Hiking: Royal Arch Trail in Boulder, CO

We spent some of our weekend time with our University of Colorado student hiking to one of his recommended places: The Royal Arch

But, let me back up to the beginning. 

The weekend started for mrC on Friday when he went to the Fraternity House Father & Son Poker Game Night (they did not win all the chips but they had fun). Then on Saturday, we were given a personal tour of the CU campus (amazing place), walked around Pearl Street and met the girlfriend and her mom for a lovely dinner at the Walnut Brewery.

On Sunday, after picking up the Frat boy, we had brunch at Snooze (an iconic eatery on Pearl Street). The menu was filled up with so many choices I wanted to try everything, but I finally chose banana pancakes with a side of eggs. 

We took a post-brunch stroll around Pearl Street and then because it was still pretty chilly, we drove up Flagstaff Mountain. We went all the way up to the scenic lookout at Lost Gulch and enjoyed the views of the Continental Divide.

On the way down, we stopped at another viewing area (no name) and did some bouldering because it's fun and we could.

Our younger tour guide did some solo rock climbing. He climbed right up, but then walked down on a path. 

Our hike began at Chautauqua Park. We parked the car on Baseline Road and then cut across the field using the 6th Street Connector.  Our route to the Royal Arch ---> Chatauqua Trail - Flatirons Loop trail - Royal Arch Trail. The first part of the hike was easy walking uphill on a mostly gravel path. It was very much like the start of our first Flatirons hike.

Great hiking capris from Athleta

After following the Chatauqua Trail into the woods, we switched to the Flatirons Loop trail. This part of the hike was bit more challenging. The terrain changed over to rocky and the incline increased slowly. There were plenty of places to stop and take breaks. At one stop we had rock climbers on one side of us and a perfect view of the CU campus on the other.

Finally we made it to the final section of our hike, the Royal Arch Trail. This section was by far the hardest (and rated as difficult) with the steep and steady climb through the pine forest and undulating hills that seemed to go on and on.

Sentinel Pass was a great place for a break and had the option of doing a little bouldering to a viewpoint (which we did) for a quick photo. Then we began a quick and dirty down-climb and resumed pushing upward to the arch.

The Royal Arch was much much bigger than I expected. Sitting at an elevation of 6,915 ft, it was worth the final steep climb to get to it. We walked under the arch to the outcrops and sweeping views on the other side. Looking back through the arch, the blue skies seemed to glow above the Flatirons.

We spent some time enjoying the view and watching the braver hikers climb up, on, and around the arch. To get back to the car ---> Royal Arch Trail - Bluebell Road Trail - Baseline - 6th Street Connector. We hiked 4.5 miles in a little more than 2.5 hours and we felt awesome!

It was a great day with the boys!

Other hiking posts you might like:

First Flatirons Hike in Boulder, Colorado

Kuta, Bali: Mt. Batur Sunrise Trek

Hiking Discovery Bay: Lookout Point Loop

First Flatirons Hike in Boulder, Colorado

We've been in Boulder visiting the college boy and now we understand why so many people love it here. It is absolutely beautiful! We've been keeping ourselves busy during the day while he's in class and then enjoying the Boulder scene from his perspective.

One of the must-do things in Boulder is to go hiking in the iconic Flatirons at the base of the Rocky Mountains. You can see them from everywhere in Boulder as they loom up from plains and create a stunning backdrop to the city.

To get up close and personal, we drove about 5 minutes from the hotel to access the trails at the Chautauqua Park (free but limited parking). We stopped by the Ranger's Cottage where we received a trail map and a suggested route from the very friendly staff.

Our goal was to make it to the viewpoint at Woods Quarry and then loop back down. Armed with our map highlighting the route and plenty of water, we started our hike ---> Bluebell Road - Mesa - Woods Quarry - Kohler Mesa - Enchanted Mesa - Upper McClintock

The hike: the beginning was an easy incline on an exposed gravel trail. It was a warm day with temperatures near 70 degrees, so we warmed up quickly in the warm sunshine. It was heavenly.

At the first turn off, the trail headed into the woods. The shade was welcome as the real climbing started. It was easy climbing, although we were not acclimated to the higher altitude of Boulder yet so we were breathing hard.

No concrete here. Sometimes the trail blended in so much that it almost disappeared.

This spot just shouted out to us to take a water break (and a photo) here.

Lots of trail signage ---> here is where we should have realized that we missed a turn and were not on our planned route, but we wouldn't realize it for almost another mile.

While blissfully hiking the wrong trail, I had a little fun showing off my new Eddie Bauer backpack. I actually bought one at the North Face first, but returned it after finding this one because it was a better fit and a lot cheaper. I did keep the hiking shorts though.

Once we figured out that we were on the wrong trail, we backtracked a bit but finally made it to Woods Quarry and the promised spectacular view.

 At the top we enjoyed a nice little break on the rock benches.

Before we left the viewpoint, we modified the rest of our hike because we had plans with the college boy ---> Woods Quarry - Enchanted Mesa - Upper McClintock. I don't know if this really saved us that much time, but we felt pretty good about the fact that we could read the map successfully at this point.

The hike back down was easier. The path was wide and smooth. The descent was gradual and soon we realized that it was a popular trail for runners.

We were just starting to think how amazing it was that we didn't see any wildlife when we came upon three deer.

Our hike was about 5 miles and took us just over 2 hours. We had a great time hiking the trails and are excited to go back and do some more before we leave.


Ever hiked the Flatirons? What is your favorite trail?
Any suggestions for things to do in Boulder that we should know?