Sheep Mountain Trail

Green Ridge is a fantastic series of summits in the Front Range that make for excellence training hikes, but is often forgotten as it lies outside of the nearby Bobcat Ridge Natural Area and just inside of Roosevelt National Forest. The summit itself at 7,402' is fantastic, featuring a nearly 900' drop into Jug Canyon to the southwest and expansive views of Rocky Mountain National Park includin...

D.R. Trail, named for David Rice Pulliam who donated the land to create the Bobcat Ridge Natural Area, is a 3.1 mile spur off the Valley Loop Trail that climbs roughly 1,000' into Mahoney Park before it intersects with the Powerline and Ginny Trails. To get to the start of the trail, take the Valley Loop Trail either direction (4.8 miles clockwise, 4.4 counter clockwise) in the Bobcat Ridge Nat...

The Valley Loop Trail in the Bobcat Ridge Natural Area begins at the main entrance of the Natural Area, just off W County Road 32 C near Masonville, west of Fort Collins and the Horsetooth Reservoir.To get there take West County Road 38 E west from Fort Collins over and around the Horsetooth Reservoir until you get to the Masonville and the main intersection. There go left onto Buckhorn Road an...

Powerline Trail is a 1.9 mile spur off the Valley Loop Trail in the Bobcat Ridge Natural Area that climbs 1,100 feet from the valley floor to Mahoney Park.To get to the start of the trail, take the Valley Loop Trail .9 miles in the Bobcat Ridge Natural Area from the main entrance of the Natural Area, just off W County Road 32 C near Masonville, west of Fort Collins and the Horsetooth Reservoir....

The Devils Backbone Open Space offers great hiking in the Front Range foothills. The main feature is the rock formation running along the western boundary of the park, but the open space also supports a large wildlife and plant population. Here, you'll find great opportunities for year-round hiking that can be as short as a couple miles or as long as twenty. Although there are several loops, th...

The Horsetooth Mountain Park Open Space is located just 4 miles from Fort Collins. The 2,886 acre park offers 29 miles of hiking, biking, and horse back riding trails. Having taken both the multi use trail and the hiking only trail, I recommend the hiking only. This trail offers you the views and instead of being a fire road, it is a single track trail. The trail is very well marked with signs...