Boulder's Chautauqua Park:
Scenic hiking trails, picnic grounds, and outdoor recreation just in time for spring
Lauren Wojtko, Staff Reporter
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While Boulder's Chautauqua Park is still home to its 1850s apple orchard, today the park is also a hot spot for hikers and other outdoor recreationalists. In the late 1800s, the area was bought by Texan schoolteachers, who transformed the open space and preserved it for outdoor recreation. With 132 miles of hiking trails and hundreds of different trailheads to choose from, Chautauqua Park is a hiker's heaven.
Although the park is open year-round, hiking season kicks off with the start of spring. Chautauqua receives a large range of visitors, from people out for a short walk on one of the loops, to people tackling strenuous all-day hikes.
Chautauqua Park is centered around the Flatirons, which are part of Colorado's larger Fountain Formation. The scenery from the trail includes these towering rock formations in addition to grasslands, forests, plants, and wildlife. It also houses and protects many endangered species of plants and animals.
Anyone can hike at Chautauqua, and it is always free. In addition, anyone can be part of a free guided hike. Visitors can join a scheduled hike, or a group can call and set up a free guided hike of their own.
Two of the most popular hikes seem to be Gregory Canyon and Royal Arch. Gregory Canyon is well-shaded by trees and good for hot summer days. Royal Arch is about four miles round trip and takes nearly two hours.
The different trails and loops are labeled in difficulty by ratings of easy, moderate, hard, or strenuous. By following signs and maps, hikers can choose their trail and level of difficulty.
Each hike has something different to offer. The Green Mountain Summit is home to many butterflies and ladybugs, while Gregory Canyon offers hikers a view of a flowing creek. Those on the easier Bluebell Baird trail will see flowers, prairie, and views of Boulder and the Flatirons.
The city of Boulder owns 43,000 acres of open space and mountain parks. The hiking trails are broken into three sections: the Flagstaff Mountain Loops, the Green Mountain Loops, and the Chautauqua Loops.
In addition to hiking, Chautauqua Park hosts a number of different events and activities. Perhaps most notorious is the summer concert series in its Sunrise Amphitheater. In the last couple of years, Chautauqua has attracted performers like Marc Cohn, Robert Earl Keen, and Shawn Colvin. There is also an expansive grassy area where people can play frisbee, picnic, or take on challenging mountain biking or rock climbing routes.
Chautauqua is one of the three remaining areas that were established during the historic Chautauqua Movement, which created a multitude of places across the United States for people to have educational and cultural programs. Programs are still held today in structures that were built from 1898 to 1918.
The hiking, concerts, picnic areas, and recreation at Chautauqua Park are about a 30 minute drive from Regis. The park can be easily accessed by heading West on 36 to Baseline Road. For more information about Chautauqua Park or to find and schedule guided hikes, visit www.osmp.org.