Golden Gate Canyon State Park

Before jetting down to the Outside Festival in Denver this summer, I detoured over to Golden Gate Canyon SP for a pre-fest hike. First time at this park and I loved it! Gorgeous drive and the place is packed with sweet trails laced among its 12,000-acre spread. I made a short, 4ish-mile loop From the Ralston Roost trailhead, made up of a paring of the Black Bear and Horseshoe trails.

The path climbs steadily from the start, through a handsome aspen stand up into a bulbous nose of boulders high above the canyon road. A gradual drop down the other side leads to and across Rim Meadow, heartbeat quiet and host to a handful of backcountry campsites. I’ll bring the pack next time! The return leg on Horseshoe squiggles amidst more aspen alongside a waterfall-packed tributary of Ralston Creek. It’s a peaceful easy feelin’ heading down this homestretch. A right turn just before the bottom leads up and over a short hump back to the trailhead.

This is a great launch pad trail to areas deeper in the park, and don’t miss the views of the Continental Divide and Indian Peaks from Panorama Point on Gap Road at the north end of the park.

Why this place matters

The circa 1800s Swedish homestead in the valley is a fascinating look into the hopes and dreams of the area’s early settlers. Much earlier, the lower canyons and meadows attracted Ute, Arapaho, and Cheyenne peoples, following the paths of buffalo and elk.

Today the park is home to a rich variety of wildlife species. Mountain lion, black bear, mule deer, and elk are common, and threatened species including Cooper’s hawk, olive-sided flycatcher and Western Green Hairstreak butterfly also find solace here.

Arthur's Rock Trail

As is my custom in the midst of splendiferous scenery, I’m easily distracted. I often slow and then altogether stop whatever I’m doing and just look around. While not an uncommon trait among outdoor lovers, for me this routine tends to increase exponentially the more dramatic my surroundings. True to form, the first day I moved to Ft. Collins, I shuffled from the moving truck with a box of dishes, looked up at the mountains and froze.

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Like many communities along the Front Range, Ft. Collins is blessed with a backdrop of dramatic foothills splendor, highlighted by Horsetooth Mountain and Lory State Park. Ditching a college lecture here and there, I beelined for Lory’s trails squiggling over rocky ridges and noodling into shady canyon recesses. The park is steeped in Native American history—Apache, Comanche, Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Sioux lived or made appearances in the area, while the mobile Ute tribes settled on mountain passes and regions of western Colorado. Throughout the state, spear tips, knives, axes, scraping tools, and other relics dating to 9,500 BC have been found.

One of 40 Colorado state parks, Lory boasts over 2,400 acres of diverse terrain providing 26 miles of trails for hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding. This hike explores a scenic gulch, climbs through mountain meadows, and heads up high to Arthur’s Rock with breathtaking views of Horsetooth Reservoir, the town below, and the high plains beyond.

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Start on the Timber Trail, following a gentle uphill grade along the creek into a narrow canyon. The trail crosses the creek above a petite waterfall and becomes rockier as it continues climbing. This is a beautiful canyon, with ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, and spruce mixed with huge, round boulders. After a couple more creek crossings, the trail makes two sweeping switchbacks and emerges into a meadow and a stand of giant ponderosas. Keep your eyes peeled for wildlife like mule deer, wild turkey, jackrabbits, coyotes, and raptors overhead.

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Keep following the drainage up the north slope of the canyon on hard-packed, relatively rock-free tread, with great views to the east of Horsetooth Reservoir and Ft Collins beyond. After another short climb, the trail levels for a bit and then climbs again to the Arthur’s Rock Trail. The last grind to the top is a scramble over and around huge boulders on the back side of the peak. The lumpy, rounded summit of Arthur’s affords stellar views, of course—along the west shores of the reservoir, look for the long ridgeline running the entire length of the reservoir and even farther to the south. Pretty impressive display of geologic handiwork, eh?

Descend through various crinkles in the landscape until finally settling in to a manageable rhythm to the Well Gulch Nature Trail and the homestretch to the trailhead.

Why this place matters

Much of the park’s lower elevations are grassland communities dominated by prairie sandreed, blue grama, needle-and-thread grass, and others. Some drainages provide favorable conditions for the rare wood lily and more than 175 resident and migratory bird species occupy the park, including lark bunting, meadowlark, raptors, hummingbirds, tanagers, canyon wrens, and shorebird species keen on Horsetooth Reservoir’s consistent water levels. Many land-based animals live here as well, like mule deer, coyote, Abert’s squirrels, rabbits, and red fox.

Portland Trail

I love this little hike. Ouray and environs are packed to the gills with all manner of epic, high mountain splendor and expert-class climbs but this one is perfect for a quick dose of off-the-charts gorgeous scenery. Best of all, it’s an easy cruise into down for post-hike brews.

Credit: hikingproject.com

Ouray’s heady days of the 1800s mining boom is evident in the many remnant mine shafts and sites throughout the area. The Portland Mine burrowed into the rock in the rugged mountains above town and today the well-maintained Portland Trail takes hikers on a mellow journey through rich and verdant forest hugging the edge of a deep valley flanked by a grand amphitheater of beauteous alpine scenery. The crescent mountain cirque rises to around 11,500 feet, close to 4,000 feet about Ouray’s streets.

The trail follows mostly gentle grades (keep in mind that “gentle” is a relative term in this part of the state), and stream braids drape the slopes of the massive bowl, their soothing songs echoing throughout this high-altitude arena. Heading toward the Uncompahgre Gorge at the trail’s first curve, we are treated to glimpses of the impressive walls and cirques embracing Ouray. From here, start a long, steady ascent of enormous switchbacks. At the southern tips of these big zigzags, more of the amphitheater reveals itself to the east. Behind and across the valley to the west rises the burly snout of the Sneffels Range. Farther along, hikers are in store for splendiferous views of tall spires jutting high from the top of the Amphitheater. It looks like thousands of enormous castle turrets and is one of Colorado’s iconic sights.

Credit: gjhikes.com

At the next junction, begin the long descent toward the campground and trailhead. The path winds deep into the pines, crosses a creek, and leads to a west-facing slope offering more spectacular views of the surrounding mountains. On the way, a trail junction offers an extra challenge: A right turn leads way up past Upper Cascade Falls to the old Chief Ouray Mine, a solid thousand vertical feet uphill.

Why this place matters

Colorado was a lightning rod for the mining boom and old, derelict sites still litter the state. In outstanding revival efforts, Ouray’s Trust for Land Restoration is helping return alpine elegance to those rough and tumble places. A consulting group and land trust, TLR is known as “the mightiest little land conservation organization in Southwest Colorado,” working to remediate and restore abandoned mine sites.

Fancy Pass Trail

This hike is one of the prettiest in the state and we could hardly ask for a more spectacular setting, with the consistently beautiful Sawatch Range to the west and the high peaks of the Continental Divide and the Tenmile and Mosquito ranges east. A steep initial climb leads to Fancy Pass, then down into the bucolic Missouri Lakes area and a return along Missouri Creek.

Credit: onefortheroadphoto.com

The trail begins on hard-packed tread with freckles of rocks here and there as it delves into quiet forest. Climbing gradually, the scenery gets exponentially prettier with the rising elevation. This wilderness area is loaded with alpine lakes and streams, more than 25 peaks rising above 13,000 feet, and the namesake for the wilderness, Mount of the Holy Cross.

Hike past a deep, rugged gorge carrying a squiggly stripe of a creek and then up a series of steep switchbacks toward an otherworldly view. Nestled in the embrace of a half moon of mountains, Fancy Lake’s placid waters reflect a landscape of deep green pines and moss-covered boulders on a grassy knoll, wildflowers all over the place, and inquisitive rainbow trout noodling about just off shore. Alpine elegance, and a great place to linger.

Climb steeply away from the lake to outstanding views of the eastern ranges. This is rugged country, with a raw and untamed feel, on the way to Fancy Pass at 12,390 feet. A nearly 3,000-foot elevation gain in just over two miles and worth every step. Decadent views stretch to the horizon in every direction. Two lakes appear as little puddles far below the pass, scores of big 13ers are everywhere, dots of distant tarns nestle among the hills, all fringed with panoramic views of Holy Cross Ridge and the Sawatch Range. Nice!

Credit: protrails.com

From the pass, the trail descends toward Treasure Vault Lake and an exquisite basin of wildflowers and expansive rock fields. At about the four mile mark is the junction with the trail leading west to Blodgett Lake and the trail heading south and uphill again to Missouri Pass. at 11,900 feet. Below is a huge U-shaped valley of steep cliffs and high ridges flanking Missouri Lakes, an Eden of a dozen pristine mountain lakes surrounded by groves of spruce and fir. It is a magnificent scene with a contrast of bold, rugged mountains and soft green landscape. Keep an eye open for deer, lynx, elk, bobcats, and black bears.

On the initial descent, the trail crosses Missouri Creek a couple of times and passes a few scenic waterfalls and past a wetland area loaded with flowers. Pass another deep, narrow gorge housing a roaring creek to a leveler grade near the bottom of the valley, where the creek deposits itself into small lake. From here, the trail parallels the creek and a forest road back to the trailhead.

Why this place matters

The Holy Cross Wilderness includes nearly 123, 000 acres around its namesake mountain, including wetlands and fens critical to natural water flow. Bear, elk, lynx, fish, waterfowl, and many other species—including rare and endangered—live in this wilderness and depend on wetlands and fens for food and habitat. Wetlands are nature’s water storage systems, the earth’s lifeblood, taking thousands of years to develop and uncannily reliable through epochs of an evolving world.

Unless something tosses a wrench in the works. Out of control Front Range growth means more faucets and demand for water. Aurora and Colorado Springs want to flood Holy Cross wetlands and build an enormous dam/reservoir to satiate their thirst. One preposterous proposal to “mitigate” environmental loss is to dig up the wetlands in big blocks and "replant” them elsewhere.

Personal note: What the ever-loving *!#@? Transplant a highly complex natural system with a backhoe and call it good? A rapidly changing climate needs an efficient supporting cast and as per usual, humans think their way is best. Until, of course, the resources are all gone and everything else suffers. Apologies for the rant but this makes me nauseous. We need to stop taking and let things be.