One-way Distance: 0.3 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
MTB Skill level:
Elevation: 6400 - 6451 feet
Cellphone: 3-5 bars
Time: 15 mins.
Trailhead: Matthews/Winters Park
Fee: none
Attractions: Scenic gulch
The Cherry Gulch trail is located in the Matthews/Winters Park near Denver, Colorado. The trail begins off of the Red Rocks trail where it works its way around the foothills and through Cherry Gulch coming to an end at a junction with the Morrison Slide trail. The trail is a nice destination by itself as well as in important connector for those hiking the Morrison Slide.
To get to the beginning of the trail follow the directions for the Village Walk. At the end of that trail continue for a short distance on the Red Rocks trail to the fork in this photo where the Cherry Gulch trail begins on the right.
The Cherry Gulch trail starts out in similar fashion to the nice wide path that leads to it.
After crossing the shoulder of the first hill that it comes to it drops down to a shallow draw where a small stream gently trickles by.
From there it begins climbing again to get around the shoulder of the next hill.
As the trail wraps around the shoulder of that hill Cherry Gulch comes into view.
A rocky outcrop in the side of the hill makes for a rough transition point.
The trail leading down into the gulch is steep enough that it makes use of several switchbacks to get there.
Another stream crossing comes up which this time is wider and flowing much more water. During the spring runoff it can be hard to cross with dry feet.
The trail parallels the stream for a short distance after crossing it and makes use of another switchback to carry it up and out of the drainage. This portion of the trail can get very icy and treacherous during the cold weather months but it never seems to totally dissuade the masses.
