Lake Charles Trail is in the northwestern 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...

 west of New York Mountain 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...

. Lake Charles 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 Eagle

Eagle, Colorado

Eagle is a Statutory Town in and the county seat of Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population was 3,032 at the 2000 census.The town was made famous as the location of the Kobe Bryant sexual assault trial.-Demographics:...

and Fulford, Colorado. Lake Charles Trailhead can be found by driving eleven miles south from Eagle on Brush Creek Road. At the fork in the road, turn left onto East Brush Creek Road and travel six miles to Yeoman Park Forest Service Campground. Lake Charles is 3.0 miles up the trail at 11,120 feet. The trail continues through forest, past meadows filled with wildflowers in summer, and alongside wetlands filled with short willows. Mystic Island Lake, 11,350 feet, is tucked against steep slopes an hour hike above Lake Charles. Gold Dust Peak, 13,365 feet, overlooks Lake Charles Trail to the north. Fools Peak, 12,947 feet, lies south of Lake Charles, with the cirque of Eagle Peak, 13,043 feet, at the south end of Mystic Island Lake. Holy Cross Wilderness Area: Northern Trails of Eagle County, a hiking guide by Kim Fenske, provides a description of Lake Charles Trail.