Trailhead / Access

This course description for this course starts at the Spruce Mountain Trailhead parking area rather than the actual Spruce Meadows parking area at Greenland Road. Either trailhead is good for access to this trail however, the Spruce Mountain trailhead is smaller so parking might be tight at high use times.

Trail Summary

The Spruce Meadows trailhead starts at a parking lot off of Spruce Meadows Road. Access to the trailhead can be found by taking Spruce Meadows Road from Palmer Lake. County Line Road, Hwy 105 (Perry Park Rd) and Spruce Meadows Road all come together in Palmer Lake just north of the lake. You can also get to the trail head from Greeland Open Space by following Greenland Rd / W Noe Rd west to Spruce Mountain Rd then turning left. If you park at the Greenland Open Space Spruce Meadows trail heads, there are two parking areas. One labeled Greenland Open Space and one a little further west labled Spruce Meadows Open Space. The Greenland Open Space lot has a porta-potty but there is no facilities at the Spruce Meadows trailhead lot.

Course 1 - 8.5 miles

The trail starts on the west end of the Spruce Mountain lot and heads towards the west. Following this trail will take you to a sign and fork in the trails. You want to follow the directions for the Spruce Meadows loop. This will take you west and then north. The trail will wind around but mostly heading north. When you have to cross Spruce Mountain Rd, you will head east until you reach the railroad tracks. This section is a narrow band between two grazing fields until the tracks.

At the tracks, you will turn right and head south and cross Greenland/Noe Rd where the trail heads east to the other trailhead parking area. From here, you will head south. Note the plateau in the distance...this is where you are headed. This section of the trail is most grasslands and zig/zags its way to the hill. Just prior to the hill, you cross under the road in a small narrow tunnel. Go through the tunnel and bear right on the trail. This will take you back to the signs where you started the loop.