Type: Road/Trail, Loop
Difficulty: 4 / 10
Altitude: 5,519 ft
Elev. Gain/Loss: 633 ft / 633 ft
Dog Friendly: Yes, with leash
Jog-Stroller Friendly: No
Filed Under: Hiking, Running
This is a great mostly non-technical loop with only one hill climb. Several variations can be done to make it a bit longer or considerably shorter. For other options, study the trail map available at the Marshall Mesa Trailhead. There are also several optional starts to this run. My favorite starting place is the Marshall Mesa Trailhead because you are rewarded with a downhill finish.
Start the run by ascending the first hill. A few hundred feet after the start you will cross a small footbridge. Go straight up the steps here (or you can go left here and add another .5 miles to the loop). Approximately .75 miles after the footbridge, you will come to a larger trail that parallels a ditch which is usually full of water. This is Community Ditch. Turn right (west) and follow the larger trail and Community Ditch until you get to Hwy. 93. Cross the highway.
BEWARE of high speeding traffic and leash your dog here!
After you cross the highway, continue following the Community Ditch as it meanders towards the mountains for another 1.7 miles. Here the trail splits. Take the left fork (Dowdy Draw) that goes over another footbridge. Take this narrower trail south for approximately 1 mile crossing the creek once. When you reach a fenceline, take a left and cross the creek again. Immediately after the creek you will start to ascend a hill with a switchback. After topping out on the mesa, run (east) going through a few gates for about another 1.5 miles which will take you to the Flatirons Vista Trailhead and Hwy. 93. Run approximately .3 miles north on the side of Hwy. 93 until you get to the intersection of Hwy. 93 and Hwy. 128. Cross the highway.
BEWARE of high speeding traffic and leash your dog here!
Just ahead on Hwy. 128 you will see the Greenbelt Plateau Trailhead. Run into the parking lot and continue north on the Greenbelt Plateau Trail (a gravel road). After 1.2 miles you will reach a trail intersection. Turn right and run this for .2 miles, cross a small footbridge, and turn right again. You are now back on the original trail that paralleled the Community Ditch. Take this trail 1.5 miles back to the car staying on the large trail paralleling the Community Ditch until it drops down the mesa back to your car.
The Marshall Mesa Trailhead can be found on Hwy. 170/ Marshall Drive approximately 1 mile east of the Hwy. 93/Eldorado Srpings Drive intersection.
From Boulder, take Hwy. 93 south out of town. At the Hwy. 93/Eldorado Srpings Drive traffic light, take a left and drive approximately .2 miles. Veer right (east) at the Marshall town intersection. The Marshall Mesa Trailhead can be found another .7 miles on your right.
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