Belmar Park is listed in the book 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Denver and Boulder as Trail #2. However, this park is really just a well designed city park around Kountze Lake in Lakewood, CO. There is a paved trail and several dirty offshoots with varying sizes. A combination of paths allow you to walk around the lake. The various dirt trail widths allow for simple walks (narrow), walking your dogs (two-way), and riding your horse (wide).
On this day, the lake served as a respite for a bunch of geese as they head South for Winter. Even though this is late Fall, the afternoon was warm and pleasant.
My dog, Toebzilla, typically barks at everything. However, on this nice afternoon, we passed by cackling children, several big dogs, geese and even horses (which he particularly hates when they show up on TV). He didn't bark or even look as though he wanted to bark. He was very interested in the horses and their smells, but he wasn't nervous by their presence.
Much of the park's trail network runs through other areas, including a significant section that traces a nearby stream called Weir Gulch.
The park is surrounded by homes and businesses, and this fact is obvious as you peruse around. As mentioned above, this is a city park. There are other trails in the Denver Metro Area that would be much closer to what one might call "trails". I enjoyed walking here. My dog also seemed at ease. However, it's a bit of a stretch to call this a location for hiking.
One added word of caution about the name of the park. The name of the park is Belmar Park. However, the name of the neighborhood around the park is also called Belmar Park. If you look this place up in your navigation app, make sure it's taking you to the park and not to the center of the neighborhood.
No comments:
Post a Comment