Hiking Lory State Park

I’ve hiked most of the parks in the metro area, so I figured I could best take advantage of another beautiful sunny day by driving up to Ft. Collins and hitting the park, which sits on the west side of Horsetooth Reservoir, for a few miles. And while it’s safe to say that this isn’t my favorite of Colorado State Parks, I definitely enjoyed my time there and will make it a point to head back in the warmer months.

I hiked a good 5.5 miles in the afternoon on some easy and moderate trails. Due to the time off from hiking over the last few months I knew there was no way I would be able to handle a difficult trail. Heck, my lungs were already burning on the moderate ones, sitting just slightly over 6,000 feet in elevation. That’s not much of a difference from Denver, the Mile High City, mind you where I live.

Yeah, I definitely have my work cut out for me come spring.

Despite a lot of ice and mud I quite enjoyed the trails and the great views they offer of the reservoir, the city and on past to the Eastern Plains of Colorado. It didn’t hurt that it was a beautifully sunny day, one of many in the state, that allowed me to see for miles. I also quite enjoyed having the trail pretty much to myself. I’m sure it’s more crowded in the warmer months, particularly on weekends, but I only saw one other person the whole time I was hiking, and that was as I was leaving too.

The winds whipped up and the packed snow that I hiked on made the temperatures a bit cooler than I had anticipated. But, after living in Colorado for nearly 10 years I’ve come to understand these things and go prepared for such occasions. This definitely helped me enjoy my time in a lovely Colorado park that I honestly hadn’t heard of until I randomly picked it just a few hours before heading out the door.