Running in Boulder and Crested Butte

Flagstaff...depends on how long of a run you are doing. If you just want to run the trail, it's near Chataqua Park. From the park/trails entrance you can see the flag staff at the top on the right. Just head towards it and you should hit the trail...

Magnolia Rd:

From downtown Boulder, get on Canyon Blvd and head west "up the canyon." This is/becomes 119, and after awhile (10 min's?) you'll see a road on the left labeled Magnolia Rd. Drive 5 miles up this winding, paved road. I believe the "traditional" 17 mile "Mags" run starts @ the green 5 mile marker (on the right) - at least that's where I've always started. Start your run here (or further if you want less than 17 miles) and stay on this road until you get to Hwy 72 / Peak to Peak Highway (roughly 7 miles). At this point, cross this highway, and continue on for another 1.5 miles on the main road (it will dead-end @ a trailhead). Turn around here, run back. The run is hilly, but with a net uphill on the way out. And after running "Mags," you'll instantly be a better runner...(at least a little bit better having just run a hilly 17 miles at altitude).

Other favorite places to run:

South Boulder Creek Trail (Bobolink Trailhead) - a flat out & back just under 3.5 miles each way. (Baseline Rd, 1M east of Foothills Parkway)

Heil Valley Ranch - a nice trail w/ a incline on the way out (2.6M), a rolling loop @ the end (2.6M), and the same way back - a nice descent. The mileage listed (according to the official maps) is a bit shorter than it actually is.

This new trail system is one of the few trails in the area w/ a fair amount of shade. (Head north of Boulder on Hwy 36, turn left on Lefthand Canyon Rd, and right @ Geer Canyon Rd - follow signs to trailhead)

Boulder Reservoir (the Rez) Area - a plethora of options and another good "social" running area. I recommend parking @ Coot Lake (Diagonal Hwy NE to 63rd St, north on 63rd St, watch for trailhead/lake parking on left/west) and running from there. There's dirt rds, canal rds (CERTAIN DEATH - the out & back that Goucher did in the book), trails, and more trails.

If you figure in all the foothills trail options, the Front Range, and all the other trails right around Boulder, you won't be bored. Stop in @ Fleet Feet Sports (west end of Pearl Street 303.939.8000) for more ideas/directions.

Have fun and enjoy Colorado!

BDG - don't let the bus beat you to the line at Chicago.

Teller Farm, or the so called Tank, is a nice run in East Boulder.

Coal Creek Trail is another one that both the BDG and I recommend. You can pick that up in Louisville.

The other bald guy, slower than BDG.

G

Directions to Old Mag's:

Take Cayon west... about 6 miles from the intersection of canyon and braodway. There are two roads in this area. One is the begining of Magnolia Rd. The other is Sugar Loaf. Take Magnolia Rd and drive up that about err... shoot, maybe 10 miles... in anycase drive till the pavement ends and the dirt begins. That is the area talked about in the book.

My advice... if yr not from elevation use yr BRAIN and DONT RUN THIS HARD. Elevation = 7500 to 8500.

As for Flagstaff... that isnt a "hilly" area. Its one big hill. See, in the rockies they dont have hills. You have a mountain. Yr choice is to go up the mtn or down the mtn. Its quite simple, really. Its in Boulder... find a map and look up Chataqua Park. Flagstaff Mtn begins at the end of Baseline Rd (heading west).

Its beautiful. Enjoy. And bring some advil.

Other favorites:

Wonderland Lake-Foothills-Boulder Valley Ranch Loop

Head north on Broadway. Look for the Wonderland Lake Trailhead on the left after you pass North Boulder Shopping Center.

Head west on the trail and run clockwise around the Lake. Continue north on Foothills Trail and cross Lee Hill Road. FoothillsTtrail turns east and passes underneath Highway 36. Take a left at the dirt road and follow until you see Boulder Valley Ranch. You can loop around the small lake and turn back towards Wonderland Lake or head towards the Rez at the northeast end of the lake.

Doudy Draw - Community Ditch - Greenbelt Plateau Trailhead

Drive south out of town on Broadway/highway 93 and look for the trailhead on the west as soon after you pass Highway 128. Run west on Doudy Draw connect to Community Ditch, cross Highway 93 then head South on Greenbelt Plateau. This trail has some beautiful vistas of the Flatirons.

Map of route can be found at

http://www.ci.boulder.co.us/openspace/publications/brochures/doudydr.pdf

More information about trails in the city can be found at

http://www.ci.boulder.co.us/openspace/visitor/trail_details.htm

BDG Live the life. Long live WMC

Thanks a lot of the info. Yeah I'm from sea level but I'll have been in Colorado Springs for a week before I go to Boulder. Hopefully I'll be pretty much adjusted before I run Mags and a few of the others you guys suggested. Mount Flagstaff sounds pretty hellish.

I don't think anyone every really adjust to altitude. You just cope with it. Most say that you need to be here about six weeks before you can cope with it ... others say more ... (but then there are those elites that come in from sea level the day before the race and win that little race in Boulder that happens on Memorial Day).

Mags gets to be about at least 2000 feet higher than anything in the Springs proper. Since you are climbing that on the way out, I have found it feels crappier and is slower (others who live on that thing more than me have, in my subjective survey, agree).

I got this in an email from my bro who was running in that area on Monday:

I was running on the trails in Boulder and summitted South Boulder Peak today. On the way back to the Mesa trail I was 1/4 mile from where I used to run a couple times a week and I hear a loud noise. I knew it wasn't a squirrel and it was very close - maybe 10 yards away. I stopped running and looked around. Medium sized black bear about 25 yards away staring straight at me. It had moved 15 yards away from where the noise was so I wasn't too nervous but I was a 1/2 hour from any road so I walked backwards for a couple of minutes speaking loudly and carrying a big stick that I quickly picked up. It left me alone and I finished my run. Exciting though.

SOTB wrote:

I got this in an email from my bro who was running in that area on Monday:

I was running on the trails in Boulder and summitted South Boulder Peak today. On the way back to the Mesa trail I was 1/4 mile from where I used to run a couple times a week and I hear a loud noise. I knew it wasn't a squirrel and it was very close - maybe 10 yards away. I stopped running and looked around. Medium sized black bear about 25 yards away staring straight at me. It had moved 15 yards away from where the noise was so I wasn't too nervous but I was a 1/2 hour from any road so I walked backwards for a couple of minutes speaking loudly and carrying a big stick that I quickly picked up. It left me alone and I finished my run. Exciting though.

lmao I love how these stories always read like the bear only ran off because person knew what to do and handled the situation appropriately. Carrying a stick and spending minutes rerouting to avoid a black bear who had already started to run off...he wouldn't have been able to get that bear to attack him if he was trying!

PSA: Just say what's up and continue your run. If they are in the way, walk towards them speaking firmly until they inevitably scamper off. They might just climb a tree, but either way. Haze them, it's in everyone's interest.

Boulder bro

This thread is 19 years old but since no one talked about Crested Butte, heck, I’ll bite.

Crested Butte has become famous for mountain biking with hundreds of miles of single track (including Gunnison). It turns out that a lot of those trails are great for running, particularly if your a trail runner at heart and run early in the morning before the mountain bikers take over.

For those of us more interested in train for road races or XC, there’s a lot of other great terrain.

For example, we have a version of Magnolia Road called Gothic Road. It’s much more scenic than Mags since it meanders through the Elk Mountains canyons, passing by several streams and lakes. It’s a 2-car wide dirt road that’s not steep, but it does start at an elevation of 9400’ and undulates to over 11,000’ in the first 9 miles. You can go much further…but that’s a hell of a round trip!

We’ve got a few other dirt road out ‘n backs where you can get in 10+ miles before it gets too steep. The base elevation here is 8600’ to 8800’, so you’ll be spending lots of time in the 9000’ to 10,000’ range.

There’s too much snow to run on those trails between mid-November to April…but still great for aerobic development on XC skis. If you come in late June the wildflowers are blooming and it’s right up there with the Swiss alps for beauty.

I’ve never been a mountain runner, so I was surprised how approachable the 6.5 mile run up to the top of Mt. Crested Butte Resort is- gentle single tracks and Cat Tracks. Note: the last 200m is a rock scramble if you want to make it to the summit.

The closest track is a 25 minute easy drive down to Western Colorado University in Gunnison. It’s at 7700’ but feels low enough to do tempo/threshold work once you’re fully acclimated to CB. (The also school has an indoor 200m track).

CB South has a pretty flat, 2-mile street loop that’s plowed and runnable year-around. There’s a lot more flat pavement and dirt trails down in Gunnison.

In short: once your acclimated, the training here for road runners (and of course trail runners) is pretty great…at least from April to November.