Colorado Front Range Hiking log

This is the first hike I did in Colorado. Suitable for all levels of hikers. Climbs 800 feet in 2.4 miles from the WildBasin trailhead in southeast Rocky Mountain national park.

Long trail up from the mountains through Boulder passing through Boulder public library in downtown.

Though this is just a 4-5 mile round trip hike, the trail was still deep in snow in May and my leg was stuck in melting snow in more than one spot. it was in between a snowshoe and hiking trail. Even finding the trail was tricky in spots. Overall was enjoyable especially since the weather was glorious even if there was snow on the trail.

Short moderately steep trail with views, part shade and a lake. Wildflowers and flora made it a great hike.

Am not able to remember many details of this hike. There was so many elks in this area.

Was a cold day and we just did the Streamside trail and walked the dirt road from the first parking lot to the visitor center. More of a pleasant walk than a trail.

A moderate but long hike. The lake was snowed in and we must have gotten within .5 miles of the lake but couldn't go any further since the snow trekking proved to be more and more dangerous. But we had many pleasant sights along the way including Ouzel Falls and Ouzel Lake. The stretch between Ouzel Falls and Ouzel Lake is open and does not have much shade but has some good views.

The trail is more difficult than it looks since it goes up and down and it descends via steep switchbacks to South Boulder Creek which means there is a steep ascent on the way back. The toughest portions of the hike are the first and last mile. Enjoyable hike with good views within a mile or 2.

Easy hike with a rewarding wildflower view (seen in famous photographs). The trail does continue on to Isabelle Glacier (which we did not venture into). great hike for great pictures.

Short but excessively steep loop trail. Ascend on your left. Descending is as hard as ascending with steep edges and slippery sandy areas. A great view from the top.

A reasonably tough hike with great views from the skyscreaper reservoir. The most interesting part of the trail is in the last 1 mile but u do go with the creek for most of the hike.Ascends steadily and passes through some wooded areas. The trail is worth for the solitude and beauty of the lake and reservior. Backcountry camping by the lake seemed nice to see.

Decent fall colors in the beginning of the hike. The reservoir as such was interesting with the dam structure.

NIce easy-moderate hike by the creek, though meadows and woods. Can climb to the top of the waterfalls on its left side. Beautiful and serene. We even spotted a wild turkey in this hike.

There are many routes to Green Mountain peak and this is one of them. Another hard but short hike with rewarding views of the Rockies, Boulder and Denver.

Short but very tough hike. Steep all the way with no respite but a grand arch and wonderful views of Boulder city from the top. It took us 2-2.5 hours round trip and I am not one of the fittest people around. I stopped a lot but found it manageable. COming down is as hard as going up as it is steep and rocky.

Close to Longmont, the Wapiti trail and Ponderosa loop is an easy fairly long trail. The first 1 mile of the trail is an interesting valley, follwed by a moderate climb through the woods. The scenery in the loop is mostly same until u reach the viewpoint where the view opens to beautiful valley. A dry, partly shady hike convenient due to its closeness. Lots of mountain bikers on the trail. 4 hours round trip with a 15 minute break for lunch.

Similar to first part of Wapiti trail but with very less wooded portions. More meadows and views.

The trail is easy for the first mile until Mitchell Lake. The trail then picks up elevation but is mostly an easy-moderate hike to Blue Lake.Very pretty trail and serene picturesque lakes. Takes 3 hours round trip.

The trail is on the west side of RMNP. We camped at Elk Creek Campground and began our trail at Green Ridge Campground from Shadow Mountain Dam. Since it is a national recreation area, even though there are no manned pay booths, please make sure u either pay or display your annual pass in the windshield. They do check and issue a warning ticket. Then we crossed the dam and began our trail by the lake. The trail distances as per the trailhead info is 5.3 miles. Thre are two tough portions in the trail. otherwise the trail is ok with beautiful woods and shade throughout and with glimpses of the lake through the first half of the trail and stunning views from the tower. The trail is not heavily used and we met only 2 other hikers in the whole 5-6 hours we spent in the trail. Great hike for bird watching and wildflowers.

4 mi - not much shade some good views of the Front range and the valley

Trailhead is after 8 miles on Flagstaff road. The road itself has some great views. Walker Ranch loop is not much about the views. But overall it is a very different hike because of its profile,. U go down, then up and down then up at the end. You reach the same point in South Boulder creek that you would if you took Eldorado Canyon trail. Some good wildflowers, hills and rock formations.

Finding the trailhead was more challenging than the trail itself. If on Lee Hill Dr you reach an interesection where u turn a sharp left to continue on Lee hill you have gone too far. It is the unnamed road just before the sharp turning driving on lee Hill away from Broadway. Then there is dirt road veering left that takes u to the parking lot. There is no signage anywhere indicating the trailhead. The trail is easy, short and shady. Decent wildflowers. The creek is fairly narrow and not very impressive.

In the west RMNP, this trail is wooded hike with the river flowing right by and some views of mountains. The Lulu city itself is just a beautiful meadow on the riverbanks. We went past until the Little Yellowstone and returned via a loop/spur trail. The hike if I remember right took us 4 hours.There were some beautiful birds to watch in the trail.

Parked at FlagStaff mountain and took the West Green Ridge trail to Green Mountain followed by Bear-Green trail to Bear west ridge trail to bear peak. It is a hard rewarding hike with great views from the peaks and a variety of terrain on the way.
Took us a total 7 hours.

From the Hessie trailhead, this hike is easy and has a great rewards to effort quotient. Especially The spur to Lost Lake has a good number of waterfalls to admire. Add a 1 mile RT to trail distance as the last 1 mile is only suitable for hardcore 4WD vehicles.