Hiking Mueller State Park

Mueller State Park, just south of Divide, Colorado, is my new favorite spot in Colorado. For a very long time that spot was held by Rocky Mountain National Park, but in my visit yesterdaythe beauty of Mueller trumped it.

My only disappointment is that we only had a limited period of time to visit the dozens of interconnecting trails in the park. I really wish my friend and I had more time to see more of the park. But, in order to do that properly, I think it would’ve required a long weekend’s worth of camping.

Our visit consisted of a hike along the Outlook Ridge Trail to the Raven Ridge and Red Tail Ridge Overlooks. Both of these spots really offered great 360 views of the mountains, and of a valley below, that are second to none. It was truly spectacular and well worth a relaxing moment of Zen, below.

I particularly enjoyed the lack of fellow hikers along what is considered one of the more popular trails in the park. The trailhead is accessible from a parking lot just past the visitor’s center on the left, or west, side of the road.

Now, granted, the lack of hikers was largely due to our trip being on a Thursday instead of a weekend day, but I think the key to the park, as it is with so many things in life, was location, location, location. It is really only a short drive from Colorado Springs, but with so much to do there it isn’t always easy to justify a drive up to the mountains, especially as gas prices continue to rise once again.

And with all to do in and around Denver, it’s difficult to make the 90 minute ride to Divide for a weekend of camping and hiking. There’s already so much of that available in and around the metro area.

But really, it’s totally worth it…just don’t tell anyone else. The less crowded it is, the better in my opinion. And that’s largely because it increases the chances of wildlife sightings.

Unfortunately though, as was the case with the Florissant Fossil Beds hikes earlier in the day, we didn’t see any animals save a handful of birds. I believe though, had we arrived closer to dawn, we would’ve seen some wildlife at both spots with a bit of luck.

The hiking trails, which sit on about 5,000 acres of park land, are very well maintained and easy to walk on. And with nearly 50 miles worth to choose from, it’s both a difficult and fun decision where you can’t really go wrong no matter what you choose from what I saw. It really is all quite beautiful.