Explore the best rated trails in Loveland, CO. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Sheep Draw Trail and Fossil Creek Trail. With more than 81 trails covering 606 miles you're bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
No reviews or pictures since 2021??
Rode the northern end of this trail from the 17th and Laredo area. Such a disappointment. Lots of broken glass as well as many homeless camps. Also quite a few stops to cross busy streets.
Would recommend respirator unless you like carbon monoxide. Very wide surface and less dangerous than the road. Lots of parallel traffic. Air quality alert.
Started in Golden, went all the way to the South Platte River, and back. As of today there are no problems nor detours, excepting some artists working on painting cool stuff on the actual concrete trail towards the South Platte end, and that's just 2 very short sections just to the side of the concrete part of the trail. Not a problem. I have enjoyed this trail for the better part of 20 years, and there are no longer any more partially-finished sections. If you don't live in Golden, I recommend starting at the South Platte and working your way up the "hill" to Golden ... then you are more or less going downhill on the second half of the ride. Just a teensy bit easier.
Enjoy!
Oh, 5 stars because it is a nice long trail in the city that, with the exception of a small section, is all trail, and no streets.
Great trail to bike and the sound of the river made it even better!
No where near Cherry Hills or Greenwood village.
Great trail with lots of twists and turns, connection to Clear Creek is not obvious and signage is poor.
Starting in downtown Denver and heading 40 miles southeast to Franktown, the Cherry Creek Trail is a true gift to the bikers, runners, and walkers of the city. For the first five miles from downtown, from the scenic falls where the creek meets the Platte River, we rode nearly on the edge of the rock-strewn creek. The trail runs below street level, hence there are many overhead bridges and on/off ramps from nearby neighborhoods. Riding at 9am, most of the trail in the downtown area was shaded by the high-rise apartment and office buildings on the east side, but the trail is otherwise short on leafy canopies and is likely to be brutally hot mid-day. There was no shade whatsoever further along the trail. The creek’s path became less managed by rocky revetments after about seven miles, instead, alternately diverging and converging among beds of brown grass and scruffy plants.
Except for occasional neighborhoods and the four golf courses we passed, it definitely felt like we were riding in the Wild West!
Prior to hitting the suburbs, we passed numerous homeless people lying under blankets aside the creek or tucked up under the eaves of bridges - more than we’ve come across in other cities. There were also retaining walls along both sides of the trail that featured both true works of art and plain old graffiti. We had to stop at only one intersection where construction forced a slight detour; otherwise, we flew along the concrete path as it climbed almost imperceptibly out of town.
The Cherry Creek trail is more like a network of paths, several of which we took accidentally because there is very little signage on the trail. A yellow painted line along the center of the trail helps at some of the Y’s and intersections, but it’s conspicuously missing at many of them. We really enjoyed this trail and would have loved to have completed the 80-mile roundtrip, but we were limited by both time constraints and lack of ambition.
There is no shortage of great breweries in Denver, including a fantastic one with a crazy variety of beers right off the trail in the Glendale area.
The Poudre Trail’s numbers are straightforward – 10 feet wide and 12 miles long. This is not to be confused with the Poudre River Trail, which is almost 22 miles long and is in Greeley, CO. Fort Collins’ city fathers (and mothers) broke ground on the trail in 1994 and completed it in 2008. There are few bells and whistles to the trail, though it is a bit tricky finding the trailhead. It’s about a ½ mile down a dirt road off a paved cul-de-sac at the end of a road-to-nowhere, about five miles east of downtown. Once the trail is located, it starts off in what looks like a light industrial setting, but instead is an “environmental facility.”
The early stretch is mostly concrete, perhaps not environmentally friendly, but biker friendly to those who are just getting their morning bike legs. Early on, the Poudre does not appear to be a powerful river, presenting itself more like a shallow stream. Soon, the trail approaches downtown Fort Collins, much quieter during the daytime than it is at night. Later, the trail heads around a large pond. It turns out that is the town reservoir, and the reason why the Poudre River flow is so gentle. From the reservoir west, the view is outstanding, much more dramatic than the prairies east of town. And just beyond the edge of the official trail, the road starts its climb toward the Rockies.
A nationally known brewery is right off the bike trail in downtown Ft. Collins.
This is simply a great trail with lots of scenic variety. Fun to do all at once or in segments.
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