Mount Falcon
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Park Fees
Free!
Trailer Parking
At the west trailhead there are about 2 spaces reserved for oversized or trailer parking at the lower lot. I parked in the oversized spot and Lisa parked in front of me with her larger gooseneck 3 horse trailer. Lisa technically parked in some car spots but she took the spots to make sure we could both pull out at the end of our ride.
Jefferson county now has an app Lot Spot that will tell you how many car spots are open vs. available. It does not count specifically over-sized vehicles but you can get a general idea of how busy the parking lot is. I did provide feedback on the app that they should take into account over-sized vehicles. I don't know if there are sensors counting cars that come in and out but a live-stream web-cam would be nice that specifically can see the over-sized parking.
BathroomsPermanent restrooms available at the upper lot at the west trailhead.
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WaterNone Available
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Mounting
We hand-walked to the upper parking lot at the west trail-head and then had a variety of rocks to chose from to use to mount our horses.
Footing
The Castle Trail starts out as a green circle with soft footing then transitions to a blue square which becomes very rocky. As we started going down-hill and the footing turned rockier we turned around. We tried to stay on the green circle Castle Trail and Meadow Trail. One hiker told us the Tower Trail gets very rocky and has some steps to climb or a rock to go around so we avoided that trail completely. Sam was comfortable with all 4 shoes but Blue had hoof boots on and was not used to the rocky trail so we stayed on the better footing.
Horse Hazards
We saw very few bikers on this trail. The biggest hazard were playing children walking with their families and a stroller and wheelchair. This is a pretty horse-friendly trail with some good grass.
Chosen Trail
We started off on the Castle trail and took a left at the first and second forks to continue on the Castle Trail. As we passed the Walker's Dream fork and brick picnic shelter the trail started descending and got pretty rocky after the first two sharp switch-backs. We decided to turn around after the second sharp switchback. Retracing our steps we decided to go left on the Meadow Trail which is a green circle that looped back to rejoin the Castle Trail after going through a beautiful meadow. We rode for 1.5 hours with lots of chatting and grazing and covered around 2.9 miles.
Trail Experience
We used some big rocks to mount by the beginning of Castle Trail. The trail was wide, soft and inviting going through the pine trees.
The trail was well-marked. Every fork had a sign. Walkers were very polite. The trail started going uphill.
There were some fallen pine trees on the right and we crested a small hill.
We had views of the mountains to the west and views of Denver to the east. Again the fork was well-marked and we stayed left on Castle Trail.
The trail continued to be wide and soft going through the trees.
We passed rocks and logs but our horses didn't seem to notice.
We passed the 2nd fork to the Meadow trail and stayed left. Again, it was nice to see well-marked trails.
More pretty views with a blue sky.
This part of the Castle Trail was a blue square, it wasn't too rocky yet.
We could see the Red Rocks Amphitheater in the distance.
We came up the the fork for Walker's Dream and Two-Dog Trail but continued to the left past the covered picnic table on Castle Trail.
Past the picnic table the trail started getting pretty rocky and started going steeply down-hill.
This is where we turned around. We decided we were not up for going down-hill on a pretty rocky trail.
We headed back up-hill and retraced our steps. There was a hitching post to the left by the forks by the covered picnic table.
We decided to go left onto Meadow Trail which was a green circle and the footing improved.
Meadow Trail did take us through a really beautiful meadow.
We crossed a small wooden bridge without a problem.
We followed a nicely constructed trail through the meadow.
We came upon a shady section with some trail forks and a bench. Sam thought the people were pretty scary until they started talking. The hikers said the Old Ute Trail was pretty rocky so we continued right on the Meadow Trail.
Some very good bikers actually stopped their bikes and yielded to us.
We continued on the really nice Meadow Trail with the beautiful meadow to our right.
We stopped at the fork for the Meadow and Tower Trail. A hiker told us the Tower Trail had a series of rock steps or a big rock to go around. We continued on the Meadow Trail.
We reached the 1st fork between the Meadow Trail and Castle Trail then found a good place to stop and eat grass.
We continued straight to walk back to the parking lot.
Rating
Moderately easy. If you stay on the Castle Trail then turn around at the picnic table and take the Meadow Trail back to the Castle Trail then this is a nice, easy, relaxing ride. If you want a challenge, continue on the Castle Trail down-hill past the picnic table. This treat had beautiful views and our horses were really happy to graze in the meadow.