Trailhead
The Blodgett Open Space Area was part of the Blodgett Ranch and I think it may have been part of the convent property after that. When Peregrine was developed and the roads reconfigured, a water tank was put up above the development. With a dirt road leading to the tank, it became a hiking area and recently upgraded as a formal Open Space within the city park system. It is about 160 acres and adjoins national forest land. With the development of the Open Space, parking has been provided however, it is limited so most people park on Woodmen Road. The trails consist of the main roadway to the tank, a smaller dirt roadway that swings up and above the water tank, several trails which have been worked on by volunteers, and other social trails. The west end of the open space joins up with Pike National Forest land which extends the available land available for activities.
The trail head for the Blodgett Open Space starts at a parking lot on Woodmen Road in the Peregrine Subdivision. The parking lot is quite small and sometimes contains a portable potty but parking is allowed along the street also. Best route to the trailhead is via Centennial Blvd which turns into Woodmen after Vindicator road. You could also follow Woodmen west from I-25 but I think this is a bit longer depending on where you are coming from.
Trail Summary
The Open Space consists of mostly moderate run/hike trails with it being uphill going out and downhill coming back with a moderate level of steepness. A couple of places are rocky and in wet weather, mud can be a factor. Most of the options I have explored are about 1.5 - 3.0 miles but this can be extended by doing multiple options. If you go to the top of Blodgett Peak, that trail would be considered difficult. It is very steep and can be hard to follow in places. There is also a lot of loose scree.
This trailhead is the starting point for a number of different trail options of which I have documented a few here and connects to the Blodgett/AFA Trails off of Blodgett Drive which I have also documented. This trailhead also serves as the starting point for climbing Blodgett Peak which I will document later when I get a chance to climb it.
From the parking lot, there are two ways to proceed. First is the dirt road through a gate which is used by the city to access the water tank and the second is a single track trail that takes off from the south (left) side of the lot and will eventually join the dirt road. Most of the other options take off from these trails.
The trails are uphill most of the way out regardless of the route you take. They are moderately steep but the dirt road and trails are in good condition in most of the areas. There are a couple of smaller trails that are narrower and less maintained but nothing in too bad of condition until you get up above the Open Space and into the National Forest. The upper part of the dirt road and some of the trails can be muddy in bad weather and during spring thaw times.
I have document 3 different trail options so far. They branch off the dirt road at various point as you proceed up the road. The water tank is about .85 miles up and I use that as the central spine for the different trail options.
The best way to understand how this trails interlock, follow the link to Google Earth. In the kmz file that is load, I have placed a number of trails options. If you use the sidebar, you can switch on and off the various trails options and see how they relate to each other. There are more trail options in the kmz than I describe below.
