Living in Boulder has countless benefits. There is a coffee shop, trail run, or climbing gym on every corner, but most importantly, the Front Range is littered with boulders and sport crags. If you’ve only got an afternoon to spend climbing, there are a handful of spots within a fifteen-minute drive or short hike. The list here is certainly not exhaustive, but these three locations have some great rock and quality lines. Flagstaff Flagstaff is an epicenter for bouldering. Some love it, some hate it, but if you are looking for roadside boulders, this is the place to go. The rough granite at... Read More

Mt. Sanitas has always been one of my favorite hiking areas. I grew up near the Goat Trail, which is an alternative path that some people use to access Sanitas, but I decided to use the more widely-used trailhead on Mapleton Avenue when I went to visit last week. Sanitas is a gorgeous mountain. It’s the crème de la crème. It has sprawling grassy fields and jagged mountain peaks- all in one place! On one path, you can choose to go along the easygoing field trail, which requires little to no effort. Alternatively, there is also the steep incline up to the top of Mt. Sanitas, which requires... Read More

Despite the snow moving in and winter approaching, there will still be many beautiful days for hiking. While you may not be ready for a winter Fourteener, I think you can definitely summit some of these super close beautiful mountains with amazing views. Just be sure to bring your crampons! Although some of these trails at the right time you may not need the crampons. My list gets progressively harder, so start at the top and climb your way up to the tops of those mountains first. 1. Bald Mountain, 1.5 miles one way: From Boulder, head west on Mapleton and on up about 7 miles on Sunshine Canyon.... Read More

Tourism always becomes more popular in Boulder during the summer. Humans, however, aren’t the only tourists you may spot in the area. Hypothetically, imagine yourself walking in the mountains, enjoying a nice afternoon hike. You decide to stop at a picnic area. Then, as you sit down, you look directly ahead. There’s a really hairy man sitting on the table across from you. This man must have gone years without a haircut. In fact, you realize that that’s no man at all. You notice that it’s actually a black bear. What do you do in such a situation? Step 1: Keep your... Read More

Sometimes, getting lost leads to finding your new favorite trail. Sometimes, getting lost even leads to finding two of your new favorite trails. That’s precisely what happened last weekend, when my roommate and I stumbled upon some beautiful trails at the end of Flagstaff road. The first area we stopped to see was the Walker Ranch area. It was a pretty dry, expansive fields were filled with the charred remains of trees. A fire had struck Walker Ranch back in 2000, and it’s fascinating to look at how nature has rebuilt itself in the last fourteen years. While the area looks... Read More

Settler’s Park is a pretty area with an array of short trails. With red rocks, springing up from the same formation that caused the well known music doused Red Rocks in Morrison, CO- the Fountain Formation- Settler’s park is alive with geology, ecology, and history. As City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks says on their website: “Settlers’ Park got its name because it was thought to be the location of the first permanent camp of American settlers in the Boulder area.” That was back in 1858, when the area was still just being explored. You can find more information... Read More

Gregory Canyon’s trailhead has seen better days. Currently, it’s actually in the process of seeing better days, because construction vehicles are finally beginning to rebuild the road that was destroyed in last year’s floods. I hadn’t been in the Gregory Canyon area since before Boulder’s big flooding incident, so this road was quite a shock to me, but it was merely foreshadowing what was yet to come on the trail. The Saddle Rock trail looks quite a bit different since the floods. The flooding paved a huge riverbed through the forest area, leaving behind all of... Read More

BestCollegeReviews recently put up a list of the fifty best college towns in America, and the number one slot was saved for none other than Boulder, Colorado. Boulder is no stranger to being included in these “best of” lists for college towns, either. Previously, Travel and Leisure put Boulder as the sixth best college town on their list. AIER also previously listed Boulder as the best small metro college city. Livability also gave Boulder the number one spot for the best college town back in 2013. Really, anyone living in Boulder knows just how great it is. In case anyone has forgotten,... Read More

You owe it to yourself to gaze upon the beautiful landscape around Boulder, and the best way to do that is to start exploring some trails. Marshall Mesa Loop Marshall Mesa Loop is a great hiking trail to start with. It’s an easy hike, only 3.3 miles, and it gives you a brilliant view of the Flatirons. This is the kind of trail that you would see on a postcard and say, “Wow, this looks like a pretty cool place, I would probably enjoy walking around there.” This is also a dog-friendly trail, so your four-legged companion can also join you on your outing here. The trail also has seen its fair... Read More

So it is indeed getting chillier… but SO WHAT. You are a devout outdoorsman or outdoorswoman and nothing less than apocalyptic plague of locust would stop you from racing up mountains, rambling through rivers, or taking Zibeon, your falcon, out for a jaunt. A great place to start is   at the Hessie Trailhead, which leads into the Indian Peaks Wilderness, no matter your level of outdoorsy-ness. I list several hike options below ranging from easy to difficult. Easy Hikes First Waterfalls on Middle Boulder Creek: A very short hike from the actual trailhead, and just over 0.6 mile from parking... Read More

Boulder is known as one of America’s best bike-friendly cities, and with good reason. There are tons of paths for both road cycling as well as mountain biking, so there’s really something for everyone in Boulder. It can be hard to choose a good path, however, due to the sheer amount of options available. Luckily, in this particular blog post, I’ll point out a few of Boulder’s best bike routes. Boulder Creek Path Boulder Creek Path is one of Boulder’s most well-known walking and biking areas. Its 5.5 miles of beautiful scenery make it a very aesthetic ride, and its... Read More

Our story begins in the mid 1800’s, when a team of explorers were commissioned to explore the Boulder area. Among these explorers were Zebulon Pike, Stephan Long, and John Fremont. One of Fremont’s men, William Gilpin, told everyone that this particular area had gold. This area was previously considered unfit for settlement, but when gold is involved, people tend to forget about silly things like that. This group of settlers decided to settle in a beautiful area known today as “Settler’s Park,” named for obvious reasons. It’s also pretty obvious why they... Read More

  Rabbit Mountain is large wide-open park just north of Longmont and south of Lyons off of Hwy 66. The park boasts a total trail miles of 6.1 and is open to hikers, leashed dogs, equestrians, and bicyclists. I recommend heading for the Eagle Wind Loop Trail, 2.5 mile loop. After you head up the trail from the parking lot, you’ll reach the service road and then begin the Eagle Wind trail. It is not a super steep incline at any point but there is an incline. The trail winds through open meadow to mountain brush and ponderosa pines giving multiple views to the western mountains and then... Read More

Boulder is famous for the majestic sandstone flatirons jutting from the mountainside above the town. Most people probably know that you can hike these soaring monoliths. The first and second flatiron trail is one of the most popular in Boulder County, climbing 2.7 miles through rocky debris and pine forests to sit among the boulders for which the city is named. Our Ratings: Crowd: 2/5. This is a very busy trail. On fair days and weekends you’ll be following a steady stream of other hikers up and down the mountain. Even at sunrise and during the winter the trail is well populated. If you’re... Read More

  According to the American Public Transportation Association, “the transportation sector produces one-third of greenhouse gas emissions in the united states.” This means that being concerned about the future of our planet includes being concerned with how you are getting around. One option might be moving closer to where you are travelling to, but you might want to consider the alternative forms of transportation in our modern city. Luckily, this is Boulder, where we have great alternative methods of transportation such as B-cycle, the regional bus system, and eGo carshare. B-cycle There... Read More

I stood on a small slanted ledge about two hundred feet above Eldorado Canyon, craning my neck, staring upwards, trying to catch a glimpse of my climbing partner, who had ventured into the third pitch of the classic Bastille Crack. As I stood there anchored into the wall, a number 12 stopper slipped from its carabineer somewhere above and fell, clipping the corner of my helmet as it bounced to the base of the climb. About 30 seconds later I heard my partner’s voice echo against the canyon walls, it was a voice diffused by thousands of pounds of granite, but still saturated with frustration. I... Read More

There’s a saying about the cruel effect that money has on the quality of a product: “It eats quality and poops quantity”, William Burroughs. (Ok fine, he uses a different word for poop). For so many expanding businesses, this insight seems to be true. Quality of product is surrendered to the quantity produced, as companies’ main goals are to become as large as possible, while trading in the integrity of their original products. Newton Running Shoes and ROLL Recovery (in my last two posts) have proved to evade this sentence, succeeding based on their commitment to quality, rather than quantity,... Read More

Do you enjoy watching clouds? Do you like reading books in pretty areas? Do you want to become king of the playground? Does your pet need a new place to frolic? Do you need a new place to frolic? If you’ve answered “yes” to any of these questions, you’re probably in need of a park. Luckily, Boulder has a lot of fantastic parks. Here are a few of my favorites: Scott Carpenter Park Scott Carpenter Park has everything a person could ever want. It has a huge open field, an excellent skatepark, an outdoor swimming pool, and a jungle gym with a space ship. That’s right,... Read More

It is Fall! We are past Labor Day (usually the official end of summer), but we still have a few days until the Autumnal Equinox on September 23. I’d expect lots of warm days in Boulder to come, but in the mountains, it is really starting to feel like fall. Once the aspen trees start to turn its a narrow window of time to see the mountains shrouded in gold.  There’s several places a quick drive from Boulder to go check out the leaves. Many people simply drive around and then turn back. But not you! Use this list to do some serious leaf peeping around Boulder. Hessie Trailhead, Eldora,... Read More

You know what I love? Camping. You know what I don’t love as much? Paying as much as I would for a hotel room for a night! Luckily, there are plenty of free campsites in and around the front range, and we’ve compiled some for you to get you started!   West Magnolia Ridge 602-610 County Highway 132-W Nederland, Colorado GPS: 39.946961, -105.517587 Elevation: 8711′ If you can brave rough camping accessed by a currently washed-out road, you’re in for a treat. This site is near Nederland and many hiking trails with sweeping views of the forests and mountains. Pets are allowed, and... Read More