#60HikesDenverChallenge – Roxborough State Park

(For 2017, I had a goal of getting through all 60 trails in the book “60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Denver” While I didn’t make it through all 60 this year, I’m going to carry this goal into 2018. You’ll see these posts all 2018 as well. You can find a lot of info on each of the trails in the book, but I’ll highlight some things each time in addition to including my experience and opinion on the trail. The number below is associated with how they are labelled in the book if you have it.)

Trail #59 – Roxborough State Park: South Rim Trail
Completed: 12/3/17 | Number Completed: 17/60
Mode: Hiking
Location: South of the city Roxborough Park (Highway 121 until it turns into Rampart Ridge Rd)
Distance: 3 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Type of trail: Hard packed dirt, balloon configuration
Exposure: Lots of shade
Facilities: Toilets, Water fountain, and picnic tables at the Visitor Center
Extra info: Park Closes at 5:00pm in the winter. Has an entrance fee, $7.00 I believe, but we have a state parks pass.

My Experience:
It had been awhile since I’ve opened up this book due to many reasons. I was grateful to have a day off a couple of weeks ago and Ben and I decided to journey somewhere we’ve never been. Roxborough State Park is about 30 minutes south of where we live. It wasn’t busy at all (given it was December), and there are a lot of quick, easy trails to choose from. We chose the trail from the book, about 3 miles long, the South Rim Trail This was a looped trail and a good option to see what the park has to offer. The rock formations here a lot like those at Red Rocks or Garden of the Gods. These beautiful reds rocks stand out against the backdrop no matter the season and color of the foliage.

Pros:
-Not crowded. I’m sure it gets more crowded in the Summer, but I still feel this park is off the beaten path.
-Scenic
-Variety of difficulty options