Hey frannnnnndsss! I’m officially no longer behind on my blog in a cute way. I am very much all kinds of ugly ways behind now, woof. I had no idea why but the thought of sitting down and reflecting on hikes has given me some weird anxiety over the last few weeks. I’ve tried to figure out why that is and I think I finally did. It comes down to having anxiety about posting about current hiking in any way right now. Although it’s very much allowed in Colorado I’ve seen some ugly posts on social media geared towards individuals engaging in outdoor activities, even when they’ve been social distancing locally. There are some restrictions here and of course right now safety is the name of the game more than ever but I’ve seen people get viciously attacked verbally for just going out in nature. And that really, really sucks.
I love hiking and the outdoors and never thought roaming the mountains would be so controversial. But here we are. My hope if your reading this is that whatever your view is on an individual’s choices to get outdoors and recreate responsibly right now, that you choose to always voice your opinion in a respectful and kind manner. We may forget it sometimes, and some may not act like it, but we are all people with feelings behind the screens. That said, I feel confident in the choices I’ve made to hike alone and with my family and I hope the same for you and yours as well.
Hike 26 marked the official halfway point of my second 52 challenge! It was almost unbelievable to me that I’d already reached the halfway point when last year I had just *barely* started hiking. To mark the occasion, I wanted to do something special but ended up being a bit limited in my choices due to the whole global pandemic situation. I went to my trusty AllTrails app and started looking up local hikes, easier to moderate hikes. I’ve been to Roxborough State Park quite a few times at this point and wanted find a different trail. Usually I end up picking a more popular trail, so this time I decided to give one of the unpopular trails a go. I was not disappointed in my choice and that’s how we ended up hiking to Willow Creek Falls.
The hike is listed as easy on AllTrails and I would say that’s perfectly fair. My son had absolutely no problem hiking this although it was closer to 4 miles than the 3.2 stated. It‘s an out and back trail and there are 223 feet of elevation gain which is perfectly doable for little ones, but it was a little trickier with the snow and ice towards the end for him.
If you haven’t been to Roxborough before it’s pretty dang cool for being so close to Denver. The only thing I don’t like about it is the no dog policy, but sometimes it is nice to hike without the crazy ladies. As you can imagine, two dogs and a small human hiking can get a bit overwhelming at times which makes it hard to get that recharge from nature.
It is a state park so if you do not have the lovely state parks pass there is a nine dollar entrance fee. The park rangers here have been super amazing and working hard during the COVID crisis to ensure the parks aren’t at capacity while directing people to the maps and pay area. Another reason to get a parks pass, you to roll past all the people paying...like royalty, only with hiking 🧐.
If you begin at the visitor center the hike starts off with the Willow Creek Trail. The Willow Creek Trail is a loop that’s has some shaded areas but is mostly open. There are some pretty amazing rock formations along the way and plenty to take in nature wise. This trail is very well marked and has number markers with pictures along the way.
You eventually hit a sign for the Carpenter Peaks Trail and then nearly immediately turn left at Douglas County Road Five. This road encompasses a majority of the hike and is extremely flat, but does have some abandoned structures and rock formations to check out along the way. After walking along the county road (which is exactly what it sounds like) you’ll see the sign for the Willow Creek Falls trailhead. It’s extremely short at approximately .3 miles long and ends at Willow Creek Falls.
Now if you’re expecting a giant, epic waterfall reward at the end of your hike, this hike is absolutely not for you. It may be a little thicccccer in the summer but Willow Creek Falls was not much more than a frozen trickle when we reached the top.
The reason I really liked the hike was because of the stark change from Roxborough’s typical dusty trails to entering the magical snowy forest for Willow Creek Falls. There’s even an area right before you begin the incline on this portion of the hike where two guys were lounging in their hammocks. Roxborough is not somewhere that I ever think of as hammock accessible given the usual tree size, but after this I will definitely be bringing mine just in case.
There’s a stone ledge where you can sit on and snac at the top which was pretty unexpected. Overall I wouldn’t recommend this hike for an experienced hiker who’s looking for a challenge. But for a nice family hike or some easy, casual nature this hike is absolutely perfect. There also were very, very few people on the hike once we reached the county road, which was welcome given the current situation.
Wow. Finally feeling a bit more evening productive than I have been, which is nice. Maybe I’ll even write another 😏. Until next time, happy hiking ✌🏼❤️🏔.
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