Type: Trail, Out-and-back
Difficulty: 4 / 10
Altitude: 5,211 ft
Elev. Gain/Loss: 817 ft / 817 ft
Dog Friendly: Yes, with leash
Jog-Stroller Friendly: Some
Filed Under: Cycling, Hiking, Running
This entire run follows the eastern-most section of the East Boulder Trail on mostly dirt service roads offering great views of the mountains and plains the entire way. The first 2.7 miles meanders through sensitive farmland and open cattle range - mind your dog if you have one. Northward, from the northwest corner of North Teller Trailhead, the trail extends west along Valmont Road (west) for approximately .25 mile. If you are short on time, you can turnaround here for a nice flat 5.4 mile run. Otherwise ...
Cross Valmont Road and continue through the parking lot for White Rocks Nature Preserve. From here to the turnaround in Gunbarrel, the trail crosses private property so please leash your dog and stay on trail. After crossing Boulder Creek the trail gets a little hilly. However still non-technical, this is where you gain/loose almost all of the elevation on this run. Approximately 1.8 miles after crossing Boulder Creek you will cross a non-descript private road. Take a left when the trail comes to a junction about 100ft past the road. Take this for another 1.7 miles up and down several hills and passing a large water tower on Gunbarrel Hill until you reach the Heatherwood neighborhood and Gunbarrel Farm/Gunbarrel Hill Trailhead. This section is really nice as it adds some runnable hills to an otherwise flat trail run.
Now turnaround and retrace your route all the way back to your car for a fast 13.4 mile trail run.
At the turnaround, there are sevral options to make your run even longer. 1) From the turnaround, continue east beside the Heatherwood neighborhood to 75th Street and run south on bike paths and neighborhood streets to Walden Ponds and Sawhill Ponds. 2) several small trails split from the main trail near the Gunbarrel Farm/Gunbarrel Hill Trailhead and loop around Gunbarrel Hill one following some obvoius powerlines to the north. The distances of these are unknown - check a Open Space trail map if you want some other options.
For mommies and daddies - the first 3.5 miles (7 miles round-trip) or so to the bridge crossing Boulder Creek can be run with a jog stroller, but gets a bit rough after that.
From Valmont (north): Teller Farms South Trailhead parking area is located on Valmont one-half mile
west of 95th Street on the south side of Valmont (right coming from Boulder). The White Rocks Trail is located on the north side of Valmont.
From Arapahoe (south): On the north side of Arapahoe Road (left coming from Boulder) between 75th and 95th Streets there is a small inconspicious dirt road (easy to pass up) with a wooden Open Space sign at the entrance. The Teller Farm North Trailhead parking lot is located at the end of the 0.5 mile dirt road north.
Comments
djbriane said ...
I really enjoyed this run, especially the hilly areas towards the middle. Lots of different scenery / terrain and a nice view of the mountains the whole way.
I do wish people would leash their dogs though, I saw a lot of folks with dogs on this run but none were leashed.
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