The popular Palmer Reservoir tends to draw masses of humanity, so veer away from the crowds to enjoy some social distancing on an Ice Cave Creek loop hike.

To get there from Monument, drive west on Highway 105 for 3.5 miles to the town of Palmer Lake. Go left on South Valley Road for about a half-mile to Old Carriage Road. Turn left and continue a short distance downhill to the parking area.

Follow Palmer Reservoir Trail west for about a quarter mile to where the trail climbs up to an old roadway with Monument Creek to the left. Continue up the old road along a steep grade. After about a half-mile, reach Lower Palmer Reservoir, then after about another .75 mile reach Upper Palmer Reservoir.

The trail swings right along an inlet and look for an obvious trail, the unsigned Inlet Trail, that breaks right away from the old road.

Take this right fork and savor a lovely stretch along tiny Inlet Creek featuring lush meadows, aspen groves and a mix of shrubs. After a couple hundred yards reach a fork with the Swank Trail on the right, but keep left to stay on the Inlet Trail.

After a few hundred yards an old trail swings left, stay right to keep on the Inlet Trail, now a two-track. Continue upward into an open conifer woodland. After about .75 mile from the upper reservoir the trail climbs steeply up a ridge for a short distance, ending at a T-intersection with the unsigned Winding Stairs Trail.

Turn right and stroll eastward along the top of the ridge for about a half -mile to a four-way intersection where Winding Stairs Trail basically ends. Turn left onto the unsigned Swank Trail, heading northward. Travel downhill to a wide switchback, then after about a half-mile reach Ice Cave Creek.

Cross the creek and swing right through a small meadow, still on Swank Trail. The path crosses a small tributary. Continue on the trail route with Ice Cave Creek within sight and earshot off to the right.

After a couple hundred yards, be sure to break right on a trail route that travels southeast and follows near Ice Cave Creek. The wider Swank Trail continues straight and swings northward. This is a tricky spot, but just keep right, through a more open area with some large fallen trees and follow a faint trail that gets more defined after about 50 yards where it crosses tiny Swank Creek.

Now firmly on the unsigned Ice Cave Creek Trail, the path hugs the waters edge and after about a quarter mile crosses to the other side of the creek. After the crossing, the terrain gets more difficult and rocky, but adds some flair and excitement to the hike. Below and to the left large collections of boulders appear along the creek. The boulders create cool and shady caves that were used in the past for storing blocks of ice from the nearby Palmer reservoirs.

A fine view of Lower Palmer Reservoir and Palmer Lake emerge and about a half mile from the Ice Cave Creek crossing, follow some short switchbacks back down to Palmer Reservoir Trail. Turn left and head downhill for about .75 mile back to the parking area.