There are over 20 miles of trails in this area, with only a couple well developed. The remainder are old roads and stock/game trails that have become recreational trails through local use. Private parcels surround this Roosevelt National Forest system, and boundaries are well marked. Signage is poor and trails can be hard to follow in some places, so keep your eye out and a compass or GPS on hand—we were lucky to have Rose who knew this area well.
We arrived late, traffic in Fort Collins (if you can avoid driving through town). We had a nice breeze as we set out on the trail—the footing was perfect! The trail wound through Pasque flower covered valleys with lovely rock formations, pine forests and small water crossings. The trail that day followed moose droppings, so keep your eye out so as not to be surprised by one. We had to do a bit of bushwacking around fallin trees here and there. Note: these trails are not consistently maintained, though Rose spoke of a local couple that do a bit of trail maintenance in that area—thank you.
Some other trail information:
The trailhead is on the south side of Larimer County Road 74E near Red Feather Lakes at approximate 8200 feet. Opposite this trailhead, on the north side of 74E is the Mt. Margaret trailhead. The trail offers meadow and mountain views as well as connecting Molly Lake and Elkhart Creek trails.
To get there:
Take Hwy 287 north of Fort Collins to Livermore, turn left on County Road 74E. Travel 22 miles to the the trailhead.
- The trail system is open year round.
- There are no parking or day use fees.
- Trails are open to horses, hikers and bikers and dogs are also allowed.
- Mountain biking is not allowed from December 1 through June 30th.
I found this interesting article about Catherine Lawder Grattan Moon after I found myself wondering how this trail got its name.
Lady Moon left riches-to-rags story in Fort Collins
Published by Barbara Fleming for the Coloradan
She was “loud and crude” but had a generous heart and took in strays of all kinds without hesitation.
The personal life of Catherine Lawder Grattan Moon was rocky, to say the least, and her turbulent life ended in 1926 as the age of 61.
Lady Moon, as she was known, left behind a detailed and revealing will that tells us much about the woman behind the public exterior. Her ex-husband, Lord Cecil Moon, to whom she had once paid alimony, received nothing. The ranch they had once jointly owned was in the care of her former foreman — what remained of it, in any case.
At one time the proud owner of race horses and a fine herd of cattle, Catherine Moon had fallen on hard times. The ranch buildings had burned and she had lost some rental properties she had formerly owned in town.
Her foster son, Frank Potts, had been a large disappointment to both Catherine and Cecil; he received nothing. Her horse, Lady West, went to a man named Joe Gray. Her foul-mouthed parrot — which had once sworn richly at Father Guillame LaJeunesse of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church — went to a woman named Mrs. S.J. Oliver, who, we presume, was unfazed by the parrot’s vocabulary.
Stories abound about this colorful character, who emigrated from Ireland as a young woman and landed in the nearby mining town of Manhattan, which flourished for a time in the 1880s. She was always proud of having wangled an audience with Queen Victoria when she and her then-husband went to England to claim his inheritance and title. She also liked to boast that her favorite horse at the time, Moses, traveled across the Atlantic with her.
She was known to tipple a bit and said to have secreted liquor in the folds of her skirts when she came to town —as well as a pistol, which she once used, the story goes, to retrieve her husband from the clutches of his latest lady friend.
But her heart was at her ranch, and when she died, having had to abandon it, she had little left to give. She designated a few cash gifts to friends — of which she had many — and named recipients for her gold-plated cane, a gold belt and two leather chairs.
The bulk of her estate, such as it was, went to St. Vincent’s orphanage and school in Denver, which received $500 — leaving historians to wonder about her own childhood in Ireland and what caused her to come to America.
She specified that she wished to be interred above ground at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Denver, so her remains rest there in a vault. That fact notwithstanding, Catherine Moon left an indelible legacy in her adopted home of Fort Collins.
