Claire G.
Yelp
Every year on Mother's Day, I do a solo hike as a way to find "a room of my own" (to paraphrase Virginia Woolf). This year, I chose Golden Gate Canyon State Park, as I had never been here before, but always wanted to go. It was a beautiful day for a beautiful hike. I will definitely return, probably with kids, but maybe by myself again.
I chose to do the 9.1 mile Mule Deer Trail, which led up to Panorama Point. Then I looped around the Horseshoe Trail to check out a few of the backcountry camping sites. It was a good, long hike with lots of great scenery. And fairly quiet too, for a holiday weekend!
My state park pass hasn't arrived yet, so I needed to go to the Visitor Center to get a day pass. It was $8 and the park rangers there were very nice. It's a cute little Visitor Center, which would be fun to take kiddos when they get hot or worn out from hiking.
There's plenty of parking and picnic spots available, plus campgrounds and backcountry sites. Since it's close to Denver, it probably gets filled up pretty quickly, especially on weekends.
The best part about this park, aside from the scenery, was the very clearly marked trails. There is no confusion at all. It's easy to do a long hike, trail run, bike, or snowshoe without getting lost or turned around. Sometimes, you just want to do your 6 mile run and then go home, not have that 6 mile run turn into 6 miles of running and then 4 additional miles of walking because you took a wrong turn.
As always, please keep our parks clean - pack your stuff in and out. Use the garbage cans and bathrooms. Everyone I saw out on the trails that day seemed pretty respectful, so THANK YOU.