What a great place for hiking! I'm from near Boulder, so getting in the car and driving an hour up…read morethe front range just to hike,we'll, we have hiking here too. But I was very impressed with the size and scope of this mountain park! Sitting right next to Lory State Park, you can really get a lot of distance done on these trails. It's a nominal fee to park, and there's maps and bathrooms at the trailhead. I found there to be parking much of the day. However, the waterfall attracts many folks on weekends. I would start with an ascent of Horsetooth Mountain, if you feel able. Even if you can't get all the way up, the views get better and better. There's lots of side trails to customize your adventure. However, don't get lost! The final few steps on the peak are a big rock scramble, so be careful! It's worth it though. I then went down to the cove and had a nice private lunch. Plenty of bikers use the trails on the lower half, so be aware. I found hiking before 10 am was best, and encountered few bikers out that early. This was a fantastic place to hike, and I got nearly 15 miles down. There's a beautiful section on the Stout Trail, and it leads down to a cool waterfall, so I'd definitely at least recommend that section!

An amazing and challenging outdoors experience not too far from town. A harder hike with a bit of a…read morechallenge to get up to the peak of horsetooth, but definitely doable with amazing views ! Parking: We went on Monday morning and there was plenty of parking. That being said, I can see how the parking lot would be full on a busier day or the weekend. Facilities: There are toilets and water fountains in the parking lot, as well as maps and a covered picnic table. There is a apy station at the entry to the hike as well. There is a bug posted map as well as some paler maps for you to take. Hikes: There seemed to be 2 major hikes according to the posted map. You can hike to the falls but make sure to check if they have water ahead of time. Since there wasn't water when we went, we opted for only doing the hike up to horse tooth itself. The trails are very clearly marked which is really appreciated! Each trail is marked by a color and there are colored arrows showing you which way to go on your chosen path. The hike up to horsetooth itself can be strenuous! Not being used to the elevation should definitely be something taken into consideration if you're new to the area. It's consistently uphill for the first half (and downhill for the 2nd half of course). The views are absolutely amazing the whole way with a great look over the huge reservoir! You may also run into some wildlife - we passed by some very calm deer right on the trail and met some very cute chipmunks who came right to us. There's also some benches along the trail to take a break and take in the views. Once you get to the top of the trail, you can climb to the top of horse tooth - and I mean climb! You definitely don't have to have rock climbing experience but you do need to be ready to use hands and feet to get up there. This trail is dog friendly and you will run into people with dogs. Leashes are required.

"Access this trail in both summer and winter. This trail follows an old logging road to Zimmerman…read moreLake, which sits just outside the boundary of the Neota Wilderness. A primitive trail circles the lake, but there are no constructed trails into the Neota Wilderness." Parking : there is a lot for several cars. There is a bathroom in the lot. There are no trash cans, so plan on packing out what you bring in. "Zimmerman Lake Trail is a 2.7 mile moderately trafficked loop trail located near Rand, Colorado that features a lake and is good for all skill levels. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from March until October. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash." Elevation : 518 feet Well, I will start this review by stating that i would like to come back in the summer and hike this. I think the experience would be much different and really enjoyable. My friend and i went to zimmerman lake today as we were told it was a great place to x country ski. Believing what we were told, we trucked our way up here. I would not call this trail easy, nor really a great place to x country ski. It was with the snow fairly steep and also very slick. We were using our skis but using a lot of arms and upper body strength to pull ourselves up. The whole time i was wondering about coming down that. It was windy with a lot of switchbacks and not really any flattening out areas where we would be able to stop on our way down. The trail was narrower and lots of trees. The lake didn't really have a clear trail/path around it. Guessing not so many folks make it up here. We did ski a little bit on the lake so that provided some flatter terrain. We did a little bit down with the x country skis but eventually we just had to take thm off and walk down. X country skis were not really made for turning. It was different than what we thought, but will probably be back but in the summer or if we opt to head back up that way in the winter it would be with snow shoes verses x country skis.

Very busy which is just the way it is because this spot is a gem. Will return and get there much…read moreearlier. :)

Picnic Rock Natural Area is a short jaunt up the Poudre River right outside of Bellvue. Very…read morepopular for (you guessed it) picnics, it's also a fantastic spot to go fishing, or take a relaxing float when the river isn't raging. We headed up on a Monday afternoon, right before they closed the area due to Coronavirus, to enjoy a long afternoon of slapping the water. It was a little chilly, and for the first time in my history of heading up to that area, we were the only ones around. During summer, the parking lot fills up and overflows, and there are families everywhere, so the edge of winter is a good time to get some peace and quiet. There are plenty of open and deep spots to throw in your line, as well as some nice currents where the trout hang out waiting for the bugs to sweep over the rocks - we had success with the dry flies, even though it was the middle of the day. My favorite part is hanging up the hammock and relaxing in the sun, enjoying the sound of the burbling water with a craft brew in hand. After catching at least one fish, of course.

First time at this park today with my 2 pups and it's super cute! There are 3 different fenced in…read moreareas for your pups to play. One is smaller for smaller dogs. One area has a pond for doggies that like to play in the water, however this area is fenced so if you don't want your dog to have access to the water, you can keep them out. There's trash cans and poop bags throughout. Also several big trees for shade. Overall, the park is on the smaller side but would be great for older dogs or dogs that need a lot of space to run.

Always enjoy my time here. Large spaces, different areas, picnic tables, poopy bags, racks, and a…read morewater section. Usually pretty busy with other doggos and sometimes there are food-trucks nearby.

Young Gulch is a 10.4 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Livermore,…read moreColorado that features a river and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round. Dogs are also able to use this trail. This trail is rated as moderate and has 1332 feet of elevation gain. This is a dog friendly trail. However there are no poop bags at the trail head so if you are bringing your pup, be sure to bring your own!!! Also there is no bathroom at the trailhead so be sure to go before you head to the trailhead. No trash cans either! Be prepared to pack out what you pack in, including your dogs poo. Please dont leave along the side of the trail. This trail starts with incline from the get go. There are a lot of water crossings on this trail. Some of them are bridges, some are logs and some are just walking across walks in the water. The logs dont feel quite so precarious if its just you but if you are trying to get yourself and a couple of dogs across well..... it feels a wee bit scary. muahahahaha. There are at least 12 water crossings on this trail. This would be great for the pups in the summer when its hot. However this area was hit by the fire 11 years ago. A lot of the trail and area is burnt and not a lot of signs of regrowth. Though in the summer i have seen under growth there. Once you are around 3 1/2 miles in you begin to see some signs of life and several aspens. it was nice to see!

Weird name...is it a state forest, or a state park? Yes, yes it is. In any case, a ton of variety…read moreover the sprawling park, with hiking trails of all lengths, fishing, 4x4, and camping. Lake Agnes can be a bit crowded on the weekends, but for good reason; otherwise, crowds are pretty thin.

First of all, the drive from the Denver area is fantastic (once you get off of I-25). Stop at the…read moreMoose Visitor Center first to see where moose have been spotted and to chat with the staff. (The wire sculptor out front is worth the stop, too.) Note that there is great bird watching and chipmunk watching from the back patio of the Center and there's a great picnic table tucked away there as well. We went to the North Michigan campgrounds. The lake is beautiful, but our reserved camp site was beyond that, up the mountain on Franciscan Rd. Great spot and great group camping available. I really wanted to find the yurts but know that most of them are hike in only (even outside of the winter season). We saw lots of rangers making their rounds. Lots of long hiking trails are around (4+ miles one way), but there are a couple of short ones on this end of the park too---Moose View and Beaver Pond. This beautiful place is serene and feels isolated. Depending on your campsite, it is.

Brett and Spencer were so friendly! We showed up about 30 minutes late because of traffic and Brett…read morewas just easy going and wasn't put out at all. He brought us to our camp site to drop us off and he noticed we didn't have firewood, Spencer his employee brought us two bundles the next day when he picked us up for our boat ride. It was so Incredibly nice of him! Spencer was such a great capitan for about 7 hours! This rental company is awesome, highly recommend to anyone looking to have a great time on the lake!

My group (13 people) rented the Sweetwater pontoon boat on Horsetooth Reservoir and it was…read moreeverything we could have asked for and more!!! The boat was beautiful, clean and in great condition. It had great features like a grill onboard and a water slide that really rounded out the experience. Brett was our captain and he was funny, charming, and took great care of us. He also was so helpful in organizing details beforehand (meeting location, what we had to bring, etc.) The cost was incredibly reasonable per person, and our group is already talking about our trip next summer. I've rented from other outlets on Horsetooth before, and this experience was SO MUCH BETTER. Thank you so much Brett!!!!

We showed up and were able to ride the same day, felt so lucky to see the horses run through the…read moremeadow before we get a chance to join them on the trails. We both had experience writing, and that allowed us to go on a two hour ride through many opportunities to observe the surrounding nature up close and seeing long beautiful vistas. Much of a ride was calm and smooth and others parts we got to go faster which bright joyous laughter.

Come ride here if you want to be VERBALLY ABUSED by CLARA !…read more Our family of 4 tried to go on a ride with her, she was incredibly rude over the phone, but scheduled us for 2:30. There was a hail storm, which slightly delayed our arrival. We called ahead and explained the situation, asked if she wanted us there tomorrow instead. She insisted it was okay for us to come anyway. Upon our arrival, she continued to be SO rude to us. She didn't even ask our names, started bossing us around, we had a new rider with us, which she didn't give direction too. INCREDIBLY UNSAFE. We hardly get up the hill when she singles out our patriarch, yelling at him for following too close when we were going UPHILL. She then, starts cussing out our entire group, calling us names and goes to UNCINCH his saddle while he's still on it!!! She almost was getting physical with him, screaming the whole time to get off. He was trying to explain that it is very unsafe to try to dismount a horse without a saddle safely attached. Clara made every single one of us dismount and walk all the way back to the stables. I have never encountered such an UNPROFESSIONAL HAG. She is NOT A SAFE GUIDE considering you can barely understand a word she says, on top of giving zero instruction, while almost tearing a member of our group off the saddle. Our group was nothing but respectful, her behavior suggests some sort of drug use or mental instability. We hope she gets the help she desperately needs. RIDE AT YOUR OWN RISK !