. Also, check out our other travel guides of interesting places worth visiting.