GOLDEN GATE CANYON - Many of Golden Gate Canyon State Park’s visitors prioritize hiking the Raccoon Trail out of Panorama Point to get breathtaking views of the Continental Divide throughout their hike. However, the park actually boasts 35 miles of hiking trails—with approximately 19 miles of those trails also being open to bikes and horses—all of which provide visitors with wonderful scenery, amazing wildlife, and a wide variety of natural ecosystems. 

In addition to hiking, backpackers of all skill levels can reserve one of our 19 available backcountry tent sites, including four open-air shelters. No fires are allowed anywhere outside of the designated fire pits in our front country campgrounds and picnic areas.

We don’t consider any of our backcountry trails to be "easy,"due to high altitudes and over 400 feet of climb on almost every trail, but we do offer a few "moderate" trails, including the Horseshoe, Mule Deer, and Buffalo trails. All of these trails have gradual climbs, access to other trails, and many opportunities to see wildlife and wildflowers. 

Hikers looking for more of a challenge can seek out the Coyote, Black Bear, and Beaver trails. These trails have extremely steep and rocky inclines, so make sure to stretch well and prepare yourself before venturing out and getting rewarded with great views of the valley.

Anyone hiking in the park and beyond should come prepared with water, snacks, sunscreen, a phone, sturdy close-toed shoes, and comfortable backpacks. 

Our park has a wide variety of wildlife—including moose, mountain lions, and black bears—that could easily harm a dog, so we also ask that hikers and all other visitors keep their dogs on leashes within the park at all times. 

In the case of an emergency on the trails, call 911. You can provide 911 dispatchers with a more specific location if you pay attention to our trails’ emergency locators.

The emergency locators are placed roughly every quarter mile on each trail. Each one is a fiberglass post marked in bright red that has an abbreviation of the trail’s name followed by a number (For example: “MD9” would be short for Mule Deer 9).

Enjoyment of our trails would not be possible without the assistance of our backcountry staff and volunteers. Led by Park Resource Technician Jake Murray, the backcountry crew has already spent much of this summer building new footbridges, reconstructing a primitive campsite, and rerouting part of the Raccoon Trail.

The Raccoon Trail Reroute and campsite reconstruction in Deer Creek projects have also received assistance from the Volunteers For Outdoor Colorado's (VOC) and Colorado Association of Trail Stewards' (CATS) programs. VOC and CATS have both provided large groups of volunteers with the opportunity to give back to the land they recreate on for years, and it has been a pleasure to have our backcountry crew work with them this summer. 

For parties interested in volunteering, CATS will continue to help with the Raccoon Trail Reroute from September 5 through September 7 this year. Learn more about signing up at the CATS website (https://timecounts.app/trailcat/events/9f170fff-634b-4113-a067-fa93740c0c08).

Likewise, our Trail Ambassador program is open to volunteers who want to help us patrol our trails and keep them as safe and clean as possible throughout the summer.  

We hope you will continue to enjoy our trails for many years to come, whether for the aspens, the wildflowers, the wildlife, or just a good, challenging hike. May the moose and bears that you see always be a safe distance away from you and your canine companions, and, as always, stay safe out there.

A map of all of our trails and their various distances and difficulties is available at most places within our park and online at https://cpw.widen.net/s/tknfgshsmj/golden-gate-canyon-state-park-brochure.

To learn more about how to safely and respectfully recreate in wilderness spaces, read about the seven Leave No Trace principles at https://lnt.org/why/7-principles.

Finally, anyone interested in giving back to local trails can register for VOC at https://www.voc.org, CATS at https://timecounts.app/trailcat/events/9f170fff-634b-4113-a067-fa93740c0c08 or Golden Gate Canyon State Park’s Trail Ambassador program at https://cpwconnect.state.co.us/GetInvolved/VolunteerGroup/ffdc330b-f1d3-4f77-add9-800378f403c6?returnUrl=%2FD%2FGGSP%2FGetInvolved.