Hermit Park

Looking to escape the front range heat, try Hermit Park. Take Highway 36 towards Estes Park, and just a few miles past the Lions Gulch Trailhead you will come to Hermit Park, another great Larimer County purchase. The entrance to the park is on your left and requires a $6.00 fee.

Drive up the road as it switch backs for about 3 miles to the end of the dirt road. You will pass cabins that you can rent and a campground. Future plans include a horse campground, but it is slow to materialize. So, if you enjoy this area please mail or call Larimer County and put some fuel into this fire.

There are two parking space for rigs. Tack up and ride through the gate for about 1-mile to the Roosevelt National Forest access. There you will hit an old logging road that will gradually climb up to beautiful meadows, old homesteads and an old sawmill. There is a spring for watering your horse at the first homestead. This trail connects to Lions Gulch but lacks all the rocks so to me it is worth the $6.00 to park.

Boulder Valley Ranch

If you live in the Front Range area of Boulder County you might want to try a ride at Boulder Valley Ranch. This open space is managed by the City of Boulder. It is a great place to get your horse familiar with bikes, baby strollers, dogs, cows, an occasional llama, bridges, gates and just about any other obstacle you could think of. There are trails open to hikers and horses only, and others that allow bikes. Dogs are allowed on trails off leash with a City of Boulder green tag, and the Beech trails are leash only, so keep that in mind if you are accessing the trails from the Neva Road lot and have a dog with you. There is an outhouse at the Longhorn Road trail head.

This terrain is flat to rolling, with a few hill climbs. Wildlife includes prairie dogs, coyotes, owls, seasonal eagles, migratory birds and hawks, summertime brings out bull and rattle snakes. There is a pond to water your horses on hot days and keep a look out for the blue herons.

Trailhead Parking
Three parking areas that are easy for trailers are:
East entrance off of 55th Street near the Boulder Reservoir
West access off of highway 36 near the septic tank manufacturer. Drive past the parking lot for cars and pull off to the side near the open space gate.
Neva Road access to the Ranch through the Beech Open Space managed by the County of Boulder.
Unless you board at the Boulder Valley Ranch you should not attempt to park there, and the lot on Longhorn Road is too small for most rigs.

Red Mountain July 2009

A few friends decided to join me on July 4th to ride Red Mt. Open Space in Larimer County. Larimer County and the City of Ft. Collins purchased an amazing parcel of land West of I-25 near Owl Canyon to the Wyoming border. A pristine landscape with many archeological features is now saved from development.

The day started out sunny and warm as we meadered through red wash canyons. We did a clockwise 10-mile loop that day. As we began to climb out of the canyon the weather began to change, and as we popped up on the rim into Wyoming, the skies opened up. Typical Wyoming weather, lightening, wind, rain and sleet. Woo Hoo! Our horses decided to turn their backs to the advancing storm and refused to move. Luckily we all had some type of rain gear and got it on quick. Water poured down and filled us up from head to toe, as one of the riders said, “there’s water in places it just should not be.” My husband had come along that day and hiked the trail counter clockwise, we all ran into him at the top of the rim. He raced on and continued down the trail towards the Big Hole Wash trail and when we met up with him again at the trailers he said that water was pouring down into the wash off the canyon walls producing waterfalls, so keep that in mind should you find yourself in the canyon wash when the weather changes. As the storm passed on, the trails turned to slick red mud and we carefully descended back down into Colorado on our way to the parking lot below.

If you go:
The Red Mountain trailhead is fairly remote and closes at dark, so come prepared. There is plenty of trailer parking and restroom facilities. Absolutely no dogs are allowed on the property not even in your car, so leave Fido at home on the couch for the day. Come prepared for quick weather changes, pack water and food just in case.