Hiking – Red Mountain Open Space

This will be a loop hike with an additional out and back to the high point (BM AS-P41 at 7,149 feet). Starting from the Red Mountain trailhead we will follow the Sinking Sun Trail to the junction with the Big Hole Wash Trail. From there we'll follow the Big Hole Wash trail for about 1.3 miles until we reach the junction with the Cheyenne Trail. We will follow the Cheyenne trail east for another 0.8 miles. There will be a sigh to the BM AS-P41 point that is off trail for about 5 minutes to the summit. There are good views into Red Mountain Open Space, Soapstone Praire Natural Area and Wyoming. We will come back down the Cheyenne trail and the Big Hole Wash until we meet up with the Ruby Wash trail. We will follow the Ruby Wash trail until the intersection with the Bent Rock trail which we will take that will complete the trip back to the trailhead. Overall ~8 miles and ~1,000 ft elevation gain.

In addition to high biological diversity, this landscape has seen human occupation for tens of thousands of years. Perhaps the most striking feature of Red Mountain Open Space is the “Big Hole,” a geologic phenomenon where the history of the earth is written across each formation, now visible, due to millions of years of uplift, folding and erosion. Bison were reintroduced to the northern Colorado prairie at Red Mountain Open Space and Soapstone Prairie Natural Area in 2015 through a partnership among Larimer County, Colorado State University, City of Fort Collins and USDA-APHIS. 

Exact meeting place and time will be emailed to participants a few days before the trip.  Expect to meet in Fort Collins about 8am for the 45 minute drive to the trailhead.