One of my favorite trails in Boulder located in Chautauqua park. It's a little over 3 miles with…read moresome elevation, but I think it's relatively easy. My friend who was visiting from sea level who doesn't hike much was able to do it with no problems. It's a beautiful hike through tree line, nice vertical and stone steps and a unique arch at the top! There are big rocks to sit on and enjoy the stunning vistas and observe sweet chipmunks running about.

The hiking conditions at Royal Arch turned out to be a lot more intense than I had expected - a…read moregood thing :-) Tip: While the hiking in intense, the views you experience while you hike aren't anything to write home about - quite disappointing. This is the kind of hiking trail that I'm not unhappy about having done once, but I really can't see myself coming back to repeat the experience.

Love Skunk Canyon for easy close hikes! This is a collection of a trailhead and large grassy…read morecanyon. It's more a large gully than canyon, but has a ton of nature and wildlife. The trailhead is not great but not terrible. There's room for three cars of Vassar drive. You can street park, park at Ncar, or bike in like I do. There's a lot of branching trails here, and you can make some easy loops of around one to three miles. I would estimate around 500 ft of gain to connect to the Mesa trail above. About an hour hiking or half hour run. There's a ton of trees, flowers, birds and views! The lower trails are mostly sunny and open, and can bake up very hot in summer. The upper parts are treed and much cooler when the wind comes in. Enjoy connections on the Mesa Trail, or get to Woods Quarry and down for a loop!

This is a backdoor entry to the Flatiron Mountains. It is a gradual climb and not a very difficult…read moretrail. It has very little shade so plan accordingly. No parking lot, just park along the residential neighborhood.

What a great trail head! You can connect in all directions for lots of hiking fun! The Fowler…read moreTrailhead up the road is great too and gets you a bit closer to Eldorado Canyon. There's miles of trails for hiking and biking, including many views of the plains, mountains, and surrounding scenery. Love the flowers and many rock colors coming out. You can even see a section of ancient seabed coming out! This is definitely one of my favorite places to go hiking in Boulder, and it seems you can avoid some of the downtown Boulder crowds. There's also South Mesa parking across the road, and plenty of trails northward too! Happy trails!

Super fun, easy trail! Close to Arvada and Broomfield area. Fee to park is $5. I suggest you…read moredownload the ParkMobile app before getting there as signal comes and goes. Bikes, dogs and horses are allowed on this trail. You also get great views the entire hike!

Describing this trail is like Buddy the Elf describing his journey from the North Pole, "I passed…read morethrough the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel." The trails here are twisty, gooey, flowing single tracks that open into picturesque views of vistas, overlooks and meadows with rocks, flagstone and stumps acting as natural obstacles. When you cruise down the Wapiti Trail, you are zooming into the seven levels of the wildflower forrest and your tires are sticking like half "sucked-on" gum drops to the grippy, tacky trail surface...like pizza sauce clings to a white blouse. Your eyes start to tear from the breeze, and it's so quiet, you can actually hear the echo cries of a Canyon Wren and your stretching cheek skin as a smile rips across your face. Then you do it all over again.

I spent all day here on the Wapiti Trail and Ponderosa Loop, about 8 miles total, in mid-May. I…read morethink it is a great trainer trail close to Boulder, easy to get to to acclimatize and prepare for mountain trails. It was a beautiful hike, and we got to see some mule deer, which I had not expected. The downside is, despite all their bitching about how rocky the trail is, Wapiti is heavily used by mountain bikers, so you will quite frequently have to get off to the side to let them by. If you are looking for some peace, you may not find it as the avalanches of sweating and grunting macho bikers pump past you. I would use this as a training and exercise trail - save your bliss for the the real mountain trails where bikers are banned or unable to compete with hikers.

I was only in the Denver area for a week, so wanted to keep it lowkey with the hikes and went to…read morethe Flatirons to do so instead. Given that the Flatirons essentially sit at the base of the Rocky Mountains, this is a much more doable area for those who are just visiting and haven't acclimated to the change in elevation! There are a ton of hiking trails that stretch for miles and can be explored all throughout the Flatirons, but the best part of the Boulder Flatirons is its proximity to the city of Boulder! Boulder literally sits at the foothills of the Flatirons, so its a quick jaunt from the mountains to the city in this area and the city of Boulder has a great downtown, college town, and just generally a ton to offer to tourists and locals alike! A must visit when you're in the Denver area!

Absolutely breathtaking views from the top. It's so high up and was a challenging hike up to the…read more1st and 2nd Flatirons. Highly recommend if you're in the area.

Fern Canyon is the name of the northern of two routes to get up Bear Peak (Shadow Canyon being the…read moreother) Access is varied with many points such as the Cragmore Connector, NCAR, or even the Mesa Trail. I prefer the NCAR way since it has good parking, however you have to climb back up at the end! The actual Fern Canyon Trail starts off the Mesa Trail roughly a half mile up from Bear Canyon. The trail is rocky, rooty, and icy for half the year, a true adventure! It's definitely one of the hardest city trails and not for the faint of heart. It's up-up-up, relentless until you reach the rocky peak of Bear. Much of the trail is forested aside from a nice col between Nebel and Bear, and the top sections which are open talus steps followed by class 2 climbing. There is much nature including the namesake Ferns as well, especially in late summer/fall. Happy Trails!

This is the (or one of the) steepest hiking trails in Denver (probably similar to Shadow Canyon)…read more According to my GPS, it gained around 2000 feet in 1.1 miles. The last 0.3 miles becomes pretty steep and is just loose rocks and scree. But, it's really fun and it's the most direct route to Bear Peak, if you park at NCAR.

This is a local attraction in Boulder Canyon that I have visited occasionally since 1974 but…read more probably not in the last 20-30 years. With out of town guests who wanted to see it, we went up with them today which was hot even by 9am. Not ideal for me. There was adequate parking in a small lot on the south side of the Canyon, just before the crossover to the entrance to the short but steep hike.Being a Monday morning, not very busy. Be aware that weekends are extremely busy and not enough parking. I believe that the trail has been improved some over the years from our past memory of it. There are actually some steps cut into the steepest of the rock surfaces and some heavy duty chain handrails in the areas with he steepest drop off. We saw little kids as well as grandparents. so if I can still do it, many others can. Cooler weather would have been nice. The waterfall is quite pretty. It was roaring even in a drought because of a few heavy rains last weekend and such hot weather in this climate change era that the snow pack in the mountains is melting too quickly this summer. A must see if you are visiting this area. A many athletes do visit too.

Beautiful water fall. Totally worth the fairly short drive from Boulder. Parking on the road or…read moresmall open lot across the street. Easy 10 minute walk & hike to the waterfall. Allow a little time to take photos and then free up space for other visitors. Glad we came.

What a fantastic trail! There's views for miles here. The parking area is fairly large with…read moretoilets, and there's another a bit fatter for non Boulder county folks who don't feel like paying. Come now for the best flower show! With lupines, sunflowers and more, plus roaming cows, the pastoral scene here will take you away from the bustle of nearby parks. There's a big loop trail up the hill, and numerous bike paths to follow. I had a lot of fun here!

Located at the intersection of HWY 93 and Marshall road in south Boulder, Marshall Mesa is a great…read moreplace to go hiking or mountain biking if you like steep and rough terrain. Trail maintenance is very little if not at all so get ready for some extremely rocky, muddy, and partially washed out trails. The good thing about Marshall Mesa is its expansive trail network, one can connect up to the Marshall Valley Trail, Coal Seam Trail, Cowdrey Draw Trail, Greenbelt Plateau Trail, and Community Ditch Trail. All trails are hiker and mountain biker friendly but most of them are very narrow and only allow a single direction of traffic at one time. Good hiking footwear or a strong, well built professional grade mountain bike is required as well as sunscreen and a couple of bottles of water since most of these trails are fairly long (10+ miles long one way). There is a large free parking lot across the street from the entrance or a pay for parking lot on the park property itself. So go out and enjoy the sights and sounds of the great Colorado outdoors.