est. 2017
Arches National Park, one of Utah’s Mighty Five, has the densest concentration of natural stone arches in the world. It clocks in at over 2,000! With so many arches (but to be fair, that number includes superrrr thin cracks as well), how do you find the best hike in the park?!
I’d jump out on a limb and say a big reason A LOT of people move to Denver is to be closer to the mountains. But just because you are working a 9 to 5 office job downtown in the city though doesn’t mean the only time you can get out and enjoy nature is on the weekends.
Lucky for us in Denver, we don’t have to only be weekend warriors. While you may not be crushing a 14’er after work, that doesn’t mean you can’t climb some mountains! Curious where you can get in a quick hike after work? Peep my four suggestions which are only a thirty minute (or less!) drive from the city.
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.
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!
