The route into Bitter Spring Creek Canyon is one of those if-you-have-done-everything-else hikes, buried in an isolated corner of Capitol Reef National Park. Yet the geology-minded will be rewarded with up-close views of the eroding layers of Mancos shale, while biologists will discover small groves of cottonwoods and perhaps a few canyon-dwelling creatures. In the …
Continue reading Bitter Spring Creek (Capitol Reef National Park, UT)
It’s hard to say which part of central Colorado’s Castlewood Canyon State Park is better: the steep and narrow upper, eastern gorge – or the broader, deeper expanses of the western section. Why not try both? Hikers hoping to explore the canyon from end-to-end can embark on a roughly 6-mile, 3-hour figure-8 that combines five …
Continue reading Castlewood Canyon East-to-West Hike (Castlewood Canyon State Park, CO)
Having grown up in Kansas, I was initially skeptical when driving south from Denver on Highway 83 that there would be any scenery of interest amidst the endless plains east of the Front Range. Yet shortly after cresting a modest pine-lined escarpment three miles south of Franktown, there it was: the road passes abruptly over …
Continue reading Inner Canyon – Lake Gulch Trail Loop (Castlewood Canyon State Park, CO)
Considering the hundreds of thousands of outdoors-lovers in and around Denver, it should come as no surprise that there is an endless array of parks and trails within a 90-minute drive from the state capital. This includes Arapaho, Roosevelt, and Pike National Forests; more than a dozen state parks; the impressive Denver Mountain Parks system; …
Continue reading Buck Gulch – Strawberry Jack – Park View Trail Loop (Pine Valley Ranch Park, CO)
*The following is a guest post from my friend and old classmate, the lovely Emily Alpert! Perched on the top of Mount Tamalpais, the Rock Spring Trail meanders through meadows, chaparral, and forests. The trailhead offers sweeping views of the white city of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. In the summer, Mount Tamalpais …
Continue reading Rock Spring and Laurel Dell (Marin Municipal Water District, CA)
Despite being far less visited than its slightly higher cousin (Alpine Ridge Trail at Alpine VC, 12,005’), Marmot Point (11,909’) is no less spectacular. In fact, because the unpaved, one-way route up Old Fall River Road tends to weed out visitors, the relative solitude of Marmot Point makes this route perhaps a more attractive alternative. …
Continue reading Marmot Point (Rocky Mountain National Park, CO)
Ouzel Falls is a nice waterfall. But it is the 2.7-mile journey there that makes this hike spectacular. The Wild Basin district, much farther south than the Bear Lake area, is refreshing for its (relative) dearth of crowds, rushing cascades, and majestic views of Longs Peak and Mount Meeker to the north. Ambitious day hikers …
Continue reading Ouzel Falls (Rocky Mountain National Park, CO)
Ute Trail near Forest Canyon Pass, July 2013 2-3 hour day hikes are sparse along Trail Ridge Road, which flirts with 11-12,000 feet, in Rocky Mountain National Park. But if you have the comforts of a “chauffeur” of sorts who can drop you off at Alpine Visitor Center and pick you up down the road …
Continue reading Ute Trail – Alpine Visitor Center to Milner Pass (Rocky Mountain National Park, CO)
The 1.8 mi. (one-way) hike to Emerald Lake is a Rocky Mountain NP classic: excellent mountain views, wildflowers, and flowing rapids, interrupted only by the serenity of three high-altitude lakes (four, if you include Bear). The final leg, from Dream to Emerald Lakes, is particularly spectacular. The downside, of course, is that the relative ease …
Continue reading Nymph, Dream, and Emerald Lakes (Rocky Mountain National Park, CO)
For all its wonders, Rocky Mountain National Park boasts relatively few half-day to day loop hikes, so the Lake Haiyaha loop described here stands out as an exception (for a full-day loop hike, try the Fern-Odessa-Cub Lake loop). In addition to Haiyaha, the loop hits several other notable destinations, including Alberta Falls and Dream, Nymph, …
Continue reading Lake Haiyaha Loop (Rocky Mountain National Park, CO)
Live and Let Hike 