Explore Lyons: five places in walking order

Lyons sits at the mouth of the St. Vrain canyons, about twenty minutes from Boulder on US 36 and fifteen from Longmont on Colorado 66. Main Street is the highway for six blocks, and the parks hang off it along the river. Leave the car in the Town lot at 4th Avenue and Broadway, beside Sandstone Park; the Town’s parking page lists fees at four other lots, and that one is not among them. Everything below except the last stop is on foot from there.

01 · Sandstone Park and the Depot

The green in the middle of town, beside the Town lot. The visitor center at Sandstone Park, run with the Chamber, has town maps, Rocky Mountain National Park maps and the walking-tour leaflet for Main Street. The stage hosts the free Sandstone Summer Concert Series, and the red sandstone Depot of 1885 stands next door. The Town’s parks are open dawn to dusk.

Getting there: the Town lot at 4th and Broadway. Best for: the leaflet, a bench, and the start and end of the loop.

02 · Main Street and High Street

Main Street is US 36 for six blocks, with the hogback closing the view at the west end. Fifteen buildings of locally quarried Lyons sandstone, put up between the 1870s and 1917, are listed together on the National Register of Historic Places, and most are still shops, kitchens and offices. End to end takes about twenty minutes. High Street, a block north, has Moxie Mercantile for coffee and bread (daily 7 am–4 pm), the Lyons Locale wine bar (Thursday to Sunday) and the Lyons Redstone Museum in the 1881 schoolhouse, which is free and opens for the summer season only; in 2026 it closed at the end of September.

This is where the meal goes. St. Vrain Market at the west end has a deli counter for sandwiches (closed Monday; Tuesday from 11 am). Smokin Dave’s mid-block is open daily 11 am–8 pm. Mojo Taqueria is closed Monday and serves dinner only from Tuesday to Thursday, with lunch at weekends. MainStage Brewing opens at 11 am every day with pizza and a stage. Oskar Blues Grill & Brew has been on the street since 1997, a Cajun-leaning kitchen with live music most weeks; its hours are being checked, so confirm them before counting on it for dinner.

Getting there: on foot from Sandstone Park. Best for: the building fronts, the meal, and High Street on the way back. Who is on the street.

03 · The river path to LaVern M. Johnson Park

The river path joins Sandstone Park, the Depot and LaVern M. Johnson Park without crossing the highway; it is flat, short and takes leashed dogs. LaVern M. Johnson Park is the Town’s riverside park at the west edge of town, rebuilt after the 2013 flood, under the cliffs. The quarter-mile whitewater park has eight features, with kayaks in June and tubes in July and August; there are playgrounds, three shelters, the Town campground and, when a cold snap holds, an ice rink. The Town’s page says the splash pad is closed for the season and reopens in late spring 2027. The park has a capacity limit, and its gates close when it is reached, often by noon at weekends.

Getting there: on foot by the river path; by car, the paid lot ($2 an hour on weekdays and winter weekends, $3 an hour on weekends from May to September). Best for: the walk itself and a picnic on the sandstone bank; the whitewater from June to August.

04 · Bohn Park, across the river

Bohn Park at 199 2nd Avenue is the big park on the south bank: ball fields, the fenced off-leash dog park at its south end, an accessible fishing platform on the St. Vrain and the trailhead for the dirt-jump bike park. The Town’s page lists a pedestrian bridge to 4th Avenue, a restroom building, a skate park and a sport court that is free to reserve. Camping is not permitted here.

Getting there: on foot over the pedestrian bridge from 4th Avenue; by car, the paid lot at 199 2nd Avenue. Best for: the dog off its leash, the fishing platform, the bike park.

05 · Hall Ranch, on a longer day

Hall Ranch is Boulder County open space a mile west of Main Street on Colorado 7, with thirteen and a half miles of trail. Bitterbrush (3.7 miles, difficult) climbs the rocky front to the Nelson Loop (2.2 miles) through ponderosa meadows; Nighthawk (4.7 miles, hikers and horses) is the quieter way up; Antelope is the short one. Hall Ranch is open from sunrise to sunset, with 64 parking spaces across two lots at the main trailhead. Check the county’s current trail notices before visiting, including prescribed-burn closures between mid-January and mid-April. Dogs are not allowed: where they are is its own page, and Trails and the river covers the other four areas.

Getting there: by car, a mile west on Colorado 7; two lots. Best for: a half-day hike or the mountain-bike climb, without the dog.

A simple first visit

1. Park in the Town lot at 4th and Broadway and collect the walking-tour leaflet at the visitor center.
2. Walk Main Street west to the hogback and come back by High Street.
3. Eat on Main.
4. Follow the river path to LaVern M. Johnson Park, or cross to Bohn Park.
5. With a longer day, drive the mile to Hall Ranch.

Getting here

Drive times are estimates for normal conditions and vary with traffic, weather and construction; check a live routing service before you set out. From Boulder it is about twenty minutes on US 36, from Longmont about fifteen on Colorado 66, and from Denver about an hour.

The Town charges for parking at LaVern M. Johnson Park, Bohn Park, Black Bear Hole and the 2nd Avenue lot every day of the year; non-residents can buy a season pass for $80 a vehicle at Town Hall. Posted signs override anything written here.

Accessibility: what we can confirm

The Town’s pages say Bohn Park has an accessible fishing platform, a restroom building and a pedestrian bridge to 4th Avenue. They do not state whether the river path is paved, whether Sandstone Park or LaVern M. Johnson Park has designated accessible parking, or whether the Main Street buildings have step-free entrances, so none of that has been confirmed and none of it is claimed here. Contact a business directly before relying on it. Corrections and additions to this section are welcome and published with their date.