Golden Gate Canyon State Park

Twelve Thousand Acres Of Montane Forest And Meadow Between Golden And Black Hawk, With Panorama Point Looking Out Over A Hundred Miles Of The Continental Divide. The Nearest Genuine Mountain Park To Denver, And One Of The Best Aspen Displays On The Front Range. · Golden, Colorado

Golden Gate Canyon is the closest thing to real mountains that Denver can reach in under an hour, and it is a great deal quieter than that proximity suggests. Twelve thousand acres climb from about seven and a half thousand feet to over ten thousand, through ponderosa and lodgepole into aspen and open meadow, with more than thirty-five miles of trail through it. The set piece is Panorama Point, a viewing deck on the park's northern edge with a hundred miles of the Continental Divide laid out in front of it - a view most visitors to Colorado never get without a long drive. In late September the aspen stands turn and the park holds its Show of Colors. There are campgrounds, cabins and yurts, trout ponds, and elk and black bear through the drainages. Dogs are allowed on the trails here, which is worth knowing if you have just discovered that Roxborough, the other big park near Denver, bans them outright - and it is a good deal quieter than the open space on the city edge.

92 Crawford Gulch Road, Golden, Colorado, 80403, United States

Open daily year-round during daylight hours, with the visitor centre keeping its own hours and the campgrounds largely seasonal. A Colorado state parks pass or daily vehicle pass is required. AUTUMN WEEKENDS ARE THE BUSIEST TIME BY A LONG WAY - the aspen draw fills car parks and Panorama Point, and arriving late on a late-September Saturday means parking a long way off. Snow closes some higher roads and trails in winter, when the park becomes a snowshoe and cross-country destination.

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