After the “big” halfway hike yesterday at Roxborough State Park, I wanted to make sure to take it easy on the little dude and hike something pretty dang tame. He was very much on board for this and really wanted to take the dogs with as they weren’t allowed to come on the adventure yesterday. Due to the statewide stay at home orders, I wanted to make sure we were staying close to home and began my AllTrails dive once again into Littleton trails.
I had a few trails picked out and let the little guy pick what he wanted based on length and difficulty. I’ve found with most things, it’s good to let kids have a choice and this makes him feel like it’s “his” hike, which is neat. After hiking the previous day, it was clear I was lucky to be getting a hike in at all as he picked the easiest and shortest. To be fair, he had some new legos waiting to be built and felt that was a higher priority than nature 😂.
With everything going on I honestly wasn’t terribly worried about either of us getting sick by going hiking and I’m still not. I know at some point once things reopen we will likely get it or already have had it. Although I have an autoimmune disease and no one seems to really understand the full implications of why some get really ill with COVID-19 while others don‘t my main concern is with us getting someone else sick somehow.
This is why I haven’t been taking the little dude to the grocery store, which is the only place outside of my home I go that isn’t work related. If you don’t have a kid, they’re basically adorably grimy germ magnets and it’s not hard to understand how easily munchkins spread diseases, particularly if they don’t have symptoms. He’s been homebound with the exception of walking the dogs or hiking and honestly we run into fewer people hiking than we do walking around our block. We’ve been practicing social distancing for a while now and going at off hours on hikes to make sure there’s less of a crowd. I may honestly continue to do this as the lack of crowds has been nice, virus or not.
We packed up the ladies 🐶🐶 and arrived around 2:30. The parking lot for South Valley Park was nearly empty. I’ve been here a few times and this seems to be the case although there are always people on the trails. Likely connecting from other areas. There is a restroom facility at the trailhead, but it’s currently under construction and was not accessible when we went.
The trail is rated on AllTrails as easy and that is one hundred percent an accurate AF description. The trail itself is only 1.3 miles with 127 feet of elevation gain and a majority of that is right in the beginning making this great for a family or non-hardcore hiker stroll.
It was late March when we did the trail and I’ve done this in summer as well. It’s a loop and the entire way is completely out in the open, so please remember your sunscreen and water because it gets HOT and sunny. Like many of the Littleton area parks, the trails are relatively dusty (another reason to now wear your mask!) and there are a lot of really amazing rock formations to take in.
In addition to the formations we got to spy on a herd of deer for a bit. My dogs were a little bummed they didn’t get to snack on them, but thems the breaks, doggos.
The only part of this trail I don’t like is that the final .2 miles or so. You are actually walking directly next to the highway and although there isn’t much traffic, there are still cars rolling by at high speeds. Normally, not a big deal if it’s for a short stint, but something to be mindful of with dogs and kiddos.
Again, not an epic this-is-going-to-kick-your-ass-with-epic-views hike. But a perfect let’s let our family roam and explore type of local trek, which is exactly what we needed. Until next time, happy hiking ❤️✌🏼🏔.
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