Mindy Sink - 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Denver and Boulder: Including Fort Collins and Rocky Mountain National Park

To my family and my fellow hikers

60 HIKES WITHIN 60 MILES: DENVER AND BOULDER

Copyright 2020 Mindy Sink

Copyright 2006 and 2010 by Kim Lipker

All rights reserved

Printed in China

Published by Menasha Ridge Press

Distributed by Publishers Group West

Third edition, first printing

Cover and text design: Jonathan Norberg

Cover photos: (Front) Indian Peaks Wilderness: Pawnee Pass Trail to Lake Isabelle ().

Interior photos: Mindy Sink except where noted

Cartography: Mindy Sink and Scott McGrew

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Sink, Mindy, author. | Lipker, Kim, 1969 60 hikes within 60 miles, Denver and Boulder Menasha Ridge Press.

Title: 60 hikes within 60 miles, Denver and Boulder : including Fort Collins and Rocky Mountain National Park / Mindy Sink.

Other titles: Sixty hikes within sixty miles, Denver and Boulder | 60 hikes within 60 miles.

Description: 2020 Edition. | Birmingham, Alabama : Menasha Ridge Press, 2020. | Series: The 60 hikes within 60 miles series | Prior edition by Kim Lipker.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019055245 (print) | LCCN 2019055246 (ebook) | ISBN 978-1-63404-285-7 (pbk.) ISBN 978-1-63404-286-4 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: HikingColoradoDenver RegionGuidebooks. | Day hikingColoradoDenver RegionGuidebooks. | WalkingColoradoDenver RegionGuidebooks. BackpackingColoradoDenver RegionGuidebooks. | MountaineeringColoradoDenver RegionGuidebooks. | TrailsColoradoDenver RegionGuidebooks. Outdoor recreationColoradoDenver RegionGuidebooks. | Denver Region (Colo.)Description and travel. | Denver Region (Colo.)Guidebooks.

Classification: LCC GV199.42.C62 D474 2020 (print) | LCC GV199.42.C62 (ebook) DDC 796.5109788/83dc23

LC record available at lccn.loc.gov/2019055245

LC ebook record available at lccn.loc.gov/2019055246

Visit menasharidge.com for a complete listing of our books and for ordering information. Contact us at our website, at facebook.com/menasharidge, or at twitter.com/menasharidge with questions or comments. To find out more about who we are and what were doing, visit blog.menasharidge.com.

DISCLAIMER This book is meant only as a guide to select trails in the Denver and Boulder areas and does not guarantee hiker safety in any wayyou hike at your own risk. Neither Menasha Ridge Press nor the author is liable for property loss or damage, personal injury, or death that result in any way from accessing or hiking the trails described in the following pages. Please be aware that hikers have been injured in the DenverBoulder area. Be especially cautious when walking on or near boulders, steep inclines, and drop-offs, and do not attempt to explore terrain that may be beyond your abilities. To help ensure an uneventful hike, please read carefully the introduction to this book, and perhaps get further safety information and guidance from other sources. Familiarize yourself thoroughly with the area you intend to visit before venturing out. Ask questions, and prepare for the unforeseen. Familiarize yourself with current weather reports, maps of the area you plan to visit, and any relevant park regulations.

OVERVIEW MAP

TABLE OF CONTENTS

MAP LEGEND

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thanks to all of the people (and some dogs) who hiked with me: Sophie Seymour, Mike Seymour, Jeff Reaves, Annette Reaves, Valari Jack, Jennifer Shanahan, Richard Varnes, Tanya Twerdowsky, Rich Grant, Steve Lipsher, Sancho, Monica Stockbridge, Carie Behounek, Lara Merriken, Elise Martinez, Marla Tomberg and Felicity, Lee Frank, Mark Stevens, Lisa Shultz, Mason Ramirez, Roman Ramirez, Kelly McDonald and Maizy, Robin Birkeland Jugl, Jen Gentry, Chad Gentry, Addison Gentry, Lea Gentry, Crissy Roe, Wylie Cornish, Esther Cornish, Tim Howard, Lania Howard, Nate Howard, Abby Howard, Solo, Mandy Rafool, and Finnegan Marshall. Each of you made at least one of these hikes much more fun and memorable!

Thanks also to the previous author, Kim Lipker, who created a wonderful template for me to explore as I added my own personal preferences for this update.

I am more grateful than ever to all of the rangers, land stewards, and volunteers who work to keep trails maintained and preserved for all to use.

Mindy Sink

FOREWORD

Welcome to Menasha Ridge Presss 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles, a series designed to provide hikers with information needed to find and hike the very best trails surrounding metropolitan areas.

Our strategy is simple: First, find a hiker who knows the area and loves to hike. Second, ask that person to spend a year researching the most popular and very best trails around. And third, have that person describe each trail in terms of difficulty, scenery, condition, elevation change, and all other categories of information that are important to hikers. Pretend youve just completed a hike and met up with other hikers at the trailhead, we told each author. Imagine their questions; be clear in your answers.

Experienced hikers and writers, Mindy Sink and Kim Lipker selected 60 of the best hikes in and around the Denver and Boulder metropolitan areas. From the urban paths of Bluff Lake Nature Center to the glaciers of Indian Peaks Wilderness to the prairies of Ron Stewart Preserve, they provide trekkers of all abilities with a great variety of hikesall within roughly 60 miles of Denver or Boulder.

Youll get more out of this book if you take a moment to read the Introduction, which explains how to read the trail listings. The Maps section will help you understand how useful topos will be on a hike and will also tell you where to get them. And though this is a where-to, not a how-to, guide, experienced hikers and novices alike will find the Introduction of particular value.

As much for the opportunity to free the spirit as to free the body, let these hikes elevate you above the urban hurry.

All the best,

The Editors at Menasha Ridge Press

PREFACE

Colorado offers some of the best hiking in the world. As the title makes clear, these are hikes selected for their proximity to Denver and Boulder, as well as the variety of terrain, challenge, and scenery.

I grew up in Boulder and have lived most of my adult life in Denver, and I have to confess that, until now, I really took hiking for granted. Theres nothing like a deadline to create focus and zeal!

When I started sharing my hikes on social media, friends got in touch to ask if they could hike with me. I hiked with people in their 70s and preteens and a lot in between; people who compete in sports and people who dont work out at all. By hiking with people with different interests, experiences, and abilities, I learned a lot about recommending hikes.