Sometimes it still blows my mind that living downtown, I’m able to hop in my car & be hiking within about 20 minutes. Green Mountain might be one of the closest options to downtown Denver & it offers some pretty stellar views, too!
A couple of things about this park: lots of mountain bikers! Officially for trail etiquette they’re supposed to stop for hikers, but be prepared to hop out of their way. There is next to no shade so bring a hat & plenty of sunscreen. There are also a lot of options to take different routes, so have your AllTrails map ready (we had to check several times to figure out where to go next.) There are also quite a few trailheads, so these are directions from the one off of Alameda, near Florida street.
This is a beautiful and relatively easy 6-mile loop with views of the foothills & Red Rocks to downtown Denver as well!
We went left from the trailhead to do the Green Mountain trail first, so back toward the foothills. It’s about four miles of up and slightly down before you make it to the top – when I do this again I’m going to go right first. It’s steeper going up, but it’s for less than two miles and then you get the meandering trail to bring you back home.
There is some highway noise, but I’d consider this more of a city hike so that’s not unexpected. Lots of wildflowers and even some wildlife – We saw a snake & a deer! It’s a great option for when you don’t have a lot of time to travel & still want to get a good workout with a view!
