Boulder

Colorado peak questions, condition requests and other info.
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adren65
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Boulder

Post by adren65 »

Hi All,
Can anyone give some recommendations on a couple good trails in/around Boulder?
Good workout, elevation gain...
Thanks so much!
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jsdratm
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Re: Boulder

Post by jsdratm »

Right now your choices are a bit limited and the limited open trails are pretty crowded due to the flooding. I would say Mount Sanitas and Fern Canyon trails are the best workout.
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OnyourLeft
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Re: Boulder

Post by OnyourLeft »

Bear Peak and Mt. Sanitas both come to mind.
jpenny
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Re: Boulder

Post by jpenny »

Almost all of the good trails in Boulder are closed right now from the flood. But in case you are still wondering, my favorite tough yet quick workout is from Chatauqua up the Amphitheater trail, to Saddle Rock and the E.M. Greenman trail. It flows like one trail and as long as you are heading up you are heading the right way. It's about 2600 feet of elevation gain I believe. Chat being at 5500 and the summit at 8100. It ends on the summit of Green Mountain which has the numbered flatirons on it.

Bear Peak has many interesting ways. You can start from a number of areas, but I prefer Chat being that you get a flat warmup heading to the mountain, but you can also start from NCAR and well marked neighborhood trailheads. Fern Canyon is brutally steep but very short; Shadow Canyon is a little less steep and a little longer. Both are excellent trails. Shadow Canyon in completely torched at the summit from a fire last year and it is really neat and eerie to be up there. Bear Peak West Ridge is the longest, most gradual way up Bear Peak however. The summit of Bear Peak is 8400, so you can compute elevation from where you start, it is easy to hit 3000. Bear and Green are connected by the Green-Bear trail. From Bear you are about a half mile from South Boulder Peak which the highest mountain in Boulder. I always try to bag that one while I'm up there.

Sanitas has a route on the East side called Dakota Ridge which leads to the summit which is fun. So is the west trail. Much shorter and more crowded though.

Mesa connects Chat to Eldorado Springs. 7 miles one way and much flatter than the other ones listed. There are maps posted all over the mesa trail making it easy to cut it short and make somewhat of a loop on it with one of the many connecting trails you may find.
pbakwin
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Re: Boulder

Post by pbakwin »

This page has a listing of trails that have been opened following the flood.
https://bouldercolorado.gov/pages/osmp-trails9-21" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Does not included anything to the summit of Green Mtn, but Fern and Shadow Canyons are open, as is Mt Sanitas. The 1st/2nd Flatiron Trail is open, but has to be done as an out & back now. Most of the Mesa Trail is closed. Unfortunately, Boulder has been extremely slow in opening trails and has instituted an open-ended ban on nighttime and off-trail travel. For some reason the City thinks its a good idea to dictate to people about what is and isn't "safe". I don't know why city bureaucrats think they know what's safe and not safe for everyone, but sadly they do have the authority to just close things with good justification. I suppose next they'll close everything all winter so no one slips on the ice.
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Re: Boulder

Post by PaliKona »

Does anyone know what the deal is with the Sacred Cliffs area of Green Mtn? Is it permanently closed or does it ever open? I saw on a map there's a trail through there. I'd love to check it out.
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martinleroux
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Re: Boulder

Post by martinleroux »

The Sacred Cliffs trail is open according to this map: https://www-static.bouldercolorado.gov/ ... 061302.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. But right now the only legal way to get there is via Cragmoor/N Shanahan/Mesa/Bear Canyon/Green-Bear/Green Mt W Ridge, which is about 6 miles in each direction.
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Re: Boulder

Post by PaliKona »

So one can't get up to Green Mtn West ridge yet? Flagstaff Rd still closed?
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MountainMedic
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Re: Boulder

Post by MountainMedic »

Flagstaff Rd still closed...putting a major wrench in my cycling plans. Indian Peaks are just 45 mins away...Arapahoes and Neva.
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justiner
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Re: Boulder

Post by justiner »

pbakwin wrote:For some reason the City thinks its a good idea to dictate to people about what is and isn't "safe". I don't know why city bureaucrats think they know what's safe and not safe for everyone, but sadly they do have the authority to just close things with good justification. I suppose next they'll close everything all winter so no one slips on the ice.
Well, it's a city park, right? So it does make sense that the city has a say on what's open, what's closed. Justification seems easy: 1,000 year flood. Taking a look at the trails that are open, there's def. some damage - you can go say, 100 yards from the Ranger Station at Chautauqua and see gashes in the trail that are over 3 feet deep. Here's an example of a trail that's closed:

https://bouldercolorado.gov/photo-galle ... 5708218296" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks like all hell, to me. Deterioration/Erosion of the trails in the park I bet is a huge issue for a park that's visited by so many people.

There are trail builders on the parts of the trail that have been washed away repairing things - you can watch them work (or see about volunteering!). It's sensible that the trails be closed until after their work is done. As far as the speed of all this: as of 11/14/13, 74% of the trails in the Boulder Mountain Park are open:

https://bouldercolorado.gov/osmp/osmp-recovery" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

" As of today, OSMP has completed 28 flood-related volunteer projects, involving over 600 Volunteers and comprising over 3,000 hours of work."


A useful map is the Long Range Planning Map, that helps answer the question, "When exactly is my favorite trail going to be open?"

https://www-static.bouldercolorado.gov/ ... 131504.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Given all the damage in the trail system, my usual romp in Boulder has changed in a fairly insignificant way: instead of (usually) starting at Chautauqua, I start at one of the trailheads on the south side of town (Cragmoor, Lehigh). There are literally hundreds of named and graded climbs in the park - a favorite climb may not be available but other routes exist. Yearly raptor closures kind of get you in the habit of expecting routes to be closed for long periods of time, anyhoo-
pbakwin
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Re: Boulder

Post by pbakwin »

"1000 year flood" (which was actually a 100 year flood in Boulder, or maybe less), is no reason for anything. Significant, stated hazards could be a reason. If the city is going to close public land to the public for reasons of safety they should have standards for what is and isn't safe. They don't. What's safe for one person (let's say, free soloing the First Flatiron) is certain death for another.

OK, it's clear that I don't think that the City should have kept most of Open Space closed for more that the couple weeks it took to assess the damage. I've seen about 2 spots that seem justified to me on the basis of likely damage to nature - the Royal Arch Trail and the area just below Green Mtn Lodge. But, given that the City did take this action, I do think the Open Space dept has done a great job of reopening things & they appear to be moving faster than their own schedule. Clearly City Staff have been working incredibly hard on this, and I think everyone sees and appreciates that. And, OSMPs' level of responsiveness to public input has been something we just haven't seen in the past. Great! I think we're all learning something about how the city and public can communicate and work together much more constructively. I hope this will be an enduring result of the flood.
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AndyJB444
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Re: Boulder

Post by AndyJB444 »

Sure, there's some impressive damage to the trails (but why would you put a trail straight up a drainage in the first place, ahem, shadow canyon) - and really, gregory is only bad for 100 feet.

Its also been funny to see how fast the "social" re-route trails have started, and some would argue where those go are much better/sustainable than where the old trail went.

Ahhh, Boulder.
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