Another great hike. The
Golden Gate Canyon State Park is located about 15 miles west of Golden. The road is a bit windy from Golden so it took us an hour to get from our house to the trail head.
We hiked the Mountain Lion Trail and then went up Windy Peak. In total, we hiked 7.7 miles and over 1200 feet in elevation gain. It took us 3 hours and 45 minutes which included about 10 minutes of resting at the top. We hiked it counterclockwise which we think is better as this way you are doing most of the uphill in the shade. The first part of the hike is mostly uphill and follows a stream. You are in the trees so no much views but great shade. At the top of Windy Peak, we had great views of the mountains to the west. The second half of the hike also had great views of the hills and valley, passing an old home that was built and owned by Swedish farmers who lived in the area. We ran into a few hikers but it was not nearly as busy as the other hikes we have done and best of all, no bikers!
There is another long hike in the park that we want to go back and try.
