Colorado Runners HELP

Waterton Canyon SE of Denver off C-470 10K each way, dirt road and runnable. Starts off fairly flat and slowly increases in grade but not too bad.

Otherwise you might have to head north to Boulder/El Dorado Springs.

Waterton is closed for the year, but nice try.

The trails in Colorado Springs are in great shape but I don't know if you want to drive down here. The ones I've seen near Palmer Lake also looked pretty good last week.

Sometimes it snows here in Colorado. If you're at Colorado College you shouldn't have too much trouble hitting up the Santa Fe trail for a run if you don't mind doing loops. Some kind soul plows that route every time it dumps snow. Occasionally Boulder Reserviour has clear dirt roads that are great, but generally Boulder and El Dorado Springs are not good places to train in the winter unless you love training on the roads and they get twice the snow that Springs does. If all else fails, there's always the treadmill.

Up here in Fort Collins the trails have been muddy and icy as well. I have been mixing in more treadmill running, along with time on the concrete paths and roads, in order to get in hill work and have more stable footing.

With the snow expected tomorrow night, I do not see the trail conditions improving anytime soon. So if you have access I would consider mixing in some treadmill and maybe try to find a road in the foothills that has hills and gravel shoulders as those seem to dry out more quickly.

Thanks, everyone. I'll take the advice into consideration. I guess it's just one of those weird things, sometimes mud doesn't want to dry. There's probably some science to it but my degree is not in Evaporation Studies.

I just moved here and I see what you mean about the mud. I just run out in the road and for the most part, the motorists have been kind.

I echo your observation about the trails; I am in the south Denver/Centennial area. All the snow partially melts each day and then re-freezes at night, leaving ice traps to go along with the mud. I can't even run on the sidewalks because slackers won't shovel their sidewalks, and the shady spots still have layers of ice. Even with the nice weather this week, I've been forced onto a 1 mile concrete loop or running inside on the treadmill. Both options suck.

Hey man,

Try c470 they tend to plow it. Highline isn't looking too great right now. Also greenwood village plowed absolutely everything so you can probably get some good honest miles in there. Hope this helps

It's odd too cause we haven't had much in the way of snow either so far.

The Santa Fe Trail from Monument on South to the Springs is pretty good (until snow this morning anyway) though that's like an hour drive if your in Denver.

Robbycaseria wrote:

Thanks, everyone. I'll take the advice into consideration. I guess it's just one of those weird things, sometimes mud doesn't want to dry. There's probably some science to it but my degree is not in Evaporation Studies.

It's the constant freezing and thawing of the ground at night that causes the mud to seemingly never go away. We are dealing with it in the Chicago area right now, too. Generally, at this time of year, there are a few inches of snow on the ground and you can't even imagine running trails for a few months. However, this year with it being so warm, I want to run trails all the time, but am finding them extremely muddy because of the freezing/thawing sequence, even though it hasn't rained or snow much for weeks.

Good luck with your running!

Platte River Trail isn't too muddy on the side of the concrete.

Another reason Colorado springs is 1000x better than further north on Colorado

shhhhhhhh

The reason the trails in the Denver area do not dry out quickly has to do with the high content of clays, they absorb moisture and do not let it go even though the air in CO is very dry. Try to find an area with a trail made of crushed rock as it drains better or a hard packed dirt road, the north boulder area has some nice dirt roads.

And I believe that every winter in CO the trails get snowy/muddy and unrunable as that's been my experience although there are a few days when they mange to dry out. Get more cushioned shoes and hit the pavement!

Found this thread while searching the archives and I just had to resurrect it this thread. I'm baffled how OP could have spent multiple winters in Colorado and then complain about the muddy trail conditions in January! I literally take the winters off from consistent trail running for this very reason.

If anyone knows trails that are NOT muddy most of the winter, let me know. Otherwise I'll just keep doing my winter road running and hiking.

The trails in Boulder and Longmont are fine.

Santa Fe Trail in Co Springs, especially the segment that runs through Monument Valley Park, is almost always run-able in the winter. They usually get to it before they even plow the roads.

In Denver, Waterton is sometimes ok, and sunnier portions of the highline are usually semi-clear a week after a big storm. Otherwise, you'd need to drive 30 mins plus to get to a rural area that has dirt roads. Not realistic unless you have few other obligations in life.

Also funny that OP claims to run CC, but says he lives in Denver.

COlocalyocal wrote:

The trails in Colorado Springs are in great shape but I don't know if you want to drive down here. The ones I've seen near Palmer Lake also looked pretty good last week.

Yep, I've been running on the Fountain Creek Trail, Pikes Peak Greenway, and Santa Fe Trail and all are in great shape.