Base camp in CO with hiking options

Four days is not much time and first week in June means snow at higher elevations, especially north facing aspects and leeward sides of ridges. Creek run-off will be peaking also.

I have some things to attend to today and tomorrow. Will sort out some options for you and post in a day or two.

From a ball park perspective I'd suggest no more than a 100 mile radius from Denver.

What are your arrival and departures times? That's essential for consideration.  

I'll make two suggestions: A high route and a low route, to give you to options for whatever the snow pack turns out to be.

Get back with us about mid to late April. We may have a better idea as to what the snowpack looks like.

Other options =
1. Come out here 3-4 weeks later, which will give you more options if you want to get up into the higher mountains.
This would be my recommendation, if possible, as it would be a safer bet.
2. If you can't change that week, consider some non-mountain areas in Western Colorado. This past summer, hardly any mountain areas would have been good hiking the first week of June, so you'll need a backup.

You guys are all amazing. Thank you for the honest and detailed responses. Since travel dates are very flexible from June through the first week of August (I work in a school system), I'll likely change my trip to July. I guess I thought of June because last time I went to Colorado with my family (first visit there) the sheer number of boombox-carrying and pushy-selfy-taking tourists was overwhelming. It's like everyone wanted their instagram pix, then they moved on blasting music the whole way. So I thought I could avoid crowds by hiking early, but I guess I would also be missing out on options as well. Plus, I've heard that once you get into the backcountry, you mostly run into more serious hikers and fewer tourists.

Anyhow, I've been looking into the Gore Creek Campground and the trails nearby there. That area looks amazing and has several hiking options from the trailhead, plus a campground. I'll still consider camping in the wilderness though, especially if my son does not go with me.

Some details... travel there would likely be in the morning, but it depends on cheap flight times. Most of the flights I've looked at, though, arrive around 10am or so, which puts me at a trailhead sometime shortly after lunch. Departure times tend to be late morning, but even with a later departure time, I would leave the trailhead just after breakfast. I can do a 3-4 day trip, including travel, but it will likely have to be between sunday-friday because I shoot weddings most Saturdays.

Westy, I will definitely look into the Lost Creek Wilderness area. Your pictures are amazing and description tempting. Thanks for the suggestion.

I will also check back in April as burntfoot suggested to get an idea of current conditions. Thanks everyone!

Gore Creek may be a bit noisy since it's right next to I-70. There are a number of good hikes from that area. Pitkin, Deluge and Booth lakes. Another option is Tigwon Rd south of Minturn (same area as Vail) or the next drainage Homestake Rd. Tigwon give you a chance to climb Holy Cross. There's a similar campground as Gore Creek at the start of Homestake and it won't have the I70 traffic. There are numerous pullouts where you can set up camp along the road. Homestake and Tigwon get you access to Constantine, Fancy and Missouri Lakes. These are all fairly east backpack or day hikes.

Generally the trails are hikable after July 4th.

I went back and read the OP more carefully, and see that you were looking for basecamps very close to the car.

From the Gore Creek trailhead/campground, one could hike about 5 miles up Gore Creek to near the junction with the Gore Lake trail and make camp in that vicinity. From there you'd have moderate day-hikes to Gore Lake (+ optional continue to Snow Lake) one day, and to Red Buffalo Pass.

I know you said more like a mile from the car, but this would position you for more manageable dayhike distances, and would be a more scenic basecamp (and away from any possible noise from I-70). Gore Creek is a well-travelled trail--if anything went wrong, you'd not only be within about 5 miles of the car, but you'd also be in an area where you'd encounter other hikers fairly regularly.

In the Sangres, I suggested Sand Creek as a good basecamp. If you have a 4WD vehicle, you can drive to the 4WD Music Pass trailhead, which is at about 10,000. You could camp there (no actual campground, but diffuse camping is OK), which puts both Sand Creek Lakes and the saddle above Sand Creek (mindblowing views) within day hike distance. Or, you could BP about 2 1/2 to 3 miles from there over Music Pass and down to Sand Creek and basecamp there. (You could camp at Music Pass, but there's no running water there. In early July, you probably wouldn't have to backtrack too far to find some, though.)

Again, this (like pretty-much any good hiking destination that close to the car) is an area of heavy-enough human presence that you could always find others if you need some sort of help.

Emerald and Iowa are two peaks to climb for the best views in the Collegiates. Lots of options for wondering about. With the area focus on the Collegiate East and West Routes and bagging fourteeners. This area offers neither. Thus fewer users.