I did the Palisades/Ranger Creek loop, starting from the Palisades trailhead and going clockwise.
Arrived at the trailhead a little before 1 and snagged a parking spot along the side of the road pretty easily. The trail immediately heads straight up the side of a hill and switchbacks tightly along a narrow canyon before heading up a neat (but very steep) staircase. After this section, the trail levels out and the grade is very gentle the rest of the way—I found my trekking poles to be completely unnecessary the rest of the way.
There are three viewpoints overlooking the valley, but I found them to be rather unremarkable. You get a great look at Ranger Creek Airport. If you’ve made it to the third viewpoint, I recommend going just a little bit farther to experience the trail following the edge of a rocky cliff. I saw one tiger lily, some lupine, trillium, and quite a few candysticks.
Once you near Little Ranger Peak and the trail turns north, it passes through part of the area affected by the Norse Peak fire last year. The trail becomes quite “lumpy” in this section and you’ll need to be extra aware of your footing. I did not feel unsafe traveling through this area, though it does feel very spooky.
I passed a couple mountain bikers at the intersection with the Ranger Creek trail, and took a right to head down. The trail immediately becomes very sandy, ashy, and steep. I have no idea how those guys managed to get their bikes up it! The footing can be a little loose in this section, so make sure to watch your step. The further you go, the better the trail condition becomes. It was a joy running down this section.
Heading back to the trailhead, I decided to make a detour to Snoquera Falls. I didn’t see a marked trail going up to the falls, and wasn’t interested in scrambling (I couldn’t see much water coming down anyways), so I didn’t get very close. The rock amphitheater is very neat looking, though. The trail headed up there on the east side is immaculately groomed, while the trail heading down on the west side traverses several rock fields and was incredibly slow going.
I’m not sure if my gps was lying or if there has been a trail re-route at some point, but I made it back to my car at almost exactly 15 miles and 4000’ of gain. Thanks to the solitude (I passed less than 10 people on a Saturday afternoon) and the gentle grade, it was a pleasant workout. The burned sections are worth experiencing firsthand, but I don’t think this trail would be tops on my list if I was hiking.
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