Hiking Trails in Colorado | South Rim and Willow Creek Loop Trail

Trail Information

Trail Name: South Rim and Willow Creek Loop Trail

Location: West of Sedalia, Colorado

Date: January 11, 2020

Time at the Trail Head: 8:00 am

Trail Length: 2.7 miles

Elevation Gain: 465 feet

Elev. at Trail Head: 6,190 feet

# of Hikers Passed: 7

# of Mnt. Bikers Passed: 0

# of Horses Passed: 0

Mosquitoes: 0

Trail Research

I was looking for a trail close to Denver that was in an area I hadn’t been in before and I came across the Roxborough State Park, southwest of Denver. I had heard several other people talking about how beautiful it was there so I decided to take a look for myself.

I found a trail that was short enough to get me back to my family by 11 am but one that would take me through some pretty scenery in the park. I finally decided to take the South Rim and Willow Creek Loop Trail.

Drive to the Trail

My drive was beautiful on my drive from Castle Rock to the State Park as the sun was just coming up and there was a full moon above the Rocky Mountains.

It’s nice because you get to see the incredible Rocky Mountains along the entire drive as you approach Roxborough.

Oh, and the park was closed when I arrived so I was able to get a 10-minute nap in before I began the hike.

My Day on the Trail

I was the first one in the park on this chilly Saturday morning. The temperature was 20 degrees F but the skies were clear and it looked to be a promising day.

There are bathroom facilities at one of the parking lots and a visitor center at the other one but I am not sure of the visitor center hours or if it is open all year.

There is not a lot of elevation difference on the trail but taking the trail clockwise, gets you moving up the South Rim pretty quick, which is fine because this is where the best vantage points are on the trail, especially as the sun is rising.

There are some pretty open meadows along the hike and I found 4 or 5 deer grazing as the sun was rising.

It didn’t take long for me to reach the high point on the south rim. I was able to see towards Denver, to the northeast, Castle Sedalia to the southeast, and along the Rocky Mountains to the southwest to the northwest.

The park is especially pretty from this vantage point. There are incredible red rock formations that seem to be jetting out from the ground

I also noticed that there are several trails that lead higher up into the Rocky Mountains, that I would like to come back and hike in the near future.

The trail starts to head down after reaching the highest point on the south rim and this is where the trail became more dangerous for slips and falls. I would guess that 80% or more of the trail was iced over as it is in the shadow of the mountains in this area.

I thought I could tackle the trail here without pulling on my ICETrekkers, but I finally gave in and put them on. Hiking is much more safe and enjoyable when you can step with confidence.

There are just as much incredible scenery on the way down the west side of the trail as there was from the rim. Some of the rock formations have different colors and then you’ll see some formations standing alone that are asking for you to take a closer look.

I took a little time to compare my SPOT X to my SPOT Gen 3 Satellite Messengers on another website of mine. These satellite messengers are important to keep your friends and family aware of your condition on the trail and to be able to call for a search and rescue team in a life-threatening situation.

You can find more information about them HERE.

It looks like they discourage rock climbing in the park and I’m sure there are many people that would love to explore on these beautiful red rocks.

 

 

 

 

There are row after row of these rock formations and then some of them look to stand alone from the crowd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is another lone rock formation and if I were a little younger, or a lot younger, I would take my chances and climb some of them. That’s probably not the best idea though.

Here is one of the last rock formations I passed as I reached the trailhead.

 

 

If you ever get a chance to visit the Roxborough State Park I would highly recommend it but try out some of the trails that head farther up into the mountains, and one last word of advice.

Make sure you get to the trail early as people in Colorado like to hike, even in the winter.

Trail Recommendations

The Roxborough State Park is a great place to hike close to Denver, any time of the year. There are trails here for any beginner or more experienced hikers who want to head up higher into the Rocky Mountains. This is a great place to bring people who aren’t use to hiking at altitude.

Check out this short video of the South Rim and Willow Creek Loop trail on YouTube.

I would love to know if you have had any experience on this trail or have other trails you love to hike. Leave a Comment Below or send me an Email.

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