City: Boulder, CO

Category: Parks & Recreation

Description: Several fine hikes start in Gregory Canyon at the base of Flagstaff Mountain, where Baseline Road becomes Flagstaff Road. Catch the Flagstaff Mountain Trail (3 miles round-trip, 1,100 feet elevation gain) at the mouth of the dirt road into Gregory Canyon, across from the curving Armstrong Bridge. The trail zigzags back and forth across the paved road to the summit of the mountain. Continue upward, past a fork that leads down to Panorama Point. A small parking lot on the south side of the road from the trail marks a popular bouldering (rock-climbing) area that includes Monkey Wall, Crown Rock, Alamo Rock, Tree Slab, and Pebbles. Though many folks drive up, the hike provides a close-up of rock climbers, wildflowers, native shrubs, and wildlife. Flagstaff Summit Nature Center is open weekends in summer from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Once you reach the top, look for Boy Scout Trail, which leads a short distance west to May’s Point and Artist’s Point with fantastic views of the Continental Divide. Another trail at Flagstaff summit called Rangeview leads down to Realization Point, also with spectacular views of the Divide, North and South Arapaho peaks, Mount Audubon, Mount Meeker, and Longs Peak.