Summit County, Colorado

I loved this trail when I lived in Lakewood. It has a decent elevation gain, close to the city, spectacular views, and you can pretty much hike it year round unless you just had a winter snow storm (though you could just hike in snow boots!). I take the John O Hayden Trail from the Utah Parking l...

From Chautauqua Park in Boulder, follow Baseline Road west (if you are driving up the mountain, you are golden). Drive 3.4 miles up Flagstaff Road and look for the sign for Realization Point on your right. It’s a little tricky to see from the road, so keep an eye on your odometer. The trail star...

This shady trail of switchbacks ascends steadily (over a thousand feet in under a mile) to a rock outcropping at 9,185 feet. Yes, you can expect your heart to be pounding and to be huffing and puffing as you climb Ute Trail. But the view of Aspen that rewards you is spectacular. The trail is pre...

Cheesman Canyon is considered one of the top fisheries in the world, and this stretch of the South Platte River is easily accessed at the Cheesman trailhead off CR 126 just Southwest of Deckers.  There are tons of great fishing opportunities along this stretch of the river, but it does tend to ge...

Green Mountain Trail is a 6.5-mile loop and has a challenging ascent to the park's highest point. Because the mountain is one of the first to rise out of the plains, you get unique views of where the mountains meet the prairie and fascinating geology. The summit, at 6,857' offers stunning views o...

Starting at the Mesa trailhead, continue a half a mile through a relatively even grade before arriving at the North Fork Shanahan trailhead, which will take you another half a mile on much steeper grade up to Fern Canyon where you will start a much harder portion of the hike; here, you'll head st...

This is a great spot for an easy/moderate hike or trail run. The trail is accessible year round and can often be hiked in winter as well as other seasons. You start out at the Mesa Trailhead parking lot off of Hwy 170. There is a parking lot here but this is a starting spot for several hikes into...

The best advice I can give you? Wake up early to start this hike.Even though the Bear Peak hike will only take you about 4-5 hours round trip, it will still be advantageous to get off the mountain before afternoon and evening storms might pass through. This is a steep 7-mile out and back trail.St...

Doudy Draw Trail is an out-and-back trail where you may see beautiful wildflowers located near Boulder, Colorado.

From the trailhead, follow the trail through the woods until you reach a meadow with a steep slope. Some portions of this slope reach an angle of 30 degrees and may feature slight avalanche danger in the winter. However, the trail is used enough that such conditions would make themselves known ...

The Ceran St. Vrain trail north of Jamestown offers the hiker a nice respite from the summer sun as this path runs through dense pine forests. The trail follows the South St. Vrain Creek for most of the way and follows moderate grades throughout. There is no official end to the trail, only that i...

Green Mountain via Gregory Canyon and Ranger Trail is an out-and-back trail that provides a good opportunity to view wildlife located near Boulder, Colorado.

You can either start the from the Gregory Canyon Trailhead or the main Chautauqua trail.  At the Chautauqua trailhead you will need to pay for parking on Saturdays and Sundays and at the Gregory Canyon Trailhead you will need to pay for parking if your car is not registered in Boulder. If you sta...

From the parking lot, take South Flatiron Vista Trail for 2.4 miles, where you'll cross onto North Flatiron Vista Trail. In 1 mile, take the connector trail back to the trailhead. To shorten the loop to 2 miles, hike South Flatiron for just 1 mile to Prairie Vista Trail, which leads back to the c...

You can start from Chautauqua Park, but I prefer to start at NCAR, especially since there is ample parking and you can take a bathroom break inside before hitting the trail. From the intersection of Table Mesa Drive and Broadway in Boulder, drive west on Table Mesa to its end at the NCAR buildin...

The Bear Canyon Trailhead is just one of many starting points for this hike, one could also start at NCAR, North Fork Shanahan, or any point on the Mesa Trail. For the purposes of this adventure, I'll start at Bear Canyon Trailhead in South Boulder. This hike will take you about 2-4 hours dependi...