Chatfield State Park
Location11500 Roxborough Park Rd, Littleton, CO 80125
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Website |
PDF Map
Trail Map
Chatfield State Park is huge. However, horses are only allowed on the trails at the south end of the park which includes trails marked "A" or "B". It is very easy to get lost here so it is good to ride with someone who knows the trails well.
Here is a close-up of the southern part of the trail map. Again, stick to the trails marked "A" or "B". As we started we wandered through the woods as an offshoot of trail #14. This means there are forks and branches that are not marked on this official trail map.
Park Fees
Parks Passes
More Info:
https://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/Chatfield/Pages/Fees.aspx
- Daily Vehicle Pass: $10
- Annual Pass: $80 (affixed) or $120 (hang tag)
- All Multiple Annual Passes: $40
- Aspen Leaf Annual Pass (Colorado Resident 64+): $70
- All Multiple Aspen Leaf Annual Passes: $35
More Info:
https://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/Chatfield/Pages/Fees.aspx
Trailer Parking
On this particular ride we parked at the Audubon Center since the Waterton Canyon parking lot was closed. We parked three horse trailer behind one another at the bottom right red circle. We went on a very slow day mid-week. If this parking lot was full you could also park at the Chatfield State Park Stables.
Below: Huge parking at the Chatfield Stables parking lot.
BathroomsYes. There were multiple bathroom facilities throughout the park.
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WaterI did not see any water spigots and did not check the bathrooms.
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Mounting |
Footing |
I used a curb. Yvonne always brings a stool.
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It started off soft and wide then went to hard packed dirt single-track then widened periodically. Sam only had front shoes and was uncomfortable on the harder packed dirt trail.
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Horse Hazards
We did not see a lot of bikes or dogs on our chosen trail. We were watching for deer and wildlife. We crossed a Chatfield State Park Road twice but there was very little traffic.
Chosen Trail
We headed north on the Wetlands Interpertive Trail #15 then wandered through the woods by the river to roughly follow the Wetlands Connector Trail #14. We did not stay on this main trail but took a lot of lovely detours that went by the river and through the woods. We crossed Chatfield State Park road then followed #2 Chatfield internal trail up to the horse stables. Heading south from the stables we got on the Waterton Link to ride south besides Wadsworth back to the parking lot. We rode about 2 hours and at least 4 miles. This map is pretty difficult to use at the park and a lot of the side trails are not shown.
Below is a slightly more accurate map of our route the red trail heading north, blue heading south.
Trail Experience
The trail started out really nice and wide and soft. It was marked as the Wetlands Interpertive Trail.
The trail was well marked. We kept right to weave around the pond and into the bush. There are lots of little forks that wander around the ponds.
We headed into the brush. We didn't see any deer but I would watch for deer or other animals around the trail.
The trail went along the platt river and there were several spots where you could lead your horse down to the river to play or drink.
The trail went in and out of the trees and mostly followed the platte river as a single track. Good soft footing.
The trail widened and we gaited and trotted a little the forked back to the right.
We came upon a concrete section of the trail. You could also walk on the grass besides the trail.
We came up to Chatfield State Park Road. We thought about crossing the river to go right but Pixie's horse sunk into the sand to her knees. We decided not to cross the river since it looked pretty deep.
We went left on Chatfield State Park Road. Below us to the left the trail continues so you don't have to walk on the road. We figured this out and went back to the left to the horse trail. We came upon an old gravel pit, Chatfield Pond #1. There was a nice parking area and a place where you could go down to the lake and drink. On this day it was pretty windy and there were waves on the lake. The horses were pretty afraid of the waves and only Picasso was brave enough to get a drink.
We crossed Chatfield State Park Road and headed around the lake toward the stables. We walked on the dirt but you could also walk on the cement trail.
We crossed Chatfield State Park Road again to go left to reach the Chatfield State Park Stables.
Below: A picture of the parking lot at Chatfield Stables. This is a pretty large lot for horse trailers with some horse corrals to use as well.
We walked up the road then cut up the hill toward the horse pasture.
Walking around the stables we headed south on a wide trail the Waterton Link trail. It was packed dirt. Sam preferred to walk on the grass on the side of the trail. We did some trotting.
It was an easy and pretty ride back to the trailers from here. Wadsworth is on our right and you could hear the traffic but we were a reasonable distance away from the road. We did not have to cross any other streets.
Rating
Easy! This is a very horse-friendly trail and it was not busy during our ride. We saw only a handful of bikes and joggers. All dogs were leashed. Sam would have been more comfortable with all 4 shoes but this is a good trail for a sunny day in the winter. We did have some mild bugs riding in April.