Type: Road/Trail, Loop
Difficulty: 4 / 10
Altitude: 5,523 ft
Elev. Gain/Loss: 466 ft / 466 ft
Dog Friendly: Yes, with leash
Jog-Stroller Friendly: No
Filed Under: Running
This is great non-technical trail is combined with about 1 mile of road running makes for a fast time trial route.
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. Turn right and run .5 miles to the Dowdy Draw Trailhead. The last part of this section is on an asphalt path. Cross Eldorado Springs Drive (Hwy. 170) and run to the Mesa South Trailhead. Take the Mesa Trail (north) for about .7 miles until you see a small trail off to the right. Take this trail (South Boulder Creek Trail) down a gradual hill and across a large field for 1.9 miles to the South Boulder Creek West Trailhead and Hwy. 93.
BEWARE of high speeding traffic and leash your dog here!
Cross Hwy. 93 and run east through a narrow sliver of Open Space land on a narrow dirt path for about .1 mile until you reach Marshall Drive. Turn right and run along Marshall Drive for approximately .5 miles. At the stop sign in the sprawling metropolis of Marshall, take a left. Run down this road to the intersection of Cherryvale and Marshall Drive (Hwy. 170). Turn east and run approximately .3 mile along Marshall Drive back to the Marshall Mesa Trailhead.
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.
Comments
Be the first to leave a comment, advice, or personal anecdote.
Leave a Comment