and lightning his anger. For you, they herald danger. If a storm approaches, get off the rock immediately.
If you are not knackered as you return to the trailhead, you can take a nice 2.4-mile round-trip on Horsetooth Falls Trail. The trail leads down then up to the place where a stream spills through rocks into a picturesque pool. Depending on the season and weather conditions, it can be a trickle or a torrent, but it’s a nice hike either way.
Approach to Horsetooth Rock summit
From Denver. Take I-25 north to Exit 257, then turn left onto US 34 west (Eisenhower Boulevard). Drive 10.5 miles, turn right onto North CR 27 (Buckhorn Road), then proceed 5.2 miles to Masonville. Turn right onto West CR 38E and continue 3.4 miles. The entrance to Horsetooth Mountain Open Space and its large parking lot are on the left. 1 hour, 20 mins.
5 Arthur’s Rock & Westridge
A brisk climb gains a rocky prize, and a stroll in wooded hills brings high mountain views on this delightful all-season hike outside Fort Collins.
At a Glance
| Difficulty | Distance/Time | 7 miles/3 hours | |
| Trail Conditions | Trailhead ElevationTotal Hiking Gain | 5,600 feet1,300 feet | |
| Children | Features | Rock summit, woods, plains, mountain views | |
| Scenery | Best Season | All year | |
| Photo | Other Users | Bikes and horses on portion; dogs on leash | |
| Solitude | Notes | Entrance fee, toilets at trailhead | |
| Property | Lory State Park | Jurisdiction | Colorado Parks & Wildlife |
The trail to Arthur’s Rock begins in a stony gulch amid brambles, your destination visible above. It is named not for Arthur the King, who pulled a sword from a rock, but rather Arthur Howard, son of one of the early settlers in the area. Most of the Howards’ land is now this state park, which is named not Howard Park but Lory Park, in honor of an early president of Colorado Agricultural College (now CSU).
Ascend the left side of the gulch, keeping left at a fork to stay on Arthur’s Rock Trail. From here the trail slants gently through a meadow toward the rock. Some say this hunk of pegmatite resembles a person’s silhouette. If so, the person has a very large chin and is gazing upward.
As you enter a shady grove, the trail becomes very quiet. Cross a gully and the vegetation shifts from dense stands of fir to more solitary ponderosa pines, then shifts again to grassland as the trail climbs toward Arthur’s lower crags. A bouldering trail branches left; keep right and continue the traverse toward the cliffs. A spur at one of the switchbacks leads to a scenic overlook but offers nothing you won’t see from the top. Soon the main trail traverses directly below the rock face. You can feel its power and overhanging gravity.
More switchbacks bring a junction with a branch trail to the summit, which is just a short distance up a steep gully. Poised on the summit ridge are some large boulders that look ripe for trundling—by a giant with a crowbar, that is. Walk between them to gain the tip-top, at 1.8 miles.
Below stretches Horsetooth Reservoir, the city of Fort Collins, and its northwest suburbs Bellvue and Laporte. If some of these names sound French, that’s because they are. Trappers, many of French descent, began frequenting this area in the early 1800s. They gave the main river its modern name: Cache la Poudre; that’s the river you crossed on the way in. After the gold rush hit in 1858, some French-Canadian families settled Colona, now Laporte, with the idea of creating a “port” on a stagecoach route connecting the Oregon Trail to Denver and the goldfields. A few years later the U.S. Army built a military post called Camp Collins nearby to protect the stage route from Indian attack. The camp got washed out in a flood, and its 1864 replacement was called Fort Collins—although no real fort was ever built there.
Arthur’s Rock
The views have everything you could ask for except high snowy peaks. They’re here but hidden by the terrain. To see them, take an easy 3-mile walk into the rolling hills behind the Rock. Continue a short distance on the main trail, then branch right onto Timber Trail. After 0.8 miles through pleasant woods, turn left on Westridge Trail. Follow this old jeep road as it winds the wooded ridge that concealed the splendid peaks. As the trail tops out, near 7,000 feet, you’ll get sustained views of Meeker and Longs to the southwest.
Gully to summit of Arthur’s Rock
After a lovely half mile on the ridgetop, the trail drops to join Howard Trail, which rejoins Arthur’s Rock Trail in the gulch. Or you can branch right and get to your vehicle via the Mill Creek Link, where you’ll be treated to views of red hogbacks and rolling grassland. In the field at the bottom is what looks like an assembly of hobbits’ cabins. What is it really? A horse jumping course!
Summit boulders, Arthur’s Rock
From Denver. Take I-25 north to Exit 269B, then CO 14 west to Fort Collins. Turn right onto Riverside Avenue, which becomes Jefferson Street, and right again onto North College Avenue (US 287). Continue straight on US 287B when US 287 veers north. Pass through Laporte, veer left on Rist Canyon Road, cross the river, then turn left on North CR 23. Proceed 1.4 miles, turn right on Lodgepole Drive (North CR 25G), and continue to the Lory State Park entrance. The trailhead and parking area are 2 miles down the park road. 1 hour, 40 mins.
6 Greyrock Mountain
This peak looks like a big ice cream sundae, but you’ll have to work to earn the treat. A favored hiking destination for more than a hundred years, it is a popular backcountry challenge with some bouldering near the top.
At a Glance
| Difficulty | Distance/Time | 8 miles/3.5 hours | |
| Trail Conditions | Trailhead ElevationTotal Hiking Gain | 5,600 feet2,000 feet | |
| Children | Features | Mountain ascent, views, meadow | |
| Scenery | Best Season | Fall, winter, spring | |
| Photo | Other Users | Dogs on leash | |
| Solitude | Notes | Toilets at trailhead | |
| Property | Roosevelt National Forest | Jurisdiction | U.S.
|
