Type: Road/Trail, Loop
Difficulty: 2 / 10
Altitude: 5,240 ft
Elev. Gain/Loss: 56 ft / 56 ft
Dog Friendly: Yes, with leash
Jog-Stroller Friendly: Yes
Filed Under: Cycling, Hiking, Running
Popular among hikers, cyclists and runners, the Boulder Reservoir is a great standby for an easy run with a convenient location. There are also numerous variations to add anything from .5 miles to 20 miles to the existing loop. Below I'll describe the loop and let you decide if you want to run farther.
The most popular place to start this run is at the entrance to the Boulder Reservoir. You can easily run clockwise or counter-clockwise. I'll give directions for a clockwise circuit.
Start by running north on 51st Street. It will turn to a dirt/gravel road just north of the Boulder Reservoir entrance. Continue running on this road for approximately .7 miles to the Eagle Trailhead (on your left).
If you want to add some more distance the Eagle Trailhead is a good place to do it. Otherwise, continue running north on the dirt road for approximately another .9 miles. At a left hand turn in the road, there will be a trailhead/parking lot on your right. Turn here.
Take the gravel path that leads east from the parking lot along the north side of the reservoir for .9 miles. At the northeast corner of the lake, you can take the Coot Lake Trail around Coot Lake to add another .8 miles to the loop, or just continue on the gravel path all the way around the remainer of the lake (another 1.7 miles).
At the southwest corner of the lake (after crossing the dam), you will come to a few buildings and parking lot. Take the paved road all the way back to your car.
There are several ways to get to Boulder Reservoir. One way from Boulder is to take Foothills Parkway (Hwy 119) to Jay Road. Take a left (northwest) on Jay Road. Almost immediately take a right of 51st Street just past a Fire Station. Dive north on 51st Street until you get to the entrance of Boulder Reservoir. Park outside the gate in the ample parking outside the park - unless you really want to pay to park your car.
Comments
sean said ...
This area of north Boulder is a great place to train for long races. It is no coincidence that you will see many elite runners out there most every morning and the Boulder Backroads Marathon is held in the same area. Other than the Reservoir Loop, there are many connecting soft gravel paths, dirt roads and quiet paved roads allowing one to easily get in a 20-24 mile run without hardly seeing the same place twice. The best stragegy is to find a county map and get in your car or bike to plot out your run.
dan_s said ...
Great advice from Sean. Just wanted to mention that the conventional 5.5 miles for this loop is slightly overstated. My GPS says 5.3 ... in case anyone cares.
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