Trail 43 - Fall of the impending Winter

It's been while since I went for a hike at a location covered in 60 Hikes within 60 Miles: Denver and Boulder. I made it to Hike #43 from this book, South Boulder Creek Trail from Bobolink Trailhead. This is a fairly flat trail with a very slow incline. The trail is unusual, in that it splits between a paved path and a gravel-and-dirt path for a short stretch. The paved route is intended to support cycling, though cyclists were using both routes.

The trail follows fairly close to the right bank of the South Boulder Creek throughout the northern half of its length, and the left bank for the Southern half. The creek flows south to north.

Near the trailhead, there's a lot of shade on the unpaved route, but most of the trail is in open space. Wear sunscreen, as there's very little shade.  Additionally, the trail crosses both South Boulder Road and US Route 36 via underpasses.

Even for Midautumn, the vegetation was surprisingly brown with empty trees. It's pretty for Fall and Winter, particularly with a blue sky and the Flatirons as a backdrop.

Given the time of year, I didn't expect to see much wildlife. Even still, there were some curious cows in one of the fields. The hike was enjoyable and leisurely.

One warning about the creek.  Apparently, there's a New Zealand Mudsnail infestation. So, there's signs at several locations warning hikers (and their dogs) not to go into the creek (to make sure they aren't accidentally carrying this little invasive critters to other places in Colorado).