60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Denver and Boulder: Including Fort Collins and Rocky Mountain National Park

To my family and my fellow hikers

60 HIKES WITHIN 60 MILES: DENVER AND BOULDER

Copyright © 2020 Mindy Sink

Copyright © 2006 and 2010 by Kim Lipker

All rights reserved

Printed in China

Published by Menasha Ridge Press

Distributed by Publishers Group West

Third edition, first printing

Cover and text design: Jonathan Norberg

Cover photos: (Front) Indian Peaks Wilderness: Pawnee Pass Trail to Lake Isabelle (Hike 38), photographed by Karen Jacot. (Back, clockwise from top) all photographed by Monica Stockbridge: Hogback Ridge Loop at North Foothills Trailhead (Hike 36); Clear Creek Canyon Park: Peaks to Plains Trail (Hike 4); James Peak Wilderness: South Boulder Creek Trail (Hike 40); and Indian Peaks Wilderness: Pawnee Pass Trail to Lake Isabelle (Hike 38).

Interior photos: Mindy Sink except where noted

Cartography: Mindy Sink and Scott McGrew

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Sink, Mindy, author. | Lipker, Kim, 1969– 60 hikes within 60 miles, Denver and Boulder Menasha Ridge Press.

Title: 60 hikes within 60 miles, Denver and Boulder : including Fort Collins and Rocky Mountain National Park / Mindy Sink.

Other titles: Sixty hikes within sixty miles, Denver and Boulder | 60 hikes within 60 miles.

Description: 2020 Edition. | Birmingham, Alabama : Menasha Ridge Press, 2020. | Series: The 60 hikes within 60 miles series | Prior edition by Kim Lipker.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019055245 (print) | LCCN 2019055246 (ebook) | ISBN 978-1-63404-285-7 (pbk.) ISBN 978-1-63404-286-4 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Hiking—Colorado—Denver Region—Guidebooks. | Day hiking—Colorado—Denver Region—Guidebooks. | Walking—Colorado—Denver Region—Guidebooks. Backpacking—Colorado—Denver Region—Guidebooks. | Mountaineering—Colorado—Denver Region—Guidebooks. | Trails—Colorado—Denver Region—Guidebooks. Outdoor recreation—Colorado—Denver Region—Guidebooks. | Denver Region (Colo.)—Description and travel. | Denver Region (Colo.)—Guidebooks.

Classification: LCC GV199.42.C62 D474 2020 (print) | LCC GV199.42.C62 (ebook) DDC 796.5109788/83—dc23

LC record available at lccn.loc.gov/2019055245

LC ebook record available at lccn.loc.gov/2019055246

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DISCLAIMER This book is meant only as a guide to select trails in the Denver and Boulder areas and does not guarantee hiker safety in any way—you hike at your own risk. Neither Menasha Ridge Press nor the author is liable for property loss or damage, personal injury, or death that result in any way from accessing or hiking the trails described in the following pages. Please be aware that hikers have been injured in the Denver–Boulder area. Be especially cautious when walking on or near boulders, steep inclines, and drop-offs, and do not attempt to explore terrain that may be beyond your abilities. To help ensure an uneventful hike, please read carefully the introduction to this book, and perhaps get further safety information and guidance from other sources. Familiarize yourself thoroughly with the area you intend to visit before venturing out. Ask questions, and prepare for the unforeseen. Familiarize yourself with current weather reports, maps of the area you plan to visit, and any relevant park regulations.

OVERVIEW MAP

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview Map

Map Legend

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Preface

60 Hikes by Category

Introduction

DENVER (Including Foothills and Plains)

1 Alderfer/Three Sisters Park

2 Belmar Park

3 Bluff Lake Nature Center

4 Clear Creek Canyon Park: Peaks to Plains Trail

5 Dedisse Park: Evergreen Lake Trail

6 Deer Creek Canyon Park: Meadowlark and Plymouth Creek Trails

7 Elk Meadow Park: Meadow View, Sleepy S, and Elk Ridge Trails

8 Golden Gate Canyon State Park: Mountain Lion Trail

9 Golden Gate Canyon State Park: Raccoon and Mule Deer Trails

10 Meyer Ranch Park: Lodge Pole Loop

11 Mount Evans Wilderness: Hells Hole Trail

12 Mount Evans Wilderness: Mount Bierstadt Trail

13 Mount Falcon Park: Western Loop

14 North Table Mountain Park: North Table, Tilting Mesa, and Mesa Top Trails

15 Plains Conservation Center Loop

16 Red Rocks Park: Trading Post Loop

17 Silver Dollar Lake Trail

18 Windy Saddle Park: Lookout Mountain Trail

19 William Frederick Hayden Park: Green Mountain and Hayden Trails

SOUTH OF DENVER

20 Castlewood Canyon State Park: Inner Canyon and Lake Gulch Trails

21 Colorado Trail: Segment 3 to Tramway Trail

22 Devil’s Head Trail

23 Greenland Open Space: Greenland, Luge, and Kipps Trails

24 Mount Herman Trail

25 Pine Valley Ranch Park Loop

26 Reynolds Park Loop

27 Roxborough State Park: Willow Creek and South Rim Trails

28 Spruce Mountain Open Space: Spruce Mountain Trail and Upper Loop

29 Staunton State Park: Elk Falls

30 Waterton Canyon Recreation Area

BOULDER (Including Foothills and Mountains)

31 Betasso Preserve: Canyon Loop Trail

32 Caribou Ranch Open Space: DeLonde Trail and Blue Bird Loop

33 Chautauqua Park: Chautauqua, Royal Arch, and Bluebell Road Trails

34 Eldorado Canyon State Park: Eldorado Canyon Trail

35 Heil Valley Ranch: Wapiti and Ponderosa Loop Trails

36 Hogback Ridge Loop at North Foothills Trailhead

37 Indian Peaks Wilderness: Mount Audubon Trail

38 Indian Peaks Wilderness: Pawnee Pass Trail to Lake Isabelle

39 James Peak Wilderness: South Boulder Creek and Crater Lakes Trails

40 James Peak Wilderness: South Boulder Creek Trail

41 Mount Sanitas, East Ridge, and Sanitas Valley Trails

42 Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge: Lindsay Ranch Loop

43 South Boulder Creek Trail from Bobolink Trailhead

44 South Mesa Trailhead to Bear Peak

45 Walden Ponds Wildlife Habitat and Sawhill Ponds Wildlife Preserve

46 Walker Ranch: Meyers Homestead Trail

NORTH OF BOULDER (Including Fort Collins and Rocky Mountain National Park)

47 Button Rock Preserve: Sleepy Lion and Hummingbird Switchback Trails

48 Ceran Saint Vrain Trail

49 Crosier Mountain Rainbow, Glen Haven, and Summit Trails

50 Devil’s Backbone Open Space: Wild Loop

51 Greyrock Meadows and Summit Trails

52 Hermit Park Open Space: Kruger Rock Trail

53 Horsetooth Mountain Open Space: Horsetooth Falls and Horsetooth Rock Trails

54 Lory State Park: Arthur’s Rock Trail

55 Rocky Mountain National Park: Gem Lake Trail

56 Rocky Mountain National Park: Glacier Gorge and Loch Vale Trails to Timberline Falls

57 Rocky Mountain National Park: Lily Ridge and Lily Lake Trails

58 Rocky Mountain National Park: Twin Sisters Trail

59 Rocky Mountain National Park: Wild Basin and Bluebird Lake Trails

60 Ron Stewart Preserve at Rabbit Mountain: Eagle Wind Trail

APPENDIX A: Outdoor Stores

APPENDIX B: Map Sources

APPENDIX C: Area Hiking Clubs and Organizations

About the Authors

MAP LEGEND

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to all of the people (and some dogs) who hiked with me: Sophie Seymour, Mike Seymour, Jeff Reaves, Annette Reaves, Valari Jack, Jennifer Shanahan, Richard Varnes, Tanya Twerdowsky, Rich Grant, Steve Lipsher, Sancho, Monica Stockbridge, Carie Behounek, Lara Merriken, Elise Martinez, Marla Tomberg and Felicity, Lee Frank, Mark Stevens, Lisa Shultz, Mason Ramirez, Roman Ramirez, Kelly McDonald and Maizy, Robin Birkeland Jugl, Jen Gentry, Chad Gentry, Addison Gentry, Lea Gentry, Crissy Roe, Wylie Cornish, Esther Cornish, Tim Howard, Lania Howard, Nate Howard, Abby Howard, Solo, Mandy Rafool, and Finnegan Marshall. Each of you made at least one of these hikes much more fun and memorable!

Thanks also to the previous author, Kim Lipker, who created a wonderful template for me to explore as I added my own personal preferences for this update.

I am more grateful than ever to all of the rangers, land stewards, and volunteers who work to keep trails maintained and preserved for all to use.

—Mindy Sink

FOREWORD

Welcome to Menasha Ridge Press’s 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles, a series designed to provide hikers with information needed to find and hike the very best trails surrounding metropolitan areas.

Our strategy is simple: First, find a hiker who knows the area and loves to hike. Second, ask that person to spend a year researching the most popular and very best trails around. And third, have that person describe each trail in terms of difficulty, scenery, condition, elevation change, and all other categories of information that are important to hikers. Pretend you’ve just completed a hike and met up with other hikers at the trailhead, we told each author. Imagine their questions; be clear in your answers.

Experienced hikers and writers, Mindy Sink and Kim Lipker selected 60 of the best hikes in and around the Denver and Boulder metropolitan areas. From the urban paths of Bluff Lake Nature Center to the glaciers of Indian Peaks Wilderness to the prairies of Ron Stewart Preserve, they provide trekkers of all abilities with a great variety of hikes—all within roughly 60 miles of Denver or Boulder.

You’ll get more out of this book if you take a moment to read the Introduction, which explains how to read the trail listings. The Maps section will help you understand how useful topos will be on a hike and will also tell you where to get them. And though this is a where-to, not a how-to, guide, experienced hikers and novices alike will find the Introduction of particular value.

As much for the opportunity to free the spirit as to free the body, let these hikes elevate you above the urban hurry.

All the best,

The Editors at Menasha Ridge Press

PREFACE

Colorado offers some of the best hiking in the world. As the title makes clear, these are hikes selected for their proximity to Denver and Boulder, as well as the variety of terrain, challenge, and scenery.

I grew up in Boulder and have lived most of my adult life in Denver, and I have to confess that, until now, I really took hiking for granted. There’s nothing like a deadline to create focus and zeal!

When I started sharing my hikes on social media, friends got in touch to ask if they could hike with me. I hiked with people in their 70s and preteens and a lot in between; people who compete in sports and people who don’t work out at all. By hiking with people with different interests, experiences, and abilities, I learned a lot about recommending hikes.

While working on this book, I discovered quite a bit about the yearslong projects under way to expand trail systems that are making it possible to travel greater distances in Colorado without a car. We have the 567-mile Colorado Trail that goes from Denver to Durango, and now we are getting the Colorado Front Range Trail that might someday stretch from border to border (north to south); the Peaks to Plains Trail (planned for 65 miles); and the Rocky Mountain Greenway Trail (connecting National Wildlife Refuges). In other words, there are new trails to explore all the time.

These trails and your hike experiences will depend not only on the weather but also on who manages the land—a local county, the U.S. Forest Service, a national park, or another entity—and how they create and mark trails. Always check the forecast, check websites for alerts or closures, bring some supplies and gear appropriate for the season, and, if you can’t bring a buddy, let others know where you are headed and when you’ll be back.

My goal with this book was to make sure there is a hike for everyone, regardless of age, ability, or experience. Hiking can be an adventure or just a breath of fresh air to take in the seasons one at a time, enjoyed as a day trip into the mountains or by barely leaving the city. Have fun, be prepared, be careful, take a friend, step lightly, and leave no trace, so future generations can follow in our footsteps.

—M. S.

60 HIKES BY CATEGORY

INTRODUCTION

Explore the scenery around Red Rocks Amphitheatre. (See Hike 16.)

Welcome to 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Denver and Boulder. If you’re new to hiking or even if you’re a seasoned trekker, take a few minutes to read the following introduction. We’ll explain how this book is organized and how to get the best use of it.

About This Book

Denver is a world-class city with an amazing independent pioneer spirit. Denver’s appeal has everything to do with the unique blend of recreational activities available to Colorado’s residents and visitors. Where else can you hike a 14er in the morning and go to a Broadway production downtown in the evening?

For readers unfamiliar with the geography specific to Denver, here is a quick primer. Denver basically sits in the middle of Colorado at the base of the Rocky Mountains. The state is split in half: to the west are the mountains; to the east are the plains. Fort Collins and Boulder are north of Denver, and Colorado Springs is south. These four cities lie roughly along the Front Range, a mountain range of the Rockies.

DENVER

The Denver area hikes include a diverse mix of terrain: from those that are east of the city, or even within the city, to those that lie west in the foothills, and to some spectacular ones just a short drive into the mountains, where some of the state’s highest peaks call to adventurers. Those flatland hikes may not seem as challenging, but don’t be fooled. You’re at a mile high above sea level, where the air is thinner, and that makes physical activity a little more challenging even if you’re not on a mountainside. You’ll be enjoying views of the mountains while on these urban-area hikes—and you can save these for winter outings. There’s a unique beauty to the flatter land east of the Rocky Mountains, and you’re reminded that this was also nicknamed the Queen City of the Plains, not just the Mile High City. You may be surprised at how quickly you can get to some remote scenery, where you can saunter through ancient trees and possibly see snow in summer at higher elevations.

Note that weather in the city is usually 10° warmer than in the mountains. Summer can be scorching hot and winter freezing cold, but on average, the weather is quite mild and pleasant, and the blue sky blazes with a bright sun almost every day. Don’t be surprised if there are high and gusty winds in these Front Range cities and towns along the foothills.

SOUTH OF DENVER

South of Denver you will have a chance to look at the iconic 14er Pikes Peak from a few hikes in this book. The famous patriotic song America the Beautiful, written by Katharine Lee Bates as a poem more than a century ago, still speaks volumes about the area, the state, and our country’s breathtaking beauty: spacious skies . . . amber waves of grain . . . purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain. Whether hiking past red rock formations in Roxborough State Park, to the top of a mesa at Spruce Mountain Open Space, in the home of bighorn sheep in Waterton Canyon, or to a waterfall in Staunton State Park, you’ll be seeing some of the best of Colorado in this region.

BOULDER

As Boulder is about 30 miles west of Denver and therefore closer to the mountains, the hikes in this area become more vertical, with a couple of exceptions. Many of these hikes are ones you want to do in the fall, when you go in search of golden aspen leaves, or in summer for a full day outing to loll by an alpine lake and watch the clouds skim by in the blue sky.

Tourist season tends to vary from town to town, but summer is the high season in Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. In the fall, Boulder (home to University of Colorado) and Fort Collins (home to Colorado State University) bustle with college students.

NORTH OF BOULDER

North of Boulder you get to explore trails in Rocky Mountain National Park and just outside the park, including up in Fort Collins. These hikes tend to require more time (including drive time if you are coming from Denver), take a little more preparation, and have bigger rewards with views of vast mountain ranges. You’ll be seeing Longs Peak, one of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks, from more than one trail.

It is said that more than 110 mountain peaks tower over the 415 square miles of hiking trails, picnic spots, waterfalls, cold lakes, and bountiful wildlife in Rocky Mountain National Park. Consider visiting the area in the fall, when the elk are in the valleys for their bugling, or mating, season. Also in fall, the crowds are waning, the colors are changing, and the weather is still quite pleasant.

How to Use This Guidebook

THE OVERVIEW MAP AND MAP LEGEND

Use the overview map to assess the general location of each hike’s primary trailhead. Each hike’s number appears on the overview map and in the table of contents. As you flip through the body of the book, a hike’s full profile is easy to locate by watching for the hike number at the top of each left-hand page. A map legend that details the symbols found on trail maps appears on page viii.

REGIONAL MAPS

The book is divided into regions, and prefacing each regional section is an overview map of that region. The regional map provides more detail than the overview map does, bringing you closer to the hike.

TRAIL MAPS

A detailed map of each hike’s route appears with its profile. On each of these maps, symbols indicate the trailhead, the complete route, significant features, facilities, and topographic landmarks such as creeks, overlooks, and peaks. The author gathered map data using GPS. This data was processed by the publisher’s expert cartographers to produce the highly accurate maps found in this book.

However, your GPS is not really a substitute for sound, sensible navigation that takes into account the conditions that you observe while hiking. Further, despite the high quality of the maps in this guidebook, the publisher and author strongly recommend that you always carry an additional map, such as the ones noted in each entry’s listing for Maps.

ELEVATION PROFILES (DIAGRAM)

This diagram provides a quick look at the trail from the side, enabling you to visualize how the trail rises and falls. On the diagram’s vertical axis, or height scale, the number of feet indicated between each tick mark lets you visualize the climb. To avoid making flat hikes look steep and steep hikes appear flat, varying height scales provide an accurate image of each hike’s climbing challenge. Elevation profiles for loop hikes show total distance; those for out-and-back hikes show only one-way distance.

HIKE PROFILES

Each hike contains a brief overview of the trail, a description of the route from start to finish, key at-a-glance information—from the trail’s distance and configuration to contacts for local information—GPS trailhead coordinates, and directions for driving to the trailhead area. Each profile also includes a map (see "Trail Maps," above) and elevation profile. Many hike profiles also include notes on nearby activities.

In Brief

Think of this section as a snapshot focused on the historical landmarks, beautiful vistas, and other sights you may encounter on the trail.

Key at-a-Glance Information

This information gives you a quick idea of the specifics of each hike.

DISTANCE & CONFIGURATION The length of the trail from start to finish (total distance traveled) and a description of what the trail might look like from overhead. Trails can be loops, out-and-backs (trails on which one enters and leaves along the same path), figure eights, or a combination of shapes. There may be options to shorten or extend the hikes, but the mileage corresponds to the described hike. Consult the hike description to help decide how to customize the hike for your ability or time constraints.

DIFFICULTY The degree of effort an average hiker should expect on a given hike. For simplicity, the trails are rated as easy, moderate, or difficult.

SCENERY A short summary of the attractions offered by the hike and what to expect in terms of plant life, wildlife, natural wonders, and historical features.

EXPOSURE A quick check of how much sun you can expect on your shoulders during the hike. Descriptors used include terms such as shady, exposed, and sunny.

TRAFFIC Indicates how busy the trail might be on an average day, and if you might be able to find solitude out there. Trail traffic, of course, varies from day to day and season to season. Weekend days typically see the most visitors.

TRAIL SURFACE Indicates whether the trail surface is paved, rocky, gravel, dirt, boardwalk, or a mixture of elements.

HIKING TIME The length of time it takes to hike the trail. A slow but steady hiker will average 2–3 miles an hour, depending on the terrain. Most of the estimates in this book reflect a speed of about 2 miles per hour. That speed drops in direct proportion to the steepness of a path, and it does not reflect the many pauses and forays off trail in pursuit of yet another view or place to stop for a snack. Give yourself plenty of time. Few people enjoy rushing through a hike, and fewer still take pleasure in hiking after dark. Remember, too, that your pace naturally slackens over the back half of a long trek.

DRIVING DISTANCE Indicates expected distance from an easily identified