Fun easy trail, high clearance recommended. First 1/3 of trail is a little more difficult than the rest
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Great hike, once at brainerd lake, this is a great spot to picnic and fish and even bring rollerblades. Might see moose here.
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Headed out with kids in tow. It was an easy day but difficult for the little ones as it’s up hill most of the way. Found many beautiful plant allies and blooming cacti.
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Excellent route by which to avoid the more trafficked areas near Brainard Lake.
This hike took place in early May on a beautiful day along the Front Range. We started out wearing only boots/trail runners, but we soon donned our snowshoes after leaving the Lefthand Reservoir Road.
We took off the snowshoes upon ascending past the local tree line (around 11,300’).
We then summitted Niwot Mtn and traversed to the next high point along the Niwot Ridge. It was quite windy along the ridge, so we soon descended the ridge for calmer conditions.
The snowshoeing was amazing, with wide-open terrain. We then began to hike along more-severe side-slopes terrain, where the footing was tenuous, even with snowshoes. Our goal was to intercept the summer trail up to Niwot Ridge. Unfortunately, the terrain became even steeper, so we decided to descend about 1000’ via a steep gully, with a slope angle of approximately 35-45 degrees.
We slowly switch-backed our way down towards the summer trail with much milder slope angle. It was only about 1/3 of a mile from there down to the Niwot Picnic Area.
Finally we reached the Lake Brainard Road, took off our snow shoes and a layer, and made easy time back to the TH via the road.
It was an excellent day out on the trail with full sun and mild temps!
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This is a super cool road that leads you through quite a few popular cities like Estes Park, Nederland, Central City and Black Hawk. The road shows you plenty of great views and has plenty of spots to pull off and look. Perfect road for anyone who just wants to take a cool drive through the mountains.
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Great off-roading trail for beginners with nice views. Expect no excitement.
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Beautifull Fall colors in early October combined with a perfect, blue sky day. Very scenic forest hike with aspen and Ponderosa trees along the trail.
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beautiful - no shade, no dogs but good for running or walking.
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South Nederland and lots of campgrounds. Decent views of the back ranges. Be aware of fast moving mountain bikers.
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Full exposure for most of the trail. Very hot. The dirt gets hot once the temp goes above 74 or so, so watch your pups feet. The trail is beautiful and there are some nice stream crossings but this trail is better enjoyed during cooler weather than summer sun.
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Great views of Iron Mountain and beautiful meadow. Muddy in spots but not bad. Good place to see moose.
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Stellar single track mtn bike. Private land portion had lots of riders.
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Jun9-19,
About 2/3 was snow covered with a mix of walking small steps on top to post holing up to waist due to sun and softness of snow.
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Flat and mellow hike to the base of Bald Mountain followed by a steep incline to the summit.
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