Round trip distance: 4.7 miles
Hiking time: 3 hours
High point: 7,400 feet
Elevation gain: 1,000 feet
Best hiking time: June and early July and early fall
Maps: USGS 7.5 minute series Evergreen
Trails Illustrated #100 Boulder, Golden
Elevation profile
For more information: Denver Parks & Recreation Department, 201 West Colfax Ave, Dept. 601, Denver, CO 80202. Phone: (720) 913-0739; Mountain Parks Headquarters, (303) 697-4545; http://www.denvergov.org/Mountain_Parks/88aboutus.asp
Getting there: Take I-70 west to the Chief Hosa, Exit 253. At the bottom of the ramp turn right and continues as the road turns into Stapleton Drive and curves northwest. Follow Stapleton Drive for 1 mile and bear left at a fork that leads to two parking lots. Park in either lot, although the bottom lot is closer to the trailhead.
The Beaver Brook Trail extends for 8.65 miles through open space owned by City and County of Denver in Genesee Park and on Lookout Mountain. Constructed from 1917-1919 with the help of the Colorado Mountain Club, the trail hugs the south rim of Clear Creek Canyon.
Since the area has been protected from development for almost 100 years, Beaver Brook Trail offers a unique primitive backcountry hiking experience in the metropolitan area.
An added feature of the trail is a short Braille Nature Trail, which would be an interesting hiking experience for a non-sighted person with a seeing-eye dog.
This hike is long and strenuous if you do the entire 8.65 miles and would require a shuttle. Also the east end of the trail above Golden has an exposed talus field that can be hard to negotiate unless you and your pet are used to rocky climbs. Thus, this hike focuses on the west end of the trail. All the elevation gain is on the return.
After parking your car, go to the clearly marked trailhead for the Braille Nature Trail. The next 0.3 mile is a gradual descent along a trail that has a sturdy vinyl coated cable strung from waist-high posts. At regularly spaced intervals, tablets written in Braille explain the surrounding ecosystem. There are also several large boards with illustrations and explanatory legends for sighted hikers and how they can duplicate the sensory experiences on which non-sighted hikers depend.
The Braille Nature Trail turns left and reverses its climb back to the trailhead near a flat small meadow where there are picnic tables and toilet facilities.
Pick up the Beaver Brook Trail where the Braille Nature Trail turns. Go down a series of uneven slab rock steps and cross a footbridge over a stagnant seasonal creek. The narrow trail takes of from there, descending rapidly into Bear Gulch. The bottom of the gulch is down the drop-off to your right. Occasional tree-mounted trail makers with BB on them lead you down farther into the gulch. When the grade becomes steeper, additional, stone steps again take you downward. Your destination is a grassy pleasant place where the trail reaches Beaver Brook. This picturesque terminus is delightful in spring and early summer when it is abloom with wildflowers. This small creek flows north for less than 0.25 mile to empty into the large Clear Creek. Have lunch at Beaver Brook while your pet enjoys the water.
Return the way you came. Once you reach the Braille Nature Trail again, take the right-hand loop segment to the trailhead.
For those who wish to explore more of the Beaver Brook Trail as time and stamina permits here is a brief description of the rest of the trail. Once the trail leaves Beaver Brook it ascends to traverse the south rim of Clear Creek Canyon. Here the going is precipitous as you look far down into Clear Creek Canyon, Clear Creek and U.S. 6. This part of the trail is for the agile, sure-footed hiker. The trail then continues east around Lookout Mountain where handhold scrambles over outcrops are necessary.
The east end trailhead is at Windy Saddle that can be reached from Lookout Mountain Road. If you decide to hike the entire length of the Beaver Brook Trail do so as a shuttle. Also, start at the Braille Nature Trail trailhead to make the steep and exposed segment near Windy Saddle a somewhat easier downhill.