Hildebrand Ranch Park - a new park in Jefferson County Open Space

Looking up at a really cool entwined tree

Jefferson County has been busy in the last two years creating new trails and parks for residents; North Table Mountain has a new trailhead and facilities, Clear Creek Canyon is being developed and Hildebrand Ranch has been created.   Hildebrand Ranch is an Open Space Park for bikes, hikers, and equestrian riders in South Jefferson County between Chatfield Reservoir and Deer Creek Canyon Park.  The land was acquired by Jefferson County in 2001 and began creating the park shortly after, the parking lot is new and very nice well maintained with a brick parking lot instead of concrete; there is a port-o-pot, and good trail maps. 

It didn't take me long to decide what trail to hike yesterday morning, I knew I had to hike somewhere south of the metro area because I needed to stop by a friends house in the area.  I jumped on the Jefferson County website to check out their park map and noticed this new park between Deer Creek and South Valley; it stood out to me because I didn't recall it being there last year.  After asking my friend Laura who lives in the area, I found out that the trailhead was new, and she had noticed the parking lot being built recently. 

New Years Resolution to loose weight? Take a Hike; here's a list of trails for you.

Royal Arch, Boulder.  A great hike for any season!

Did you make a New Years Resolution to loose weight or become more healthy and active?  It's already 3 weeks into January, are you keeping up with your resolution?  I sure haven't been very good at it this year.  I thought you might need some inspiration as well;  so here is a list of trails in the Front Range area that are great to hike in the winter; on many of these trails you can accomplish hiking to a peak, an arch, a rim and lots more.  Not only is hiking a great outdoor activity, it gets your heart pumping and makes you feel great; plus you get the change to see amazing Colorado scenery, especially in the winter.

Here is a list of some of my favorite places to hike that are great during any season, but the winter season offers less crowded trails and a spectacular winter wonderland after a newly fallen snow; or this being Colorado it will often provide you with a sunny day in the 60s.  The Front Range offers numerous place to hike year round, but I am the kind of person who would rather hike to a peak, point of interest, or at best I'd prefer to hike a loop trail rather than an out and back.  One of my favorite mountains on the Front Range is Bear Peak which is west of Boulder.  Standing on the summit provides you with incredible views of the Continental Divide Mountains to the west, Indian Peaks Wilderness, Rocky Mountain National Park, and James Peak

Green Mountain Summit, 6,800ft - And a pack of coyotes

Bright Blue Colorado Sky; photo on etsy

On Friday, I really needed to get outside and hike; I had been cooped up in the house all week working on a new line of hats and hiking belts for my website, but what I really needed was to get outside and try them out.  
It was a balmy day in January, but very windy, so I decided that I'd stay close to home and head over to Green Mountain.  North Green Mountain is visible from my front deck, and I can see numerous trails on the north side of the mountain, but I haven't driven through the neighborhoods to locate those trails on the mountainside before.  I decided Friday was the day, and I drove south across 6th Ave, and up into the neighborhoods on the North side of Green Mountain in search of the access to the Open Space. 
After driving around for just a short time, my trail finding skills proved successful, I found the neighborhood access which connects with all of the trails visible on the north side of the mountain; stepped out of the car into the wind and decided that I'd hike to the top today! 

Snowshowing at Herman's Gulch, Silver Plume, Colorado

Views of I-70 below, looking west

All last week, I had been planning our next snowshoeing hike; the weather is supposed to get bad today, Sunday, so we had to hike on Saturday.   Then Saturday morning came and instead of getting up early and getting our day started, we managed to sleep in past 9am, and then made a leisurely breakfast, making it out the door by 12 noon!  I still wanted to snowshoe, even though it was nearly 60 degrees in Golden and we could have hiked on a beautiful January day.  The weather was still warm and nice in the mountains, said our SUV's gauge, until we hit Georgetown, the sun was hidden by ominous clouds, and the temperature dropped 20 degrees; it's snowshoe time!