On Saturday, March 20 a group of us car pooled from the Monaco and Hampden RTD Park & Ride down I-25 South to the Greenland Exit 167 (just south of Larkspur) to hike Spruce Mountain. Spruce Mountain is a large, tree-covered mesa that is visible from Interstate I-25, Spruce Mountain Road, County Line Road, and Highway 105. It is part of an important wildlife corridor, allowing travel between the Pike National Forest and Greenland Open Space and Greenland Ranch managed by Douglas County.
The five mile loop trail with an elevation gain of 500 feet contains scrub oak, ponderosa pine forest, wet meadows, and rocky cliffs which provide spectacular views of the high plains to the east and snow covered Pikes Peak to the south. Use of layered clothing made the mostly sunny late morning and early afternoon hike extremely comfortable as the sun played it’s occasional game of ‘peek-a-boo’ with accompanying drops and rises in temperature. Sharing the trail with occasional horse back riders and mountain bikers, provided an added dimension of pleasant trail social interaction as well as providing suggestions for future activities.
If you go, you want to make sure and visit the newly opened Mile High Bison Ranch Store which is just across the railroad tracks and adjacent to the access road to the Spruce Mountain Trailhead. Numerous bison products are for sale, including meats and hides. But even more interesting is to speak with Todd Gale, co-owner of the business, and listen to him give a history of the Greenland Ranch and Open Space, while also talking about his full blown commercial bison ranch operation located at that location…
See you next time…. along the trail!
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