Access to this area wasn't straightforward; perhaps this comes with the terrain but the residential…read moreneighborhood around it has mostly reserved parking, with a small area around a couple of trailheads designated for hikers to park. When I began embarking on the trail, I found it a considerable uphill, but the area on my map leading to the main mountain peak was closed, leading me to divert to other trails leading to a plateau. Reaching a genuine mountain peak, however, proved unfeasible in the already ambitious itinerary I had embarked upon. Nonetheless, the sights were distinctive. For the non-local, uphill hikes in thin Colorado air can be a bit breathless, but I wasn't particularly disappointed in having given it a good effort.

If you are looking for a heart pounding, sweat producing, lack of oxygen thrilling hike…read more.... This ain't it. But.... If you want a very cool hike/walk....close to Denver this is it. Perfect for a great run/dog walk/ stroll etc. Castle rock is the perfect place to have a quick picnic with great views. Tons of views everywhere actually

Really wonderful area to hike in JefCo…read more Excellent parking lot. Amazing well maintained trails with views back to Denver and beyond. We even bumped into a Jefferson county ranger hiking the trail ( and this is not a rare exception). Parts of the trail were really icy and slippery ( bring traction for your shoes!)

You can get here in 15-20 minutes from downtown Denver, so win there! Then the views!…read more When the trail first starts, admittedly, it seems like it will be boring. You start in an open clearing. Then you can go right on Cherry Gulch (?) trail - which is shorter and more challenging to get to the top. We did see a mountain lion as we ended our hike later than we planned. This is a really nice park that is so close to the city. We definitely will return and I encourage you to go. I didn't feel that the climb was challenging at all.

My first CO 14'er peak and it was an awesome hike. I learned a lot about altitude and breathing…read moreand pacing. The summit was stunning and I like taking summit pictures. We also saw a male and female moose in the distance along with mountain goat. Easy parking at the trailhead and there is a restroom. Please come and create your own adventure.

As pros put it, no 14er is easy. If one was though, Mount Bierstadt would meet the definition…read more About 7 miles roundtrip, it's a fun summit. Saw a moose cow and calf in the brush, gave wide berth of 300 feet and continued upward. The summit is nice, though Tennis Shoe Timmy and his wife No Ankle Support Cindy were there exuding a bit of flatland jerkiness from on high. You know the type, expert hikers from the muddy banks of some coastal estuary. But now here, he's morphed in to Lewis or Clark and his wife suddenly has the centuries-old wisdom of Sacagawea. This is a wonderful and perfectly accessible trail. Frankly though that's part of the problem. Because it's so close to Denver, it's distinctly more of the masses. Besides that, it's fine.

Easy to get to just off 85. Easy hike/snowshoeing as well…read more Just got back from hiking the full 11.5 miles. It's a very quite lightly trafficked location. As of today not enough snow to snow shoe and not enough to wear spikes as well. So we decided to get rid of both. About eight or more short switchbacks and a gradual uphill nothing strenuous. When you enter the Pike National Forest you're about halfway to your destination. Trail is well marked and only horses and hikers are allowed here. Solitude and enough length of trail to keep a hiker happy.

Awesome trail for snowshoeing. It is well marked on Hwy 285, with parking along the road. It…read morestarts quickly on an incline with switchbacks to accommodate the climb, but levels off after a while. Within a few minutes we were far enough up the trail that we did not hear any traffic. From there on out, it was just us. No animal sightings, but we did see tracks and scat. It was a windy day, but once in the trees and after working just a little bit, we were amply warm and happy. I felt like we could have hiked for hours and never seen another person. It was the perfect first time experience at snowshoeing. I think the Lost Creek Wilderness would be great during any season. In fact I learned of this hiking/snowshoeing destination from an REI employee who helped me find the right snowshoeing shoes. He got married in this forest preserve. I envy him that beauty and experience. The Ben Tyler trailhead is at 8260ft elevation and over 11 miles in length. The link I provide is of a map. Each trail name is linked to a history and description of the trail.

A beautiful place to begin your day! So many friendly faces and nice people roaming the area and…read moresoaking up the sun and stunning views. The parking is in a dirt lot and isn't the biggest, but people were coming and going as we drove in. There are restrooms and water fountains for use as well. South Valley Park is for everyone. I saw lots of bikers, dog walkers, joggers, kids and hikers. This is a great spot for picnicking as there are several spots with tables. I didn't realize how big this place actually was, but as I walked over the hill, the view took my breath away. I thought that this was a smaller hiking area, but looking out into the open I realized there was miles of trails and views. There are loads of red sandstone spires in beautiful formations. We even saw several deer up by the trees. Overall, South Valley Park is a great spot to start your morning and an even better place to watch the sunset or sunrise.

Scenic hike with the "Red Rocks" and crops of giants rocks…read more Easy hike, but not shaded much. Saw many people out with young kids and even saw a dad pushing a stroller. There's multiple trails that connect and you can start at the north trailhead and make it down to the other end to the south trailhead.

Great simple hike close to Denver, Golden, Morrison etc…read more You will get bored with it eventually but you can put it into a rotation of other hikes. Great views and easy to get to

This is a great welcome to Denver foothills hike. You've got two options, the high route and the…read morelow route so depending on your time allotment and physical ability you've got choices. The parking lot is a decent size but with the burgeoning number of outdoor enthusiasts moving to Denver it's always full early. Carpool or come early or wait to do an early afternoon. You get great views from an out and back with a loop. For the most part, this trail is accessible all year round. Snow and ice add complexity in the winter but often melt and leave some mud. This is not the place to go to find quiet solitude however. It's close and easy to access so Consequently it's always busy. Lots of eager trail runners, and entry-level Hikers and cyclists definitely add density to the experience. Go. Hike. Run. Bike. Enjoy!!

Beautiful hike today. Never been here but I have a webcam link to see the summit. So when I saw a…read morecloud inversion, I came as fast as I could! The "trail" is really just a dirt service road, in good shape though. You can drive up a bit more to the gun range, my highlander was ok but really low cars might have issues. The trailhead is a bit loud with the gun range. The .22s are one thing and only moderately freak my dog out. Some folks bring large caliber weapons and those can take away from the scenic value a bit. You can hear them from the fire tower too. The hike is uphill but never very steep. However it's a bit unrelenting, and you can skid on the loose dirt. It's only a long straight way then two switchbacks, and you're there. Not too many views except at the summit cone. The last few hundred yards are well constructed rock steps. Then you're at the fire tower! Views abound in every direction. The tower was occupied but you can still wander the base. There's a lot of communication things, which was funny to me since you have no service the whole hike. It took me around half an hour to climb to the top. There's some fun rock scrambles around as well if you're up for that. Overall, a pretty basic hike with a great payoff! I think it would be awesome for a sunset or sunrise.

"We have ways of getting you to the summit," said my high school pal with a smile and wink, who…read moreinsisted it was an easy, 2-hr hike up Chief Mountain. Bad News: Chief Mountain was closed on Memorial Day because of too much snow. Good News: We didn't know it until after we thought we'd hiked to the top. "Damn, the trail head must be here somewhere,"....."hmmm, ah...the hell with it. Let's just bushwack this and go straight up." And, we did. My high school pal and two other intrepid Boulder locals revealed to me that it had been 5 years since they'd done this "hike," and they couldn't exactly remember where trail head was located. The consensus of the group: start climbing. OY! It was steep, even traversing. My Chicago wind and stamina didn't fail me, but oh, boy, did I ever feel it. I wasn't gasping but I was ... well.....sucking wind big time. It was beautiful, too. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. There were birds everywhere. I saw a Blackbird, a Cormorant, an Oriole, a handful of crows, doves, ducks, geese, hawks, a grouse, a Great Blue Heron, a hummingbird, a mountain pelican and a woodpecker. We saw jackrabbits, squirrels, deer, scampering pikas, two wily foxes, and we were pretty sure we saw elk in the distance. The skunk: meant to be smelled and not seen. There were running streams and snow drifts. There was a hearty breeze that dried my sweat, which became profuse toward the top as we covered a jagged boulder field on all fours. The Summit: 11,800. Views of the front range, Mt. Evans, Pikes Peak, and the plains. Perfection and supreme exhaustion. We ate p&j sandwiches, and oranges. We took pictures and relaxed. We marveled at how simple, cleansing, and energizing a thrill knocking yourself out can be. We were exhausted. We chose to walk down the fire road we found off the back of the summit. We walked down a bit and saw the sign: "Squaw Mountain, Summit: 11,800." Ha! We weren't even on Chief Mountain and my local pals didn't even know it. If you want to walk up the back fire roads rather than macho out like we did, here's where to find the SQUAW MOUNTAIN trail head location: From the intersection of CO-74 (Evergreen Parkway) and CO-103 (Squaw Pass Road), go west for approximately 12 miles. Just after you pass the turnoff to Echo Mountain Ski Area, there is a dirt road on the left side of the main road. Park here or, if the parking area is filled, continue up the hill and park at the intersection with the old Squaw Pass road. You will have to hike back down the old Squaw Pass road to meet the other road. Got that?

This Jefferson County park is well maintained with plenty of parking and better than average…read morevaulted toilet. Has two large reservable shelters with many picnic tables and also gazebo at the island for that special occasion. Today's visit, did not see any rangers. Lots of picnic tables by the creeks too. No open fires allowed at this time but allowed to bring gas grills. Lots of anglers, hikers and bikers were present while at the site

Had a great time snowshoeing here! Snow was scarce in some places but was still fun. Not a…read morestrenuous hike and was scenic and nice. Parking lot was not full and spacious. The ice on the lake is thick enough so there were people ice skating and ice fishing. I would say that spikes are better than snow shoes but was still a fun experience and it's also pretty here in the summer.