Plum Creek Trail Continues

The always present Castle Rock

We went south along the Plum Creek Trail in Castle Rock, south from Meadows Parkway to Wolfensburg road, the next overhead bridge crossing.  This 2.5 mile section of trail meanders alongside Plum Creek and is far enough away from traffic to be peaceful.  This portion of the trail is paved and is perfect for either road bicycles or mountain bikes.

Plum Creek 

Nicely paved trail

Some rock placed to keep the creek in the right channel

View from the hiking bridge over the creek

There are several spots to relax and watch the creek flow north to Chatfield Lake and the Platte River Trail.  We met some horses grazing along the trail where we cross private property.  A big thanks to the folks who allow this trail to pass through their property.

Horses grazing

Hole above

At one point along the trail I noticed a "hole" in the sky above us.  Cloud formations are always interesting in Colorado.  The weather would worsen the next few days keeping us inside to stay dry and warm.

The Beatles : )

There were many birds here along the creek, even "the Beatles" welcoming us to the trail.
There is also a cross trail that connects up to the Castle Rock itself called Hangman's Gulch Trail.  It too is paved.  Signage is very good.

Excellent signage

And good directions

Trail adopters

We have now covered about half of the Plum Creek Trail system in town.  The trail continues south to a point past Plum Creek Parkway, another 2 or so miles to go.  It also connects with the paved Sellars Creek Trail to go through town, and then ends just south of the Parkway.  This trail is part of the future Colorado Front Range Trail, ultimately connecting front range communities from Wyoming to New Mexico.  That would be an awesome bike ride!

Castle Rock...

...closer...

...and closer...

Eventually we will finish the south portion of this trail and will write about that.  To begin where we started, exit I-25 at #184, Founders Parkway in Castle Rock.  Turn west toward the Meadows, crossing Highway 85 (Santa Fe Trail).  Cross the bridge over Plum Creek and the railroad tracks. Turn left just past the bridge into the trail head parking area.  There is a trail head map on the Plum Creek Trail website above.  Bring water, wear a hat and enjoy your quiet ride!

Dawson Butte Ranch Open Space Trail

Dawson Butte overlooking the 5 mile loop trail

Dawson Butte Ranch Open Space is a 25 square mile plot of Douglas County open space land, just 7 miles south of Castle Rock.  The mostly forest-covered land was purchased to preserve the open space feel and provide recreation.  The loop trail runs 5 miles and is a favorite with area runners and mountain bicyclists.  Horseback riders also enjoy the area and the 60 horse jumps placed along bridal paths.
The day we went was cold and we only saw a few other people on this usually popular trail.

Well marked, easy to follow trail

Bench by the trail

Open Space began in 1994, when it was voted in by the Douglas County residents as a way to preserve some of the quickly disappearing lands in the county.  As a past and present resident, I have enjoyed many of the county's open space lands.
The Dawson Butte Open Space Trail travels from trees to meadow and back to heavy tree cover, providing shade and peace.  A few benches are placed along the trail, with picnic tables at the start and at the halfway point.  The hike starts at the high elevation of around 6800 feet, drops over 2.5 miles to the lower elevation of just over 6500 feet, and climbs back almost 300 feet of elevation near Tomah Road to the trail head.  Front range views are nice, and the ever-present Dawson Butte looks over all here.  There are no trails (or access) to the top.  We all liked the hike, enjoying the sound of the wind in the trees, while listening to birds and watching the views.  At times you could smell the pines all around you.  It is a very different experience from the areas around Castle Rock, with so much timber.  I highly recommend this hike for all.  I would like to come back and snowshoe here this winter.

Meadow walk

Benches are available

The Stairway to Heaven, Manger Meadow, Tomah Meadow and Fenceline trails are bridal paths and include those 60 horse jumps.  A dirt road provides emergency access through the park.  There is no water, so bring your own.  A Port-a-let is available at the trail head.  Trail maps are available HERE.

Peaceful hiking trail

Indian Head view

To get to Dawson Butte Ranch Open Space, take I-25 south of Denver to Castle Rock.  Exit at mile 181, Plum Creek Parkway, turn right under the railroad overpass, then turn left to go south on the frontage road (on the west side of the Interstate).  Follow south to the right turn on Tomah Road.  Watch for trains at the railroad crossing!  Follow Tomah Road up the hill, turning right into the trail head.  Park here and ride.  

The MAC - Purple Loop Trail

The MAC from the Purple Trail.  The Challenge Trail climbs to the top of the ridge

Today's hike was along the Purple Loop Trail at the MAC in Castle Rock.
This natural surface trail climbs quickly and provides views of Castle Rock and the new MAC site. This is the shortest of the 5 hiking/bicycling trails and it is interconnected to the Gold Loop Trail, the Red Loop Trail and the Green Loop Trail, all of which add up to over 8 miles of hilly hiking or bicycling.  This trail starts to the north of the site and is across the street from the Challenge Hill, a 200-step staircase similar in design to the Manitou Springs Incline. Challenge Hill also has the Blue Loop Trail which climbs to the top, in case you need a break from the steps.
The community park site includes a zip-line course and an adventure playground area.  The MAC is a world-class fitness facility with indoor and outdoor lighted synthetic surface fields, activity classes, a pool, classes of workout routines, a golf simulator and a trampoline.

Awesome new trail construction

Trail construction is recent and is done well with water bars and a downhill slanted trail bed for drainage.  Some sections are steep, so you need to watch your step and not slip-slide away.  A couple in front of us slipped into a trail side cactus on the loose gravel, so do be careful.

Mostly scrub cover, there is a little shade along the north side near the top of the ridge

The weather "is what it is" this week with the temperatures in the lower 60's for our hike.  The sky is perfectly clear and from one vantage point, we could clearly see a sliver of mountains over 70 miles away.  Usually December is colder here, but we will take the clear, warm weather.  Our sea-level lungs are still adapting to the altitude, and we stopped to catch our breath a couple times.

The trail markers are colored per trail, this one showing the Purple Trail loop junction

The trail is shared with mountain bikers, and it has that straight-up/straight-down feeling of most off-road bicycle trails in Colorado.  Other than seeing that other couple, we had the trail and the views to ourselves for our peaceful walk.
Future plans call for connecting these trails to the Ridgeline Open Space and the Stuart Trail network to the west.

View of the ball fields (to the right of the first photo) and the towers for the upcoming zip lines

These trails are located at the new Phillip Miller Recreation center (or MAC for Miller Activity Complex) at 1375 West Plum Creek Parkway.  Parking and hiking are free.  You can access the center off Interstate 25 at Plum Creek Parkway.  Go uphill (west) and the MAC is that massive field house on the left.

Trail Head shows you the way back to the MAC.  I love these signs!

How I Started

As a child, bicycling was freedom.  It was also how I went fishing and camping.  In college, my used, rusted, bondo-colored, tensile steel Raleigh 10-speed was transportation to town and the country, but mostly it sat unused, a car being the better option with friends.  I was living in Chattanooga, TN in 1981 when I saw a story on TV about "mountain biking" as a new sport being created in the Bay Area of Marin County in California .  What intrigued me most was bicycling on a hiking trail, away from traffic and cars.

An online photo of the Schwinn Catalog, the Sierra is on the right.

I purchased a new, relatively inexpensive 10-speed from Sears, and quickly learned how to stop with my feet on the ground on long downhill runs; the steel rims wouldn't stop the bike when they were wet.  After a few close encounters with the car-kind, I sold the Sears bike and paid a whole lot more money for a mostly chrome molly Schwinn Sierra mountain bicycle, the only mountain bike sold in the area at that time.  I also purchased a bicycle helmet and a Velcro-mounted water bottle.  My first few rides on gravel back roads were liberating!   The professionally assembled bicycle had the smoothest rolling bearings of all the bikes I had owned (to then) and rode so well, I was captivated to find new places to ride.
My first hiking trail bike ride was to pedal along the base of Lookout Mountain on a gravel road through the forest, and pickup the hiking trail to the summit at Sunset Rock.  The almost vertical mountain hiking trail proved difficult, but where I couldn't ride, I pushed or carried the bike.  After the final vertical scramble up to the top of Sunset Rock, I finished my water bottle, enjoyed the view and considered how I was going home, down the main paved highways or via the hiking trail.  I chose the hiking trail and hung on for dear life, bouncing from rock to tree, basically in one long fall downhill on the steep trail, and was only partly upright at any time.  Shouting "sorry" to scared hikers who scrambled out of the way at the last second as I blew past them going way too fast, I somehow careened my way back to the gravel road and a much more reasonably slower pedaling passage back to my car.  I was stoked!  And primed!   The Chickamauga Battlefield became my main riding area after that, just down Missionary Ridge by car.  I could enjoy a 4 hour bike ride 3-4 days weekly and still make it to work on time (I worked second shift then) and that was my life until moving to Florida in the mid 1980's.

A Centurion Pro Tour 15 like mine, loaded for touring.  

Once in the Sunshine State my bicycling mileage increased by commuting to work and by riding longer weekend routes.  I purchased a lugged, Centurion Pro Tour 15 touring bicycle and a used Cannondale mountain bike, riding both as much as possible.  The Pro Tour quickly became my favorite bicycle and even though it was worn out when I sold it, I now wish I had kept it.  With my friend Bill, I made two bicycle tours of north Georgia's mountains; with my future wife a very memorable overnight tour to Lake Kissimmee State park where we listened to a raccoon eat our breakfast one night while the food bag was tied to a tree; and a few overnight camping trips with friends in the Ocala National Forest.  Many rides were all-day long, with several centuries ridden around the state.  I bicycled two back to back, ten thousand mile years and carried my children on local rides in bicycle baby safety seats.  We day hiked then also, mostly in the Smokey Mountains and since we lived close to Wekiva Springs State Park at the time, we hiked and bicycled there on the trails extensively.  Life was good.

A Cannondale Mountain Bike, and a gift for my wife.

In the early 1990's I moved to Colorado for a new job and continued bicycling to work when I could.  The winter weather and cold temperatures were rough to ride in, but with investments in the right clothing I could ride without freezing about half of the year.  I don't know how many times I called home for help picking me up.  However, riding in the mountains and foothills was awesome!  I grew to prefer road bicycling there, the mountain bike trails being only all up or all down, and very tough!  I had a custom road bicycle frame built by a friend and rode it until recently.  Ride the Rockies in 2001 was my premier bicycle ride in Colorado with the best support, the best route, the best of everything in one package.  It was also the best I had ever ridden and I was in the best health of my life (so far).  A couple years later, life changed and I was again living in Florida.

Along the Ride the Rockies 2001 Route.

Fast forward a few years and my bicycling here has mostly been on the local multi-use/bicycling trails, the traffic being very difficult to ride with here.  Once you get way out of town the roads seem better with fewer drivers.
My goal is to get back to riding a touring bike again.  I like the upright position, the ability to ride most anywhere, and to carry panniers for overnight camping trips on occasion.  It will fit well with my current riding style, biking locally on the bicycle trails with an occasional overnight road trip in the Ocala National Forest.

A Specialized Rockhopper Comp, like mine.

In the meantime, I'm riding my fourth mountain bike now, a 2002 Specialized Rockhopper Comp and I still get a rush when riding off road.  I can't believe it is 11 years old now.  I am pleased with how mountain bikes have changed with the times since my first Schwinn, and recently witnessed one of the new, 3-inch super-wide fat-tire models being ridden locally at Wekiva Springs.  We'll have to see how things go for my future bicycle tastes as I plan on bicycling more with my wife, while balancing backpacking, hiking, kayaking and family in the future.