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Trailhead: 13415 Spruce Mountain Road, Larkspur, CO Route: Spruce Mountain trail up, then service road to Eagle Pass Trail down Length: 6.0 miles Vertical: 600 feet Partners: My good friend Mike N.
Having attempted (and failed) Horn Peak a couple weeks back, I really needed to get out but what with the "stay local" mandate, I decided to visit a favorite Douglas County Open Space. I have hiked most all of the DougCo Open spaces and Spruce Mountain remains one of my favorites. Trouble is, a lot of folks feel the same way. I wasn't surprised at the number of vehicles at the TH but was pleasantly surprised at how few people we ran into on our hike and how everyone was following the social distancing guidelines. And while this certainly wasn't a tough day, it was nice to get out.
For reference/maps/etc. on Spruce Mountain, see this link -DougCo Spruce Mtn
The drive from Parker to the TH is easy. Any phone ap or mapping ap will get you there.
Entrance sign
We chose to make a loop hike and go up the Spruce Mountain trail and then take the service road at the west end of the mountain down to the Eagle Pass trail back to the TH
Looking back at a half full parking lot.Is this a trail or a road?
This is an easy hike through gamble oak, ponderosa pine and grass fields. There are also many interesting rock formations and a lot of views.
Some of the smaller gamble oak - this is a pretty hike in the fall.Entering the pine forest and the trail stays good.Frequent benches should you need to rest during your 600' climb...
Views - lots of views
And rock formations...
And rocks...Some ice on the trail.But mostly rocks...Lotsa rocks...Views and rocks...Weird rocksView across to Eagle Mountain (private property)
Views from the summit
After doing the summit loop, we headed down the service toad to catch the Eagle Pass trail.
Service roadNearing the end of the service roadStart of the Eagle Pass trail
The Eagle Pass trail heads back east to the trailhead.
And some ice here...
More gamble oakAnother view of Eagle Mountain.Taken from highway 105 on the return home.
A fun day - as they always are in Colorado
Thanks for taking the time to read this and please be careful out there.
Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow):
Yes, I think we should demand that benches be strategically placed
on all 14er trails! Would come in handy for us older guys (I'm just
talking about me of course).
On a more serious note, I liked your TR. Nice pics of some mellow terrain.
Keep getting out there Jay! We've all been modifying our goals lately, glad to see you making the most of local hills. I've been going for the Eagle County soft ranked these last 2 weeks, easy to find lots of social distancing on those! Lol
@ Mthgoat - yeah - any elevation gain now is probably good. Thanks for commenting!
@ Mike - I bet you are absolutely nailing those Eagle County soft peaks - just like you get so many other mountains. In another lifetime, I just might match your peak count! Thanks!
Does Mike know that you repeatedly refer to him as "rocks"? Seems kind of rude, doesn't it? Just kidding amigo, I couldn't help myself. Glad to see you aren't letting recent events slow you down, Jay.
Yeah - Mike is my periodontist and a good friend and he does have rocks in his head - just like me! Thanks for the smile, Ben. And the nice words. Be well.
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Just kidding amigo, I couldn't help myself. Glad to see you aren't letting recent events slow you down, Jay.
