Finding New Places to Hike

Finding new places to hike can start with a map, of course. I've spent many hours staring at maps and wondering what I would see on the ground when I visited the places there. But the other way is to just get out there and start exploring. This is what me and a friend did recently.

We were driving on a road we had never been on before, looking for a cave that we had rough directions to. We didn't find it, but decided to see where the road went. Soon we were in a large open area full of rolling green hills, nothing like the high desert we had left in Canon City CO (where we live). We passed other dirt roads, never quite sure whether to keep going or try one of those.

Then we came to a small dirt road. It had small markers along one side that forbid driving off the road. They were BLM markers (Bureau of Land Management), so we knew it was public land and we could hike there if we found something interesting. The road ended at a small parking area. There were no other signs indicating the name of the place, whether it was a park, etc.

There was a place to walk through the fence, which twisted this way and that so cows couldn't get through (common out west). We walked across the grass and stared to follow a small stream towards some hills. In ten minutes the terrain had completely changed, the stream was three times as big, and there were waterfalls and large pools deep enough for swimming.

We followed a small trail where we could find it, and otherwise climbed over the boulders and along the water. Soon we were seeing hundreds of trout. Seven or eight at a time would sometimes scatter as we walked close to the calmer spots. An hour downstream we ate our snacks and I tried to catch a fish by hand. They all managed to wiggle free.

This was a place to hike, but we'll be back to swim too. Also, that tripling of the stream size in the first ten minutes happened without any new streams joining it, which means it was being fed from underground. That and the large limestone cliffs have us ready to explore for caves on the next trip here.

How to Find New Places to Hike

We don't always find new places to hike this easily. Later that same day we drove down an old road across public land just to come to a gate to private land. But you don't find them if you don't look.

As mentioned, you can start by getting the maps out. Look for places to drive where the roads go through BLM land, national forests, state forests, and other public lands. Most of the time these are open to hiking.

When you are driving around, look for "transition areas." These are where rolling grassy hills give way to forest or canyons, or flat areas turn into rocky hills. Areas where the terrain changes are often the most interesting places to hike.

Ask around. When we first moved to Canon City, we asked the others at the closing on our house about places to hike, and learned about an unmarked trail that leads to a great swimming hole.

Get out and walk. If the road gets too rough for your car, get out and start walking. the road itself might be a great place to hike. We have come upon old cabins and abandoned mines and many other things of interest while hiking old roads.

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