The Rich Creek / Rough and Tumbling Hiking loop is one of the most high density Colorado nature experience trails I’ve been on. There are stands of Aspens, forests of Lodgepole Pines, meadows of wildflowers, streams and rivers with tons of fishing thanks to the beaver dams. The loop itself is about 12 miles and…

I was trying to finally knock out the Shelf Lake Trail hike I tried back in 2015. Unfortunately it looks like a particularly wet winter has resulted in County Rd 1038 being closed through May. Unfortunately I didn’t find out until I got to the locked gate where that was noted. I got in touch…

I didn’t even know Golden Gate Canyon existed until I accidentally found it while out for a motorcycle ride. It’s super close, has great trails, and seems to see fairly low numbers of visitors, even on weekends. It’s another spot really close to Denver with some great views and a lot of trails. I have…

At about 20 minutes from my house in Denver, this is probably the closest hike I’ve ever done outside of North Table Mountain. It’s also in Golden and beats the pants of that hike. What it’s lacking in the form of a big payoff view or destination, it makes up for in pleasantly cool, shaded…

The Reynolds Park Trailhead is a bit over 45 minutes from downtown Denver. It doesn’t seem to be all that well known, although I’m sure there are times when the large trailhead parking area fills up. I went on a Saturday morning at around 9am and was one of the first 5 vehicles there. Many…

Meridian Trail has amazingly few hikers for being so close to Denver. A bit over an hour away, it makes up for having few “amazing views” by being a very pleasant and moderate hike with excellent solitude. The trailhead is easy to find, Google Maps gave perfect directions on the first try and in spite…

I was recently up in the Aspen area for a fishing trip up the Fryingpan. I decided to get up extra early one morning and hike to the Maroon Bells. I beat the sunrise hoping to see the light hit the mountain tops and while I didn’t quite get what I was hoping for, what…

In late August I spent a couple of days fishing the upper Fryingpan near Basalt. The water up there is beautiful and runs from very slow, broad, waist-deep sections just below the dam on Ruedi reservoir to shallow, fast-running riffles. I was up there during the week and while certain sections offered a ton of…

Upper Cheesman Canyon trail starts near Deckers on the north side of the South Platte River. There is a parking lot near Cheesman Reservoir and even on the Sunday I went there was plenty of parking available. The drive to get there winds up along a narrow dirt road with a steep drop-off on one…