Raccoon Loop Hike in Golden Gate Canyon State Park, © Copyright 2010-2020 Dayhikes Near Denver LLC, We use cookies to give you the best experience on our website. We loved this trail and the area and will be going back to it again, in the winter and summer. Within a short distance, you’re treated to great views of the high peaks strung along the towering Continental Divide.

Check out this short video of the Raccoon trail on YouTube.

I love taking these hikes with family and friends and then sharing them with everyone else. Well, Caleb and I decided to head farther along trail, looking for some great photo and video opportunities and it wasn’t long before we were rewarded with many. As you continue counter-clockwise around the loop, the trail drops about 500 vertical feet through more pockets of aspen and a few open, sunny meadows in between patches of blue spruce and Douglas fir trees. If you start at the Panorama parking area and head off on the trail where it starts near the restroom, you will, about halfway through the loop, reach a three point intersection and you want to follow the sign that points toward Gap road. Credit: Terri Cook; Another beautiful vista along the path. After paying, continue west on Gap Road for about 3 miles to the parking area for Panorama Point. We thought it wasn’t that cold until we took of our face masks off and about froze right there on the trail. Driving directions for both trailheads are located in the trail snapshot above. Leave a Comment Below or send me an Email.

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Exact change is required at the fee station. I was wondering how well our dog Ranger would do and it didn’t take long for us to realize he needed to go back to the SUV.

Be sure to see the details below regarding an annual raptor closure that detours one segment of this hike. Lastly, here is a photograph of the four freezing hiking buddies from left to right. You can reach a lot of the areas without a 4 wheel drive but it depends on the snow fall and when the storms hit. Sadly, these are not soft-baked, double-chocolate chunk cookies.

I can see a lot of good photos of you that come with amazing views and great skiing. Leki Trekking Poles | Micro Vario Carbon AS. Good luck! After this third junction, the trail climbs steadily through the forest and ends next to two large wooden platforms at Panorama Point.

You can begin your hike at either the Panorama Point Trailhead or at the Reverend Ridge Campground Trailhead. It really has a lot of great views with some nice spots for awesome shots. Although the trail is well signed, there are three junctions that can temporarily cause confusion. I have never been there, but if I had the chance I would definitely try it.Besides Ultra Clava that you recommend plus a several items mentioned.

The few things you need on any Colorado trail in the winter are: I highly recommend the Seirus Ultra Clava breathable hood. I would be careful about venturing to far out with out a 4 wheel drive, all wheel drive and chains but you could have reached the Raccoon trail in a 2-wheel drive and without chains on the trip we just took.

It was a gorgeous day, except for the 12 degree F temperatures. I would like to add one more tip.

The hard part will be picking which trail you wan to hike.

These closures are announced on the front page of the Golden Gate Canyon State Park website, and we knew about it before making our trip.
You can see Long’s Peak on the right side of the next photograph. Reverend Ridge Trailhead, while a larger parking area, can fill up fast because it is located at the campground.


I’m glad you liked it and the style and information provided. She has great boots but they vented, even though they are waterproof. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Blue Grouse Trail Wonderful hike, though it would have been nice if the online map would have been marked correctly.

When we do hike in the National Parks, we leave the dogs at home. Most hikes near Denver are quite exposed to the sun, but this hike offers a good deal of shade.

Join our Community. Location: Golden Gate Canyon State Park, Colorado.

Veer left here to follow Gap Road for 2 miles to the state park self-pay fee station, where the road turns to dirt. Tucked into the foothills northwest of Golden, the park is easily accessible from the plains as well as the Peak-to-Peak Highway and offers great hiking, mountain biking, camping, snowshoeing, and wildlife viewing. Does it snowy during that season?

Soon we came upon a less traveled section of the trail and this is where we wished we had some snowshoes. We hiked this today and so appreciate the recommendation because the fall colors were incredible! If they were, we would rename this website "paradise. We hiked the Raccoon Loop counter-clockwise from the Panorama Point Trailhead and found it to be easy to moderate in difficulty. It’s good to know that it’s one of those hikes that is on the edge though.

I would try trails in the Denver, Boulder or Colorado Springs area to start with or an easier trail at higher altitudes and make sure you don’t overdue it so the kids have a great time.

This is a great hike for visiting friends and family, but those who have not acclimatized to the altitude, or who are not in the best shape, may find this last part challenging. There are a lot of snow plows in Colorado and they clear the roads quickly. We have done some preliminary research and have settled on the MSR Lightning Ascent snowshoes, which are some of the highest rated, meant for more mountainous terrain, but are also some of the most expensive. function so you can call for help if you end up in a life-threatening situation. This scenic hike explores the northwestern corner of 12,000-acre Golden Gate Canyon State Park, one of the gems of Colorado’s extensive park network.

The trail opens up at Rim Meadow, providing views of Mount Evans and Golden Gate Canyon.

After consulting with both of my kids, we opted for the 4.0 mile Raccoon trail.

I have been searching for an article for a long time about this but I did not find much on the internet and if I found it was very poorly explained. Thank you so much for sharing the article.

We got a late start on the trail but I figured that would be fine as the temperature would not get above 15 degrees F for the day, so I didn’t think the trail would be crowded with hikers.

Keep me up to date on the latest trends and happenings around Denver. Head to this Golden-area hike to wander among aspen groves and open meadows with broad views of the Continental Divide. Maybe it was shorter for some due to certain areas being closed. Grace gets out a lot with her Search and Rescue team so she was happy to stay in the SUV with Ranger and read a great book, while surrounded by gorgeous scenery.

I briefly thought about sleeping in and staying warm by the fire but we opted to get out and enjoy the Rocky Mountains.

Agreed. Because it’s short and has a variety of scenery, the Racoon Loop makes for an enjoyable hike for families. More of her work can be found at down2earthscience.com. Ours are pretty used to hiking but we don’t want them to have an awful experience and hate hiking in the future. If you don’t mind, I will share this article on my social media account. This trail is definitely moderate and is actually 4.3 miles round trip. I’m glad you liked the tips about hiking in the winter. About Golden Gate Canyon State Park. Golden Gate Canyon State Park is located in Front Range of Colorado in Jefferson and Gilpin Counties. Let me answer them one at a time. 2.

Though parking is limited, there is additional parking located directly across the street in a dirt lot. The drive on Golden Gate Canyon Road was relaxing and beautiful. Required fields are marked *.


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