Author Topic: Denver Area - Hiking/Vacay Questions  (Read 1296 times)

lcerrito

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Denver Area - Hiking/Vacay Questions
« on: January 22, 2017, 07:29:52 AM »
Hello fellow Moustachians! A budget airline recently opened a hub in our home city, and now we have the ability to fly to Denver super cheap. My husband and I have always wanted to go hiking in Colorado, including his dream of doing the Pike's Peak marathon. While we definitely won't be tackling that our first time out there, we would like to do daily 4-10 mile day hikes and visit some breweries.

After looking at just how many trails there are, we're getting a little overwhelmed. We're trying to pick an AirBnB central to the trails, and we're currently seeing trailheads stretching from Boulder to Colorado Springs! It's hard to judge just from photos!

Are there any locals here who can recommend the best area to stay in for hiking? Any favorite trails of medium difficulty? What tourist traps to stay away from? We plan on going for a week in late May/early June, if that affects anything.

Tick-Tock

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Re: Denver Area - Hiking/Vacay Questions
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2017, 08:53:51 AM »
Are you interested in staying closer to town, or in getting up into the mountains?  May is considered "mud season" in the mountains, so the hiking might be better closer to the end of May or into June (though in June, you start getting families on vacation).


waltworks

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Re: Denver Area - Hiking/Vacay Questions
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2017, 09:41:56 AM »
Are you talking about the front range only? Because the "best" trails by most standards are not in the Ft. Collins-Colo Springs corridor. Barr trail (Pikes) is indeed neat but it's a tourist superhighway and the upper portions often don't open until July.

If you want amazing hikes and relatively inexpensive lodging, look at the Salida area. You're close to a ton of cool stuff, it's a cool little town with a couple of breweries, and it's not expensive (by CO standards).

-W

lcerrito

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Re: Denver Area - Hiking/Vacay Questions
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2017, 10:33:47 AM »
We are open to any area! We were planning on renting an economy car, and packing most of our meals, so proximity to public transport/restaurants isn't a priority.

Good to know that the trails are muddy in May. That's very helpful! Might shift our timeline out to early June.

waltworks

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Re: Denver Area - Hiking/Vacay Questions
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2017, 10:55:45 AM »
Ok, my advice is: stay the F away from Denver and Boulder and the whole front range. If you want to check out Barr in the Springs for  prerun/hike prior to the marathon (I recommend just doing the HC if you are doing it for the first time) do that last.

I'd stay in the Breck/Vail area for a bike (tons of cool hikes) as well as the Salida/Gunnison/CB area. That will give you a good sampling of high peaks and alpine lakes and just generally neat stuff.

Problem is, a lot of that won't be hikeable until July. Or later, sometimes, if it's a big snow year. Your May/June plan will only work for the low elevation foothills trails along the Front Range, and those are crowded and not as cool.

-W

lost_in_the_endless_aisle

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Re: Denver Area - Hiking/Vacay Questions
« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2017, 02:03:02 PM »
I've hiked extensively in the front range (norther part) for reasons of geographic convenience--can't comment on the other options pointed out in the thread.

The front range is of course overrun with tourons but it's easy to avoid the worst crowds by starting early (before sunrise) which is smart in any case because of almost-daily t-storms in the summer. Trail Ridge Road an amazing drive a half hour before sunrise and hell to drive after 10AM or so, for example. In most years, there will still be a fair amount of snow above 9000' into early June, even in the drier, eastern-most points. Above treeline (>11,200' typically) and off trail can be much better going that time of the year since snow drifts into lower areas and treeless expanses of snow melt sooner (or at least compacts into a firm surface) compared to snow in forested areas. Snow can be annoying but I actually enjoy hiking in May/June because of the added challenge and the fun of glissading back down.

In RMNP, the Mummy Range holds less snow and is somewhat less crowded due to long summit approaches than Bear Lake. Having said that, there are islands of obscurity and some amazing places around in and around RMNP.