Matthews/Winters Park Morrison Slide/Red Rock Trail

The Trailhead was easy to find and plenty of parking. From I-70 at the Morrison/Highway 93 exit (exit 259) turn south. Just about .2 of a mile from the highway you'll see the sign for Mathhews/Winters Park on the west side of the road. Turn here for the parking lot.  There are restrooms at the start of the trail.

The hike begins on the Village Walk Trail about 1.1 miles to the start of the loop.

There are 5 or 6 stream crossings. I was surprised to hear and see so much running water around these rocks. I guess in May the snow was still melting.

The harder trail is the Morrison Slide Trail. This climbs up with many rocks and switchbacks to get to the top of the ridge for the great views.

There were areas of snow and waterholes in the rocks.

Views of Bear Lake and Chatfield Reservoir furthest away.

This was the top of the ridge on the Morrison Slide Trail.

Views of the rocks as we got closer to Red Rocks amphitheater. We never saw it from our hike. We even did the extra 1.1 mile hike to the other parking lot toward red rocks.

After you complete the loop you can keep going on the Red Rocks trail or take the Red rocks trail back towards the way you came. Here is the trail further south .

This picture shows the people on switchbacks up the hill on the Morrison Slide Trail.

There is a cemetery with tombstones dating 1867 off the first village walk trail. I checked it out on the way back. Total Mileage for this hike was 6.49 miles with 1,200 elevation gain.

Calypso Cascades in the Snow, RMNP

I was glad to get one last snowshoe this season. Rocky Mountain had snow the night before.  This caused the parking lot to be closed (not plowed) so we added 3 miles onto our hike.This is Copeland Lake. We passed early in the hike.

Here is the road we should of driven on. The Trailhead was Wild Basin Trailhead near the southern east part of the park.

Rocky Mountain always has such good signage to find your trail.

The icicles were beautiful coming off the rocks.

The weather was 51 back in Denver. So much snow!

This trailhead is located in the southern east part of the park.

Here we are at our destination. The cascades were not to be seen. There was a nice bridge to take a break. Im sure in the summer this will be a pretty hike as the creek runs alongside the trail.

Looking up at the cascades.

Caribou Ranch - Bluebird Mine, Delonde Trail

This hike has a nice variety of open areas and wooded paths.  The initial trail is the Switzerland Trail. This used to be tracks of a narrow gauge railroad with the finest scenery on earth. The train went from Boulder to Ward. The BlueBird mine was named for the blue azurite mineral often found in silver ore.

The trailhead is located just outside of Nederland. There are bathrooms at the trailhead. The trail starts off 1.2 miles until you get to the loop. We took a left when we got to the intersection of the BlueBird Loop.

There were many aspen trees, ponderosa pine, douglas cir and lodgepole pines.  This would be a great place to come back in the fall.

You will soon meet up with the BlueBird Loop trail. This will lead to to the mine if you wish to add on some mileage and explore the historic buildings.  Usually you have to make your own trail here. So its another bonus of a workout. When you see the fence, to the right is a path that heads to the mine.

This Bunkhouse is the first building you encounter as you leave the main trail toward the mine.  This is the bunkhouse that the miners used to sleep.  It was also a photogenic stop from the railroad when the tourists rode the train. They loved to all pose in front and even some movie scenes were filmed here.

Past the bunkhouse is another house. The mining here began in 1880. Miners worked 10 hours a day in the mine 6 days a week.

This brick and stone house was modern for its time in 1941. It had wired electricity. There was a"pool" next to the house but never used for swimming because at 10,000 ft it was never warm enough.  Instead they kept their trout they caught fishing so they were readily available to eat.

This is where the mine entrance once was. There is also a rusted car nearby as well.

After a while on the loop you will come to the DeLonde Homestead from 1870

Spruce Mountain Loop Trail (Near Palmer Lake)

This hike is close to the denver metro. Just off I-25 going south off exit 167. We passed many trains as we were traveling down to the trailhead. This is far enough from the interstate that you don't hear it but softly blowing trains.  The hike does a loop around a butte (Spruce mountain) with views of  Pikes peak, rampart range and the Palmer Divide.

This loop hike is only 5.5 miles . There is a lower and upper loop. There is not a huge parking lot but they do have a bathroom.

There are two ways to go at the start to get to the loop, Oak Shortcut is steeper or the regular ascent to the top of the butte.  When we started there was not much snow but wished I had my snowshoes as we ascended to deeper areas.

Sandstone rocks peek out as you hike.  Vegetation on the mesa includes scrub oak, douglas fir, and Ponderosa Pine.

The elevation starts at 7100' and ascends to 7620 feet. Easy level hiking. Dogs allowed on leash.

Paddock's Point is a lovely overlook of ranch land and Eagle Mountain, a sandstone formation to the west.

There are many great spots for a picnic lunch.

The snow got deeper in spots you may want to have your spikes and snowshoes with you.

This sign shows the two ways for the loop. Go either way .

Sandstone cliffs and mountain views

This hike was a beautiful easy hike with views and variety of switchbacks, trails along ridges, and through trees. There are several ways to go so I recommend you print out a map.