Front Range Rides: Greenland Trail, Larkspur, CO

I first encountered the Greenland Open Space via the Greenland Trail Run Series held every May, they offer various distances from 8 mile up through 50K with some farily speedy folks. Since then I've found it to be a good training area for trail runs, and while I haven't ridden out there, you could get away with a hardtail to put in a few loops.

The convenience of the parking lot and the length of the main loop (8 miles) makes this a good training area, I've put in as many as three loops out here at any given time, using the parking lot as a good place to refill and refuel.

Getting There:

Greenland Open Space is about 40 miles south of metro Denver, so not an all day haul, but you should make some time. Once you get out of town you'll likely not hit any traffic getting around. There aren't any real facilities within about 10 miles of the trailhead, so plan any bowel issues accordingly.

The trailhead can be found here: 39.18093, -104.85356

There is a ton of parking and I've never seen it crowded. If you haven't changed ahead of time there's a full sized porta potty, but that's about it for facilities. There's some building facades, but they probably won't offer much cover.

The Run:

Hopefully your luck will be better than mine, battling fierce 30mph headwinds for the first three miles on a counter-clockwise loop.

0 Miles From the parking lot head between the porta potty and the fake buildings and make a hard right (West) followed by a hard left at the "T" in the trail (less than 0.1 miles into the run) to end up parallel to the railroad tracks.

The trail is fairly obvious with no changes in direction for the first 3.4 miles. You'll be on a gradual uphill, but nothing very noticeable.

3.4 miles. When you see the sign (picture below) make a hard left to begin up a winding series of long switchbacks and some steeper climbing (and a few downhills to let your legs loose a bit). There are a couple of branches off the trail, but sticking to the main trail is obvious.

5.1 miles. You'll finally be at the peak of climbing having ascended about 450 feet over the first 5 miles. You'll go down the same amount over the next three, so hang on for a fast finish... just don't kick too soon.

7.1 miles. It should be pretty clear which way you need to go to get back to the car at this "T", but hang a right in case you're too out of it to think straight.

8.0 miles. Depending on your watch, you'll wrap up at almost exactly 8 miles.

The Trail:

Hitting this in mid-February about 5 days after a light snow was no problem. There was mud here and there (easily avoidable), and at the high/shady points of the run there were some snow patches. The way out is mostly exposed to wind and sun, while the middle few miles offer some respite from both. As a mountain bike ride the only issues would have been in the snowy areas, but they're so few and far between it would have been a non issue.

Stats:

I blame the wind (and early season) for a slow day. 8 miles in 1:17 for a pace of about 9:45. Weather apps showed about 30mph winds on the way out, and a few stops for some pictures. Fastest mile was downhill with the wind at my back at 6:46.

Welcome to Greenland. For all your hardware needs don't come here (fake building)

Pike's Peak in the distance (one of CO many 14ers). The Peak overlooks you for a large portion of your run.

Plenty of parking to be had for cars, trailers, etc. There's also a gated dog park for your furry friends.

This is the extent of the local plumbing. Bring your own water.

Looking south (on the way out). A beautiful day and the trail was clear.

The turn at 3.4 miles out. Don't miss it, who knows where you'll end up.

Keep an eye out for passing coal trains. There's a siding here so it's likely you'll see two. I could have sworn I saw some caves in the hills in the distance as well - keep an eye out.