Recommendations for what to do near Boulder start of March

[Jack F]

Hi,

A friend of mine is passing through Denver at the start of March, and suggested I join him for 5 days. We booked the flights in a bit of a rush and now have to plan what we’ll do & where we’ll stay. We both like hiking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing etc, but neither of us have been to the area before. I suspect it will be pretty snowy so probably more likely to be the latter activities.

Would really appreciate any local recommendations on where to stay and where to hike / explore please! We probably won’t have a car (though could reconsider that), so stuff that is accessible from Boulder (easy Denver airport transfer) / public transit would be great. Equally, any accessible places to stay higher in the mountains for a few nights would be great to hear about. We’re not interested in any downhill skiing though.

Many Thanks
J

[Lester Moore]

There’s some great day hiking around Boulder accessible via public transportation, especially the Mesa trail and its connectors. Take microspikes as the trail may be icy, especially in shady and higher areas. Highly recommend hiking up Bear Peak and/or S. Boulder Peak for the unbeatable views of Boulder – steep icy trail is likely.

If you want to go higher in the mountains, then rent a vehicle and head to the Nederland area (hour up canyon from Boulder) and visit the Peak to Peak highway – lots of options to BC ski or snowshoe on the East side the the Continental Divide. Popular outings include Brainard Lake (ski up the road to the lake and up the trail beyond), Fourth of July Mine (TH past Eldora ski area), James Peak/St Mary’s Glacier (S. from Nederland on Peak to Peak), etc.

[PaulW]

Lester is right in that there is a lot of hiking right around Boulder, but  you’ll be limited to bus routes and schedules and without a car you’re really limiting yourself to just Boulder. With a car, you open up a whole new world. Trails along Peak to Peak Hwy (30 min west of Boulder), Rocky Mountain National Park, and Boulder County and Jefferson County open spaces become easily available if you have wheels. BTW, around Boulder in early March you might be hiking in a t-shirt or a parka, so plan accordingly. In the mountains, plan for cold and snow.

[Lester Moore]

Paul makes a good point about Rocky Mountain National Park. If you’re willing to drive an hour and half from Boulder up hwy 36, you can reach the Bear Lake/Glacier Gorge areas in Rocky – excellent high mountain access to several well-used ski/snowshoe trails in that small area. One of my favorites in that area is the trail up to Black Lake from Glacier Gorge TH – it’s a full day and a little narrow in some places for skiing, but classic (take climbing skins if skiing). Another favorite is Longs Peak trail to Chasm Lake – this trail often gets enough traffic that you don’t need flotation, even in winter, although I’d take skis or snowshoes if it snowed a lot recently (take an axe and crampons if you’re hiking the whole way to Chasm Lake for the final traverse under the S face of Mt Lady Washington).

[Jack F]

Thanks both for the advice. Sounds great. We’ve decided to get a car as it does sound a lot easier, so will hopefully be able to get up into the mountains.

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