Trail
Hall Ranch
The Front Range’s best-known mountain-bike climb and a fine hike: the Bitterbrush trail gains about 1,500 feet to the Nelson Loop through ponderosa meadows.
Thirteen and a half miles of trail a mile west of Main Street. Bitterbrush (3.7 miles, difficult) climbs the rocky front to the Nelson Loop (2.2 miles) through ponderosa meadows and the Nelson house ruins; Nighthawk (4.7 miles, hikers and horses) is the quieter way up; Antelope is the short one. Elk in winter, wildflowers in June, and 64 parking spaces across two lots at the main trailhead, eight more at the Antelope trailhead. Bikes yes on Bitterbrush, Nelson and Antelope; dogs no, for the wildlife. The county closes the park on ignition days of the Nelson Loop prescribed burn, whose window runs from January 15 to April 15; its page says when.
At a glance mountain biking · hiking · no dogs · views
Checked October 13, 2026 against bouldercounty.gov. Hours and phone numbers change fastest, so the business’s own page is the record. Report a correction · Know something opening or closing? Tell us
In the guides
Read about Hall Ranch
- Explore Lyons: five places in walking order
Park once beside Sandstone Park, walk the six sandstone blocks of Main Street, eat, then follow the river path to LaVern M. Johnson Park. Hall Ranch is the add-on for a longer day, a mile west by car and without the dog.
- Lyons hikes: where dogs are allowed, and where they are not
Rabbit Mountain is the one trail area near Lyons that takes dogs, on a leash; Hall Ranch, Heil Valley Ranch and Button Rock do not. In town, Bohn Park has a ten-acre off-leash area. Each manager's rule, with distances, hours and parking from its own page.
- Trails and the river: five areas inside fifteen minutes
Two creeks, one whitewater park, and five trail areas within fifteen minutes of Main Street. Start with the river gauge: the number decides what kind of day it is.
More in Lyons
Trails
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