Bluffs Regional Park: Beauty in our backyard
Article and photos by Liz Jurkowski
Like many, I had seen the sign many times on my way home from Target in Lone Tree, or as I passed Cabela’s on RidgeGate Parkway. The nondescript brown sign reads “Bluffs Regional Park” and has an arrow on it pointing down a street next to a new residential neighborhood. Every time I passed the sign, I always thought that one day I would actually turn and see what kind of a park the Bluffs really is. I finally did, and I have now found my new favorite local hiking trail.
Bluffs Regional Park is 253 acres of beauty right here in our own backyard. Open from sunrise to sunset, it features a 2.7 mile loop trail through rolling hills. With wonderful views of Denver, the Front Range, and the sprawling prairie, it is a fabulous place for an afternoon walk, a family hike, or a challenging run. There is about a 200-foot elevation gain throughout the loop, with some hill grades reaching as high as eight percent. The soft surface trail is open to pedestrians, bicyclists, dogs on a leash, and horses.
There are two viewpoint trails within the loop. If you add those to your workout, the full trip is 3.5 miles. The trail is accessible through many neighborhoods in Lone Tree, but the parking lot at the end of Crooked Stick Trail is where the loop begins and ends.
For the adventurous, the trail at Bluffs Regional Park also connects to the East West Trail and some of the hiking trails of the South Suburban Recreation District.
To learn more, visit http://www.douglas.co.us/dcoutdoors/parks/regional-parks/bluffs-regional-park/.
The winding loop trail at Bluffs Regional Park provides beautiful vistas of Denver and the Front Range.
Less than a five minute drive from Castle Pines, the park is located at 10099 Crooked Stick Trail, in Lone Tree.
