Hiking
Glenwood Springs boasts alpine meadows, rivers, creeks, crystal-clear lakes, wildlife and waterfalls. Glenwood Springs has a wide variety of trails and paths that cater to all athletic abilities.
Easiest
For a leisurely walk, the Glenwood Canyon hiking and biking trail is ideal. The paved path hugs the Colorado River for sixteen miles with a mild elevation gain of about 350 feet at its end, just past Bair Ranch. And the chances of seeing the resident herd of Bighorn Sheep in the canyon are very good. With picnic areas, restrooms, parking and disabled access every few miles on the path, it’s also perfect for a variety of ages and abilities.
Still Easy...
It's a half mile to Doc Holliday's memorial at Linwood Cemetery. He was Glenwood Springs’ famous gunslinging, gambling dentist. The trailhead starts in town. Other colorful characters from Glenwood Springs’ history occupy Linwood Cemetery too.
Getting Steeper...
The Jeanne Golay trail, named for the Olympic cyclist who now resides in Glenwood Springs and can often be found training on this trail, meanders up steep Red Mountain to the summit. From the top, the views of the valley floor, the Colorado and Roaring Fork Rivers and Mount Sopris make the climb worth the effort. The scrub oak forest turns to evergreen and aspen as the elevation increases, and lucky hikers may see a fox, deer, and several species of birds.
Hanging Lake is a perennial favorite, accessed year-round from Glenwood Canyon, with its trailhead about ten miles east of Glenwood Springs. Stunning waterfalls descend into a limestone lake teeming with trout. It’s a mile to the top and 1000 feet up, and takes about an hour and half round-trip. Five minutes beyond the lake is Spouting Rock, which is not to be missed once the lake is attained.
Grizzly Creek is also accessed from Glenwood Canyon, at Exit 121. A deep canyon with steep walls and a rambling creek, explorers can do the entire six miles and 2500 vertical feet to the top and the lake, or simply hike in a ways then turn around and enjoy the downhill trek back to the canyon. Hanging Lake waterfall
The Storm King Mountain Trail is a memorial to those who lost their lives battling the South Canyon fire in 1994, and a tribute to firefighters everywhere.
The trail takes visitors on the journey of a firefighter with a signed interpretive trail. The trailhead is about five miles west of Glenwood Springs at Canyon Creek.
