Round Trip Distance: 2 miles
Difficulty: Easy
MTB Skill level:
Elevation: 4548 - 4566 feet
Cellphone: 2-4 bars
Time: 30 mins.
Trailhead: Wildflower Lane
Fee: none
Attractions: Scenic views
Wildflower Lane is part of the Gateway Trails in Gateway, Colorado. The trail runs along the edge of the hill across from the Gateway Canyons Resort. Wildflower Lane provides both direct and indirect access to most of the other trails in the Gateway Trails system. The trails are popular with mountain bikers and hikers alike.
For this post we started at the BLM trailhead that is on the south side of the resort.
Head east from the trailhead and pick up the unmarked trail on the right after a hundred feet or so.
The well engineered trail with its hard packed surface of crushed rock parallels the road on the south side of the resort.
From its slightly elevated position it offers a nice view of the resort and surrounding area. At one time public parking was allowed within the lot in this photo. We are pretty sure that is still the case.
The Wildflower Lane trail crosses a service road that provides access to the Cutler Rim trail. A short distance east of that the Entrada trail branches off on the right.
The variety of wildflowers along the trail will change as spring gives way to summer. Some of the spring flowers include penstemons, scarlet globemallow and asters.
Hikers will find several places along the trail where they can sit down and relax.
At the east end of the trail the route crosses the road and passes between a couple of ponds.
For this post we turned around near the entrance to the resort and headed back to where we began.
As you are hiking along the trail keep an eye out for a huge nest of dinosaur eggs that is sure to give children a thrill while it gives grownups a chuckle.
