Elevation: About 7,580 feet Elevation Gain: About 1,400 feet Round Trip Distance: About 9 miles Difficulty: Easy, Class 1 Hike Trip Date: May 9, 1999
At approximately 7,580 feet, Jefferson County's Lookout Mountain is the lowest of what I'm calling the "Capitol Dome Peaks." If you visit the Colorado State Capitol Building on a weekday, you can climb the stairs up to the dome. Along the exterior walkway of the capitol dome, there are a series of old plaques pointing towards various mountains that were visible from the dome when it was constructed. (Some of these views are now obstructed by high-rise buildings.) These summits include Pike Peak, Devil's Head, Cub Mountain, Mount Evans, Lookout Mountain, Arapaho Peak (there are really two -- North and South Arapaho), Mount Audubon, and Longs Peak. An additional plaque points to Red Rocks. The name Cub Mountain does not appear on any present day maps, but I have surmised that the summit this refers to is Black Mountain at the head of Cub Creek. Taken together, I thought this group of destinations might make a good "peak list" of hikes within an easy driving distance of Denver. For Red Rocks, a hike on the main park trails, or a hike to the summit of Mount Morrison, the highest point in the park, should count for anyone who would like to hike each of these destinations.
Lookout Mountain is a silly hike. Most people who visit this "summit" arrive by car, and for good reason. The broad, flat mountaintop is highly developed with roads, various broadcasting towers, and a wealthy residential neighborhood. The "Lookout Mountain Trail" is just a dirt path along the side of a road, and the Lookout Mountain "open space" park is enclosed by a tall fence. The actual "high point" of Lookout Mountain is difficult to distinguish, but it appears to be either in the middle of the parking lot at the Lookout Mountain Nature Center, or just outside the Boettcher Mansion in the park. Nevertheless, the lower part of this hike isn't bad for an off-season or leisurely excursion in the foothills.
I did this hike with my wife, Kenna Berry, on Sunday, May 9, 1999. We started from the Heritage Square shopping and entertainment village off U.S. 40, one mile north of the Morrison exit on Interstate 70. Heritage Square requests that hikers use the lower parking area just to the west of the U.S. 40, rather than the upper parking area closer to the shopping village. The Apex Trail can be accessed from the north end of either parking lot. The starting elevation for the hike is about 6,200 feet.
The Apex Trail heads west on a gradual uphill incline first across Heritage Square property, then through Apex Park (Jefferson County Open Space). By the upper Heritage Square parking lot, it crosses the paved Kinney Run Trail, which heads north toward Golden. The Apex Trail passes the Heritage Square village and alpine slide, then slips into Apex Gulch, which hides most views of the surrounding suburbs. This main trail was hot and dry, but it followed above a shallow stream with some nice smelling flowers. We encountered more mountain bikers than hikers on the Apex Park Trails. From the 1860s to the 1880s, Apex Gulch was the path of a toll road from Apex City (at the present location of Heritage Square) to the goldfields of Central City (then known as the Gregory Diggings).
Some side trails (Pick'N Sledge and Sluicebox) leave the right side of Apex Trail to reach higher points in the park. The Enchanted Forest Trail crosses to the south side of Apex Gulch to form a loop with the Apex Trail. After about three miles (?) from the trailhead, Apex Trail reconnects with the Enchanted Forest Trail. At this point, an unmarked trail, a logical extension of the Apex Trail, heads uphill to the right towards some large houses. We followed this side trail up to Lookout Mountain Road. From here, the hike was pretty silly.
We turned right on Lookout Mountain Road, then immediately left to follow the signed Lookout Mountain Trail along Colorow Road. The biggest obstacle on this trail was overcoming boredom. The rest of the route is essentially an unpaved sidewalk winding past some houses and enclosed "open space". There is some gradual up and down walking, but generally the route was pretty flat from the first road to the summit..After what I would estimate to be a mile or a mile and a half, we turned right into the parking lot for Lookout Mountain Park and walked into the Nature Center building. The Nature Center had maps for all the Jefferson County parks, and restrooms. We also walked over to the Boettcher Mansion, which had been reserved by a wedding party. Lookout Mountain Park has some short trails, but they don't connect back to Apex Park.
We returned largely by the same route, except that we followed the Enchanted Forest Trail on the south side of Apex Gulch. The Enchanted Forest Trail is definitely the best part of this hike. It was cooler and shady, with more ups and downs, and fewer mountain bikers. We completed the hike in about four hours including breaks, walking at an easy pace.
Gary Swing