Royal Arch and Flagstaff Mountain (March 2011)

Written by ceddammit

Have you ever thought to yourself (or to anyone else) that you’d like to be able to go on a scenic mountain hike without having to spend a bunch of time in the car to get there and back? If you said / thought Yes, then Boulder, Colorado just might be the place for you! Today, we look at an assemblage of hiking trails located right at the edge of the city of Boulder. We’ll begin with the trail to Royal Arch. I had lived in northern Colorado for nearly 20 years before I learned that there was a natural arch just outside Boulder. Naturally, I went there immediately. Please enjoy these photos from the Royal Arch trail:

Royal Arch is in the midst of the Boulder Flatirons.
Boulder Flatirons
See if you can spot Haystack Mountain near the center of this pic.
Boulder Flatirons as seen from the “side”
Downtown Denver is visible through the smog.
Campus of the National Center for Atmospheric Research
Looking up at the arch
Standing in the archway, looking straight up
Royal Arch, Boulder, Colorado
Royal Arch Trail, Boulder, Colorado (photographed March 19, 2011)

The very next day, I launched a full frontal assault on Flagstaff Mountain, walking up the appropriately named Flagstaff Trail. This is a trail I had been fascinated by for many years. Y’see, I had driven up Flagstaff Road many times. This road winds back and forth as it slowly gains altitude through a series of switchbacks. There are several crosswalks along the way, as the road repeatedly meanders across the trail, which attacks the mountain head-on rather than utilizing switchbacks. Whenever I drove up / down the road, the trail seemed to be beckoning at every crosswalk, inviting me to take a less circuitous route. In March of 2011, I finally did. Here’s a bit of what I saw:

The trail starts at the boundary between prairie and forest. Don’t worry – no passport needed.
These boulders seem to be hiding out amongst the pines.
Looking down on the reddish roofs of the University of Colorado campus
The power plant in the distance is the same one shown here.
City of Boulder, Colorado
One big rock hiding behind the trees
A short segment of the road I was talkin’ about
It’s the Limbo Tree!
Flagstaff Trail, Boulder, Colorado (photographed March 20, 2011)

Flagstaff Trail rises about 1 kilofoot (from 5,800 feet to 6,800 feet) over a length of approximately 2.5 miles. This is not, by Colorado standards, a difficult trail. But it’s not inordinately easy, either. If you have Parkinson’s or otherwise are unsure of your hiking abilities, I wouldn’t recommend trying to hike it all at once. I would suggest driving up Flagstaff Road until you get to the crosswalks. Then you can try walking a short distance up and/or down the trail, which allows you to enjoy the mountain pine forest even if you can’t walk very far.

Flagstaff Trail ends near the summit of Flagstaff Mountain, where it meets up with two or three other trails. But I only walked one of them: Rangeview Trail. It’s a short one, but still quite scenic. See here:

Longs Peak is peekin’ at us.
The snow-covered Indian Peaks.
If you squint really hard you can almost see Horsetooth Mountain near Fort Collins.
State highway 119 can be seen here, at the bottom of Boulder Canyon
Rangeview Trail, Boulder, Colorado (photographed March 20, 2011)

After the short jaunt that is Rangeview Trail, I walked across Flagstaff Road for the last time that day, to get to the upper terminus of the Gregory Canyon Trail. I spotted this trail on a map, and saw that its lower end is at the same parking lot where I had started. So, I began hiking the Gregory Canyon Trail knowing nothing about it, just that it meant I didn’t have to go back the same way I had come. I was just hoping for a little variety. What I got was much better. This is now my favorite Boulder hike. Check it out:

This old sign seems to have been an early trail marker. as it just said, “Gregory Canyon”.
The road extending out to the lake is called Baseline Road, because it sits on the imaginary line that is 40 degrees north latitude.
Looking southeast…the Denver metro area is just past the horizon.
Gregory Canyon Trail, Boulder, Colorado (photographed March 20, 2011)

And now you know…the rest…of the story…Good day!

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