Colorado Archives - Page 3 of 3 - crunchy kat explores

denver day hike: carpenter peak

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carpenter peak roxborough state park sandstone denver

distance: 6.2 miles (out and back) | elevation: 1,013’ (5,995’ starting) | difficulty: easy/moderate

Normally when I decide to head out for a day hike from Denver, I’m searching for hikes on a map anywhere west of me. I’m not sure why, but it never really occurred to me to look anywhere besides that. A few weeks ago though, I met up with a friend and she told me she had a great hiking date at a state park which put it on my radar. Though when I looked it up, it was actually south of Denver!

So finally, I made the trip south instead and headed to one of Colorado’s state parks – Roxborough State Park, just forty-five minutes from Denver.

Colorado, United States

denver day hike: emerald lake

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distance: 3.1 miles (out and back) | elevation: 708’ (9,449’ starting) | difficulty: easy

Happy (final day of) National Parks Week! You may have missed it, but last Saturday was the first day of National Parks Week and all parks were free! If you didn’t get a chance to make it to the parks Saturday, you still have three more chances this year to get in for free – National Park Service Birthday (August 25th), National Public Lands Day (September 28th), and Veterans Day (November 11th).

In honor of National Parks Week, today’s post is about a hike in my own backyard located in… Rocky Mountain National Park!

Colorado, Mountains, United States

denver day hike: chief mountain

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distance: 3.1 miles (out and back) | elevation: 984’ (10,772’ starting) | difficulty: easy/moderate

Living in Denver (hi, it’s been a while… I made the cross country move to Colorado in December), there is no shortage of gorgeous hikes within an hours drive of the city. I mean, after all, that is part of the reason I decided to call this place home. However, I think I may have found the BEST views for when you don’t have the time to hike up that 14’er.

How do you feel about relatively low effort, high reward? The perfect place to take all your out of town visitors who want beautiful views, but low on time (or not big hikers)? Or really just for you when you want to a short jaunt in nature close to Denver with allllll the views? Perfect, because Chief Mountain is the hike for you.