Thursday, May 19, 2011

Fillius Park in Bergen Park-Evergreen; Denver Mountain Parks Trail

It has been way to long since I hiked and posted; being pregnant and trying to get our house ready for baby plus my lack of energy has really made it harder for me to get outside as much as I'd like.  However, I did manage to hike in Bergen Park about 2 weeks ago and I am finally getting around to posting about it now. 
I had passed Fillius Park many, many times while driving into Evergreen for other hiking trails and always thought it was just a park, not a park with trails.   But for some reason, I decided to stop there and see if I could find a place to hike.   When I arrived on an overcast Wednesday morning, there were 2 other cars in the parking lot and I didn't see any people in the park area, with picnic tables and handmade rock shelter.  So, I assumed there was a trail nearby, I  just had to find it.  Directly across the street from the parking lot I noticed a trail with a small Denver Mountain Parks sign; there is no trail map, so I had no idea how far the trail was, but just started hiking and to my surprise had a great day walking along the ridge-back mountain and along the trails. 
Getting there:  Fillius Park is located in the town of Bergen Park, or just north of Evergreen.  The best way to get there is take I-70 west to exit #252 onto Hwy 74 or Evergreen Parkway.  Drive about 2.5 miles and make a right turn at Bergen Parkway/Evergreen Parkway (this is at a light, you can see the park on your right at this point).  Park in the lot and walk across the street to the intersection of Soda Creek Road and Bergen Parkway to the trailhead.  Check the google map here.
Specs:  There are picnic tables in the park, and a covered shelter.  I am pretty sure there are port-o-pot restrooms in the summertime, however I did not see any at the time that I hiked this trail.  However, there are restrooms at the grocery store across 74, not far away from the park.   This is an easy hike and there aren't more than a few miles of trails along the route, great for hiking a couple of hours. 

I started up the trail which is in the pine forest, there are lots of bird houses and you have views of the surrounding mountains and park below. 
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Along the trail there were several cactus flowers just blooming and some flowers peeking up out of the pine needles. 
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Cactus flowers in bloom.
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Rock at one of the many intersections along the trail.  There are small trail signs with arrows that point you in the correct direction, but they are not at every intersection.  The trail is mainly on the saddleback between two neighborhoods and the main road of Hwy 74, so it's pretty easy to keep oriented along the trail.  At each end of the mountain, there are houses and no trespassing signs. 
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Views along the trail, this is near the east end of the mountain, you can see Hwy 74 in the distance. 
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One of the shelters in the park, there is a fireplace inside and picnic tables. 
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Fillius Park sign. 
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One of the Denver Mtn Parks signs along the trail with arrow.  This is the only signage along the trail. 

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