Nice hike near the town. Moderate in difficulty and shaded in some areas. Not much parking so get…read morethere early. Beautiful view of the falls at the top.

This is a great trail but the location shown here for it is wrong. The trail is in Rocky Mountain…read moreNational Park on the edge of Estes Park. This map is a small community 12 miles east of Estes Park. Please use google to find the real location of this trail!

This is a 4.1 mile loop trail rated easy with 669 feet of elevation gain…read more This trail is out in the middle of nowhere which is nice. You park at the green rock parking lot. It is $5 to park in the lot unless you have a national parks pass. Bring a copy of your pass to leave in your dash if you have a pass otherwise bring $5 cash and a pen to write on the envelope. The trail is mostly shaded and had really lovely views. It follows the stream for a good chunk of the way. There is even a bridge that goes nowhere ;) It does seem like an area that would be likely to have moose though thankfully we did not see any. It is pretty remote, I would bring bear or pepper spray with you. You can add more miles by taking a turn on barber lake trail if you would like. Dogs are welcome as long as they are leashed.

Great for a quick afternoon hike or a night of stargazing. The trail is relatively easy to follow-…read morevery interesting rock formations along the way and you may even see a beaver family in the pond towards the end of the trail. Just look for it as you're passing along I-80, can't miss it!

It has long been a great spot to hike for locals and visitors, but for camping it can get noisy…read more(Thanks Coloradans for ruining our state parks). There are a few streams and beaver ponds to fish, but bring waders and a large pack with a creel container that has ice packs to keep the fish cold. Wear good hiking shoes, and bring lots of water and sunscreen!

Super easy hike with some decent views. I wanted more of a challenge, but still had a good time…read more There is a lot of traffic on these trails and a lot of kids were there...not an issue, but it was busier than a lot of the hikes I do. Parking is $10 though!

Make it a destination when in NoCo....the place is just a beautiful place, close to town, and…read morestands out as must not miss !! Great place for a short hike, or use their amenities to start your longer adventure.

Mount Margaret Trail is a 7.2 mile heavily trafficked out and back trail located near Red Feather…read moreLakes, Colorado that features a lake and is good for all skill levels. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from February until November. Dogs and horses are also able to use this trail. This trailhead has a small parking lot. There is a bathroom at the trailhead. There is not however a trash can or dog poop bags. This trail is thankfully one that is not usually over populated. Its 7.2 miles and 540 feet of elevation gain. So its rated easy. Its beautiful in the fall and winter especially! There are lots of aspens in the area and it is a great hike to see fall colors. In the winter the snow contrasts the trees. There are frequently moose sightings in the area. SO just be cautious. Especially if you have your dogs.

Google it and you will find it. Our group arrived at 6 30 am on Saturday. The lower parking lot…read morewas full and ended up parking at the upper lot by the trash bin. As you enter thru the gate, there is a welcome kiosk and rest room to the right. No water or hand washing station. Detailed map will tell you all about the area. This is a starting point to many trails that go deep into the Indian Peaks Wilderness area. On our visit, we got to see mooses, very close to the end of the lake. You can do the loop around the lake. At the end of our visit, there were cars parked along the side of the road. Very popular area. Lots of canoes, paddle boards. No bike allowed!

The trail is quite popular, parking lot is not too small, but in a good day, still challenging to…read morefind one. The trail is basically flat, plus photo and water breaks, it took us almost 2 hours. I enjoyed the hiking, the lake is beautiful. The only regret is that we and all other hikers heard the moose moo but no one saw it. On return to the parking lot, I met father-son who carried backpacks ready for 5 day trip in the mountains, it seemed exact father-son thing to do, I only wish I could do the same thing with my son earlier.

Our visit to Rocky Mountain National Park was very fluid - we didn't have much planned, but Alpine…read moreRidge Trail was still one of the only hikes that was on our must-do hike. It is so breath-takingly gorgeous, that if you're able to complete it, it should 100% be included on your itinerary. Located right by the Alpine Visitors Center, this hike is about 0.6 miles roundtrip and requires you to climb approximately 225 stairs. The hike itself is moderate, but also take into account that you're at a higher elevation - you'll probably have to take more frequent breaks, so just make sure to pace yourself. Plenty of fun placards to read along the way, though, so it's like the hike is inviting you to take a breather. The summit is at 12,005 feet and so beautiful. You will get a full 360 view from the top - take some time to just sit and enjoy. There's even a elevation sign at the top that you can take your picture with. It was June when we visited, so it was still cold, windy, and drizzling. Snow was still out on the mountains. But it was still so serene. The hike starts at the Alpine Visitors Center, which has both clean & modern bathrooms and a water bottle refill station. So make sure you stop by - it's not often you find both of these at a trailhead. Wonderful experience, highly recommend.

If you're stopping at the Alpine Visitor Center when driving through Trail Ridge Road, it only…read moremakes sense to stop by here and go up the 1 mile hike. It is a slight bit challenging (well maybe it's because I didn't bring my water with me), but taking a break or so every 10 or so stairs will help out a ton. Once you get to the top, the views are priceless. You're not going to see viewpoints like this anywhere in RMNP. Being 12,000+ feet above sea level is special. This is one trail you can't skip out on and you'll remember it forever.

About a 900ft vertical gain on the way up to this beautiful alpine lake, but it's not a super long…read morehike. We stopped a lot, and got back within 3 hours. Most people were faster than we were! It's busy on weekends, but you will still have space to yourself. At the lake everyone has to take turns going out on the dock. You can bring a small picnic and hang out there, but there is no fishing, no boating, and the plants around the lake are fragile, so you have to use the walkway. Just before you get to the lake, there's a huge meadow that is probably a resting place for Elk in the fall. Going back is much easier, most of your vertical gain is done! Enter the area by the Arapaho Bay entrance to Lake Granby. Pass over the dam. You have to park on the side of the road. There is no trail sign. Recommend GPS. Beautiful views of Lake Granby as well.

Absolutely beautiful hike! Turtle rock and the surrounding rocks are beautiful, with truly…read morephenomenal patterns eroded into them. It's a very easy hike, well maintained and mediocrely signed, that takes you all the way around the monolith. We didn't see any moose, though we passed two people who had on one of the side trails. There was also lots of evidence of the moose, including plants they'd picked clean and beds where they had recently slept. It's a longish loop that passes through several patches of still water and a short part of one river. Mostly shaded, so it was a comfortable temperature even in mid-July. The biggest negative was a couple bad mosquito bites, so bring your bug spray! I don't know if this will be true after 2023, but the flora here is incredible. The huge amount of water the west got this winter is really revealing in the massive wildflower beds. Including what was nearly a field of Sego Lillies! Lots of other flowers as well, including Indian paintbrush, monkshood, and wild roses.

This review is actually for Turtle Rock, Phallic, Valley Mastiff, Regolith and Skeleton Loop…read more 7/6/2021 tuesday arrived around 10 am. got the last spot in teh parking lot. There are not a lot of spots so be prepared for that. There is a bathroom at the trailhead. There is not hand sanitizer though, so bring some with you. Also there are no trash cans or dog poop bags. If you are bringing your pups be sure to bring some bags with you and also be sure to pack out what you pack in (including the dog poop!) The turtle rock portion of this trail is pretty well shaded and some water and is what there is signage on the trail for. Though you do have to look for it. Those are brown signs on the trees with an arrow and sometimes a small "trail" written above it. This particular loop is not signed. Honestly NOTHING other than the turtle rock is signed. So if you go wanting to do this loop, be sure you have the map downloaded or that you have a fully charged phone so you can access all trails while on the trail to make sure you are going the right direction. I have t-mobile service and i did have service the whole trail so was able to keep tabs on where we were. There was several times that we ended up back tracking though. There are a lot of random dirt paths out there so following intuition i dont think would really cut it. There is one point you will need to crawl over and under a fence. Also there are parts where the trail is not obvious. We walked past a few of the turns multiple times. Be prepared for a couple of marshy areas. There is no way to avoid it. So your shoes will get mucky. Also one point that you need to cross the river. I just crossed in my boots and got wet. When we got up near cow and regolith trail. The trail was not really existent as according to this map. We ended up needing to cut through some wildflowers and cross the river and saw the trail over there. But my phone charge was down at that point to like 45% so we opted to go on cow trail back to the forest service road and then back up turtle. We did hike around 8.85 miles. I think loop may actually be longer than what it says if you do what is listed here. We would have been game for trying it all IF i was not worried my phone would die and then it would be a heck of a lot more challenging to find our way back to the car. The positives : the wild flowers are absolutely beautiful here right now! The fields were bursting with color! There were so many birds and butterflies and bees. The trail is definitely less traveled. only really saw people on the turtle rock trail. We did not see any moose which was a little bit of a bummer. Had left the pups at home as so many had said they had seen moose here. A friend did hike turtle rock a couple of weeks ago and said she saw a moose and calf. Its a great trail just be prepared for teh fact that a fair amount of it is pretty primitive and you will need navigation to be able to find this particular loop. Some parts are clear but there are lots of splits.

8.8.2021 Sunday…read more arrived at 8 am. Not many people there at time. Left around 11 am and lot was full. There are no poop bags at the trail head. There is also no trash can. So plan on bringing your own poop bags if you have a dog/s. And plan on packing out any trash that you pack in. :) There is a bathroom at the trailhead. Follow the signs and you will get there. The disappointment falls were quite lovely. there are also a lot of wildflowers still blooming which is awesome.