Boulder – Heil Valley Ranch Loop
The Heil Valley Ranch Loop is a moderate hike with a good amount of mileage you can log. The viewpoints and mellow track through Ponderosa Pine forest and grassy fields is pleasant.
Category: Colorado
RMNP – Visiting Trail Ridge Road
Trail Ridge Road stretches 48 miles from Estes Park on the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park to Grand Lake on the west side. Built in 1932, this scenic byway climbs over 4,000 feet up from Estes Park quickly and winds through amazing mountain landscapes. It is a great destination to visit.
Boulder – Homestead Trail, Shadow Canyon, and Mesa Trail Loop
This loop around Homestead Trail and the Mesa Trail, with some added mileage on the Shadow Canyon South Trail is a relatively easy hike of 4.15 miles with a total of 800 ft elevation gain. These trails, located in South Boulder, provide lush green scenery at this time of year with beautiful views of the mountains, including the Flatirons, as well as an abundance of wildflowers.
RMNP – Deer Mountain
Share this…FacebookPinterestTwitterLinkedinOverview Deer Mountain is a quick drive from the Beaver Meadows Entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park on Trail Ridge Road. The hike is an easy to moderate 6 miles out and back with about 1,400 ft elevation gain overall to a summit of 10,013 feet. The trail is …
RMNP – Twin Sisters Peaks
Share this…FacebookPinterestTwitterLinkedinOverview Hiking up to Twin Sisters Peaks and back is a moderately difficult trek of 7 miles with about 2,500 ft elevation gain that winds through both Rocky Mountain National Park and Roosevelt National Forest. On this hike we saw some of the best panoramic views of the Rocky …
RMNP – Gem Lake and Balanced Rock
Share this…FacebookPinterestTwitterLinkedinOverview My husband and I have been searching for trails that provide great panoramic views of the Rocky Mountains, and this trail certainly did that. At 7.5 miles with about 1,800 feet elevation gain, it is an intermediate-level hike. However, if you only hike to Gem Lake, it is …
Boulder – The Foothills Bench Trail
Share this…FacebookPinterestTwitterLinkedinOverview The Foothills Bench Trail is an underrated 4-mile out-and-back trail on the northwest corner of Boulder. The trail is relatively flat, rolling gently over the bottom edge of the Foothills, with lovely meadows and wildflowers. Friday, May 3 was a warm sunny day, and I couldn’t stay indoors, …
Boulder – Hall Ranch
Share this…FacebookPinterestTwitterLinkedinOverview On April 27 my husband and I went for a nearly 10-mile loop hike at Hall Ranch. It’s just outside of Lyons, but still in Boulder County. The loop trail goes clockwise up Nighthawk Trail, connects along Nelson Loop, and finishes up with Bitterbrush Trail. Although it is …
RMNP – Loch Lake in Winter
Share this…FacebookPinterestTwitterLinkedinOverview On a previous weekend we had snowshoed to Mills Lake, but couldn’t take many pictures because it was snowing the whole time. A few weeks later, in mid-April, we went back to the same area of Rocky Mountain National Park to hike 5.5 miles back and forth from …
RMNP – Allenspark & Finch Lake-Pear Lake Trails in Winter
Share this…FacebookPinterestTwitterLinkedinOverview Allenspark Trail is a a trail that starts at the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park in Allenspark, CO. There are several options for destinations from the trail, and that day we were aiming for Ouzel Falls. We were interesed in seeing the falls, but our CMC Snowshoe …