Best Day Hikes Near Denver

We will be visiting Denver in a couple weeks (late May) and we should have time for one or two hikes. We are very experienced hikers, having done a lot of hiking in the Canadian Rockies, however we will have our seven month old son with us so can't do anything too extreme. Something 4-5 miles round trip would be ideal.

What are the best day hikes within an hour or so of Denver that we shouldn't miss (and that will be in condition at this time of year)? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

There is a site for that now:

www.hikingproject.com

If you want low elevation stuff with views of Denver, I would do Mt Galbraith or White Ranch (Whippletree trail looping back on Longhorn). These are both 4 miles and can be found at jeffco.us/open-space/parks/

Other short easy choices are Castlewood Canyon or Roxborough. both are good but are state parks and cost $10 to park

Ill second Golden gate. Its not too far from Denver and has a variety of hiking that is not too extreme. Nice views and never really crowded. Link below should take you to the trail map. There are some nice loops you can do in this park that arent a full day event.

cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/…

I also like hiking in Eldorado Canyon State Park. Nice views and can always look at some climbers up high and get jealous. But Eldo gets very crowded on the weekends.

I'll second Roxborough State Park. It's where I take out-of-towners. It isn't up high, so if your child isn't acclimated to altitude yet, you'll have no worries. It's a stunning place, with wide paths, modest elevation changes and beautiful sandstone formations.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Looks like these are mostly quite close to Denver. If we were willing to travel farther into the mountains does the hiking tend to get better (i.e. more scenic)? Any trails further along I-70 or in RMNP that would be worth the longer drive? We want to make the most of our short time in the area. Thanks again.

If you want to drive the hour and a half to RMNP, there are great hikes with amazing views in an alpine setting. There are numerous great hikes there. If you want a somewhat shorter hike with great views, Bear lake trail head is a shorter hike than some others. You can make it to emerald lake at the base of Hallets Peak in about 2 miles.

mountainproject.com/v/halle…