“Everything a hiker needs to find a trail.”
—Kerrie Lee Brown, Denver Life

“Explore the pages of this smartly updated guidebook, and it’s clear that there truly is a wide variety of possibilities when it comes to hiking in and around Denver and Boulder.”
—Monica Parpal Stockbridge, Colorado Traveler Magazine

Mindy Sink grew up in Boulder and has lived in Denver for many years. She is the author of Walking Denver (Wilderness Press), which her daughter, Sophie Seymour, contributed to for the book’s second edition. Mindy is also the author of Moon Denver, Boulder & Colorado Springs (Moon Travel), and she contributes regularly to the Denver Post, Colorado Parent, and other publications both in print and online. She also works in healthcare communications. Before becoming a guidebook author, Mindy covered regional topics for The New York Times’s Rocky Mountain Bureau. She earned a degree in journalism at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Mindy lives in Denver with her husband, Mike Seymour; her daughter, Sophie; and the family’s nonhiking cat, Marvel. Kim Lipker grew up in Colorado, loving the outdoors from an early age; and she did most of the hikes in this book, never imagining that her frolics through the forest would ever land themselves in print. Kim coauthored the fourth and fifth editions of Best Tent Camping: Colorado (with Johnny Molloy) and Day & Overnight Hikes: Rocky Mountain National Park (both from Menasha Ridge Press). In addition to writing books, she works in the Department of Language, Culture & Equity at Poudre School District, and she has written a regular parenting column and other features for Rocky Mountain Parent magazine. Kim lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, with her three children.

Overview Map

Map Legend

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Preface

60 Hikes by Category

Introduction

Denver (Including Foothills and Plains)

• Alderfer/Three Sisters Park
• Belmar Park
• Bluff Lake Nature Center
• Clear Creek Canyon Park: Peaks to Plains Trail
• Dedisse Park: Evergreen Lake Trail
• Deer Creek Canyon Park: Meadowlark and Plymouth Creek Trails
• Elk Meadow Park: Meadow View, Sleepy S, and Elk Ridge Trails
• Golden Gate Canyon State Park: Mountain Lion Trail
• Golden Gate Canyon State Park: Raccoon and Mule Deer Trails
• Meyer Ranch Park: Lodge Pole Loop
• Mount Evans Wilderness: Hells Hole Trail
• Mount Evans Wilderness: Mount Bierstadt Trail
• Mount Falcon Park: Western Loop
• North Table Mountain Park: North Table, Tilting Mesa, and Mesa Top Trails
• Plains Conservation Center Loop
• Red Rocks Park: Trading Post Loop
• Silver Dollar Lake Trail
• Windy Saddle Park: Lookout Mountain Trail
• William Frederick Hayden Park: Green Mountain and Hayden Trails

South of Denver

• Castlewood Canyon State Park: Inner Canyon and Lake Gulch Trails
• Colorado Trail: Segment 3 to Tramway Trail
• Devil’s Head Trail
• Greenland Open Space: Greenland, Luge, and Kipps Trails
• Mount Herman Trail
• Pine Valley Ranch Park Loop
• Reynolds Park Loop
• Roxborough State Park: Willow Creek and South Rim Trails
• Spruce Mountain Open Space: Spruce Mountain Trail and Upper Loop
• Staunton State Park: Elk Falls
• Waterton Canyon Recreation Area

Boulder (Including Foothills and Mountains)

• Betasso Preserve: Canyon Loop Trail
• Caribou Ranch Open Space: DeLonde Trail and Blue Bird Loop
• Chautauqua Park: Chautauqua, Royal Arch, and Bluebell Road Trails
• Eldorado Canyon State Park: Eldorado Canyon Trail
• Heil Valley Ranch: Wapiti and Ponderosa Loop Trails
• Hogback Ridge Loop at North Foothills Trailhead
• Indian Peaks Wilderness: Mount Audubon Trail
• Indian Peaks Wilderness: Pawnee Pass Trail to Lake Isabelle
• James Peak Wilderness: South Boulder Creek and Crater Lakes Trails
• James Peak Wilderness: South Boulder Creek Trail
• Mount Sanitas, East Ridge, and Sanitas Valley Trails
• Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge: Lindsay Ranch Loop
• South Boulder Creek Trail from Bobolink Trailhead
• South Mesa Trailhead to Bear Peak
• Walden Ponds Wildlife Habitat and Sawhill Ponds Wildlife Preserve
• Walker Ranch: Meyers Homestead Trail

North of Boulder (Including Fort Collins and Rocky Mountain National Park)

• Button Rock Preserve: Sleepy Lion and Hummingbird Switchback Trails
• Ceran Saint Vrain Trail
• Crosier Mountain Rainbow, Glen Haven, and Summit Trails
• Devil’s Backbone Open Space: Wild Loop
• Greyrock Meadows and Summit Trails
• Hermit Park Open Space: Kruger Rock Trail
• Horsetooth Mountain Open Space: Horsetooth Falls and Horsetooth Rock Trails
• Lory State Park: Arthur’s Rock Trail
• Rocky Mountain National Park: Gem Lake Trail
• Rocky Mountain National Park: Glacier Gorge and Loch Vale Trails to Timberline Falls
• Rocky Mountain National Park: Lily Ridge and Lily Lake Trails
• Rocky Mountain National Park: Twin Sisters Trail
• Rocky Mountain National Park: Wild Basin and Bluebird Lake Trails
• Ron Stewart Preserve at Rabbit Mountain: Eagle Wind Trail

Appendix A: Outdoor Stores

Appendix B: Map Sources

Appendix C: Area Hiking Clubs and Organizations

Index

About the Authors