Family-Friendly Backpacking Near Boulder?

Lost Creek Wilderness is an excellent area just southwest of Denver/Lakewood off of Highway 285. Actual backpacking, not reserved camping. One of my favorite super close areas.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/psicc/recarea/?recid=37208

Another favorite area of mine is the Argentine Pass, accessed from Georgetown on I-70. You will need a 4×4 like a truck or Jeep with decent ground clearance to get up the road. Also known as the Santiago/Waldorf Mine. Really cool abandoned mine camp, lots of fun for kids to explore. Not a lot of hiking trails but lots of old logger roads to follow and tons of awesome places to camp.

http://www.everytrail.com/guide/argentine-pass-4×4-road-colorado

Consider Indian Peaks Wilderness, due west of Boulder. Busy in the summer months, yes, but there are a number of trails and campsites on the east side of the divide that will meet your criteria. Permits can be picked up easily enough at the Boulder Ranger Station on the north end of town, and they'll have up to date information on trail conditions.

Your main consideration is altitude: most of the trailheads start at around 10k, and it may take a while to acclimatise.

There are some great backpacking destinations with trailheads an hour from Boulder! Just grab a couple of maps and some guidebooks and you can get a good idea. (Sometimes easier to see things on a map than try to pull something off the Web.) Some suggestions that fit your 2-4 mile requirement are Diamond Lake in Indian Peaks Wilderness and Crater Lakes in James Peak Wilderness. Lost Lake out of Eldora/Hessie is just outside the IPWA boundary and a popular overnight destination. There are quite a few backcountry campsites in Rocky Mountain National Park within 1-2 miles of a trailhead.

You mention that everything seems to require a reservation or permit. You are correct. Welcome to the Front Range, where thousands of your neighbors want to do the same things you do. Permits are required for Indian Peaks in the summer months and Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park year 'round (bear canisters for the Park, too). Reservations are suggested if you want to go to a specific place on a specific date, but you can generally get a site somewhere if you are flexible and avoid weekends and holidays. Most would agree that spontaneity is great, but the reality of living where we do often precludes that. LNT principles should always be followed, but with millions of people in the backcountry that just isn't enough.

Get a Delorme Gazeteer for Colorado and take a look at land status. Forest Service and BLM lands are public lands that generally allow camping anywhere unless specifically prohibited. Talk to some of your neighbors and coworkers for ideas on where to go, and be open to different possibilities.

You don't say how long you have been in the area and how much backpacking experience you have, but I might suggest doing some day hikes with your daughter before you jump into backpacking. There is quite a bit more to traveling in the mountains than just throwing in a sleeping bag and cooking over a campfire: weather changes, lightning, animals, all demand respect. Perhaps you have already gotten some information, in which case good on you! Have fun.

Here is another recommendation and it's close to Boulder. Try the trailhead of the East Portal of the Moffat Tunnel. No permit required. Maybe 30 miles from Boulder – if that.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/arp/recarea/?recid=28252

There are various routes and lakes and places to camp. That is my go to spot cause it's the closest.

Is is a farther drive to go to Lost Creek Wilderness but what I always recommend for beginning backpackers or for someone taking young kids, is the Wigwam trail out of the Lost Park Campground TH. It's along Lost Creek and goes through a nice valley with meadows. Easy hiking (practically flat), good camping, and pretty. It is a long drive in on a dirt road when you leave 285 but well graded so any car can do it. No permits required in LCW. Just self-register at the boxes at the wilderness boundaries.

It's where my buddy and I took his two sons last year.

Pretty place and kid friendly. The sons were 5 and 7 at the time.

I had extended family descend this week, and the (teenage) kids specifically asked for an overnight camping trip. The Boulder Ranger Station steered me away from the close-in campsites, due to the ease of access and undesirable behavior of many of those who stay there. IPW permits for campsites on the east side of the divide were largely booked up, so they recommended I look at James Peak Wilderness Area, where permits are not required. We headed out yesterday afternoon for a sub-24 "micro-adventure", hiked in 3 miles to Crater Lakes, and had a grand time.

Thank you all so much for your suggestions. I really appreciate it. I decided to solo Indian Peaks to learn more about it and see if it might be a good fit, either for a trip with just my 4-year-old daughter or with the whole family. It was my first solo trip in almost 20 years. I had an amazing time. I crossed the Continental Divide twice (my first and second time), encountered a bear twice (my first and second time), and covered around 50 miles in 4 days. I did the loop plus a number of detours to various lakes. I learned two things on this trip: 1. Much of my equipment is old and consequently heavy. When I was younger, this was less of an issue, but now that I'm older, the weight of my pack was a real burden. I want to take steps to lighten my load in the next few years, and I'll probably seek the advice of the experts here as I do so. (I already have so many questions.) 2. I think Indian Peaks is a wonderful place, but I found the trip to be pretty strenuous. I would definitely not want to cross the Continental Divide with young children. I'm now considering car camping as a first step, since that will be new enough for us. I've never been car camping (only just recently bought a car), but the area around Brainard Lake is pretty amazing. Really beautiful. I think I would just enjoy being there. Jenny, thanks especially for explaining the situation with permits around here. I got a backcountry permit for this trip, and I now understand the situation a lot better. Stuart, it sounds like James Peak is well worth exploring, and your micro adventure sounds like it might be the right fit for my family. Thanks again for all the suggestions. I'm sure I'll return to this thread frequently in the next few months.

Chris, you are so wise to have done things the way you did, go on a solo scoping trip to gather info before bringing kiddo and family out. And glad you enjoyed this corner of heaven! Our kids grew up in Boulder, and we did lots of camping and even backpacking trips from the time they were a few weeks old. There were a lot of other things we didn't do, but I like to think we gave them the gifts of self-reliance and appreciation for wild places. As you lighten your load and update gear (from another thread, I see), you'll also become more familiar with the nuances of this part of the world: wildlife, weather, and for better or worse, permits and even timing to avoid the crowds. You seem fairly experienced and possessed of good judgement. Enjoy what remains of summer.