Elevation Gain: 2,250+ feet Round Trip Distance: 8.8 miles, plus 1.2 miles for Buffalo Bill's Grave Round Trip Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes Starting Elevation: 5,800 feet Difficulty: Class 1, Easy Hiking Trip Date: February 13, 2000
This was one of my cheesy off-season, low-altitude exercise hikes. I drove west from Denver to Golden on U.S. 6. About half a mile past 19th Street in Golden, I parked on the left side of the highway at a large tree-lined pullout. From there, I walked about a tenth of a mile further "west" on U.S. 6 to a sign for the Chimney Gulch Trail.
I hiked southwest 2.5 miles up Chimney Gulch Trail to Windy Saddle at 6,900 feet. This route switchbacks up past a residential neighborhood before crossing Lookout Mountain Road, where a small parking area for the trail is situated. The lower part of the Chimney Gulch Trail was dry and barren, with views of the Coors brewery, the town of Golden, and nearby mesas. The upper part of the gulch had more trees, which hid patches of ice.
>From Windy Saddle, I walked north and northeast for 0.6 miles over an unnamed summit to the lower knobby ridge point named Mount Zion. There is a USGS marker on a rock just before this point. The walk along this treeless ridge top was bitterly cold with strong winds. Mount Zion offers views of Denver to the east, with Clear Creek Canyon and foothills to the west.
Next, I retraced my steps to Windy Saddle, then continued west and south to Lookout Mountain on the Beaver Brook and Lookout Mountain Trails. This part of the hike was almost all wooded, with a great deal of ice on the trail. I slipped and fell pretty hard at one point, adorning my right side with assorted scrapes and bruises. The Lookout Mountain Trail ended across the street from the Lookout Mountain Nature Center, where I took a break.
On my return hike, I decided to take a side trip along the Buffalo Bill Trail. This spur trail leads half a mile to the Buffalo Bill Museum, a tacky tourist attraction. I walked a little further up a path from the museum to Buffalo Bill Cody's grave before heading back.
This was my second hike up Lookout Mountain. The first time I went, I had hiked up through Apex Park from Heritage Square. I prefer the Chimney Gulch route from U.S. 6 better because it requires more elevation gain in a shorter distance, while avoiding the mind-numbingly dull "trail" along Colorow Road.
Gary Swing