Front range trail conditions

[PaliKona]

Thank you!

[PaliKona]

I've done the Fern Canyon trail up Bear Peak - how does Shadow Canyon compare? Steeper or about the same?

[FireOnTheMountain]

shes a grunt. longer and pretty sustained climb. way less traveled than fern. I prefer fern as a descent but the climb is probably the best in boulder in my humble opinion. plus the view at the base overlooking the valley is really awesome, especially since how green it is now!

have fun.

[bigredmachine]

Shadow is great, it's so green, has such great variety and tends to dry out fairly quickly. In my opinion it's probably a little steeper than fern canyon. FWIW my 5 year old daughter knocked it out a few weeks ago and loved it. Yeah I might be bragging a little

[Bouncer]

Ran Green this afternoon, finishing up just before 5pm. The snow on Amphi/Saddle Rock/Greenman has mostly melted, just a few short, inconsequential stretches on the upper 1/3 that will be gone tomorrow. The trail is wet in spots, drying well overall and never muddy. A bit of runoff on lower Amphi, but no problem to splash through, or skip around on the sides. Gregory creek is still flowing high and Gregory Canyon Trail is still closed.

Has the Gregory Canyon Trailhead for green mountain being fixed/reopened after the rain damage from 2013?

[bigredmachine]

Ran Green this afternoon, finishing up just before 5pm. The snow on Amphi/Saddle Rock/Greenman has mostly melted, just a few short, inconsequential stretches on the upper 1/3 that will be gone tomorrow. The trail is wet in spots, drying well overall and never muddy. A bit of runoff on lower Amphi, but no problem to splash through, or skip around on the sides. Gregory creek is still flowing high and Gregory Canyon Trail is still closed.

Has the Gregory Canyon Trailhead for green mountain being fixed/reopened after the rain damage from 2013?

I don't thing the actual trailhead is open again but it's only about 20 minutes from Chataqua so not that big of deal. They have reopened the trail itself since the 2013 flooding, but like Jeff said it is temporarily closed again because of the recent rains.

[Jeff Valliere]

They have been working on the road to the Gregory lot lately, weather permitting, but really seem to not be in a hurry. I am sure there are all sorts of OSMP assessments that need to take place, gradient coefficients to be calculated and figure which type of pavement will least affect the endangered foufy fou fou snail. As of yesterday morning, Gregory Canyon is free of signage/closure tape and the water levels have receded (receded earlier in the week) to normal Spring runoff levels. There are no bridges, but you can skip across easy enough.

[LarryM]

Regarding Fern Canyon vs. Shadow Canyon, Fern is definitely steeper though Shadow is longer.

[Bombay2Boulder]

Went Green up Saddle Rock and descent through Gregory Canyon yesterday, both the trails are all wet mud free. Was a smooth run and back from the summit.
Although the recent expected week long rains will change things.

[sue personett]

The trail up Mt. Herman's east side is wet, muddy and has turned into a stream in a small upper section. Some large trees have also fallen across the trail. Other than that, it's fine.
Namaste
Sue

[PaliKona]

Have not hiked Picture Rock in Heil or Nighthawk in Hall. Which has better views?

[Alpine]

I like both trails but would consider neither of them to be very good for views, if you are thinking views of the surrounding mountains and hills. Picture Rock view is pretty much limited to the valley the trail goes up, and even even if you extend it around to Ponderosa there are only limited views of Longs, etc, and scattered views of the plans below. Nighthawk has better views but again is primarily of the local area, surrounding meadows and forest, etc. There are some views of Longs and Meeker up near the top that are nice.