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Maxwell Falls

Friends of Maxwell Falls · Evergreen, CO

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About this guide

Who we are

Friends of Maxwell Falls is a partnership of three local organizations: AlphaPixel, Wild Iris Marketing and Evergroove Studio. We’re neighbors of the trail, and we’ve looked after maxwellfalls.com since 2017, when it started as a small neighborhood project to point visitors in the right direction and ask them to leave no trace.

In 2026 we rebuilt the site from scratch. The routes are measured now, the conditions note carries a date, and important facts link to where we got them. We want this to be the one page you need to plan a safe, considerate visit.

For quick updates and photos between site updates, follow us on Facebook.

Who built this

AlphaPixel did the maps, GIS and route data. That covers the interactive map tools, the GIS analysis, the lidar measurements and the route data behind every distance, climb and elevation profile on this site, all measured for the Friends of Maxwell Falls. The method is on the hike page.

Wild Iris Marketing designed the website and hosts it. Evergroove Studio is the site’s longtime sponsor and partner.

We are not the Forest Service

Maxwell Falls is on National Forest land, managed by the Clear Creek Ranger District of the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests. This website is independent. We’re not part of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Forest Service, Jefferson County, or any government agency.

We summarize the official rules and link to the source every time. If our summary and an official source ever disagree, the official source is right, and we’d be grateful if you’d let us know.

Official Forest Service pages:

How we keep it accurate

The conditions note

The status strip at the top of each page shows whether the trail is open, the current rules, and the date we last checked. Volunteers update it when the Forest Service posts a change, and after local trail visits. If it’s been a while since the date shown, check the official alert page too.

The route numbers

Published figures for Maxwell Falls are all over the place, so we measured every route ourselves, the same way each time:

  • trail lines from OpenStreetMap;
  • elevations from the USGS 3D Elevation Program’s 1-meter lidar survey of the area;
  • distances measured along the trail, and climb counted after smoothing out tiny bumps.

The full method is on the hike page. These numbers come from public data, not a measuring wheel, and a few trail landmarks (the footbridge and overlook) are still waiting for a GPS check on the ground.

Everything else

Facts on this site come from the Forest Service first, then the state trail database (COTREX), USGS, OpenStreetMap, and finally reputable guidebooks, clubs and news reports. When sources disagree, we say so. When we don’t know something, like who Maxwell Creek was named for, we say that too, instead of guessing.

Sources

Each page lists its own sources at the bottom. The ones we rely on most:

  • U.S. Forest Service, Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests: trail, trailhead and alert pages (linked above)
  • COTREX, the Colorado Trail Explorer (Colorado Parks and Wildlife)
  • USGS: GNIS place names, 3D Elevation Program, and geologic maps
  • OpenStreetMap contributors (map data under the ODbL)
  • iNaturalist community observations
  • Jefferson County, Evergreen Fire/Rescue and the Alpine Rescue Team
  • History Colorado and the National Register of Historic Places

Map and data credits

  • Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Our GPX downloads are derived from OpenStreetMap and shared under the same license.
  • Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program, 1-meter lidar.
  • Aerial imagery: USGS The National Map.

Photo credits

  • AlphaPixel: the falls, aerial, trailhead, map sign and wildlife photos (bald eagle by Chris “Xenon” Hanson).
  • Martina Miller: winter photos of the frozen falls.
  • Susan Helm: the dog-waste photo.
  • Jeffrey Beall: Brook Forest Inn (CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons).

Photos are © their photographers and used with permission. Want to share yours? See Photos.

Corrections and trail reports

If you spot an error, a rule that changed, a downed tree or an icy stretch, please tell us. Email us at contact2026@wildirismarketing.com and we’ll check it and update the site, with the date. See the contact page for what to include.

Our partners

And thanks to everyone who parks legally and carries their trash home. You make our job easy.