Equestrian Trail | Chatfield State Park
We entered the park from the east and got to see a lot of the park on the way to the trail.
The Equestrian Trail is an unpaved, 3.2 mile round trip hike at Chatfield State Park in Littleton, Colorado. The trail itself is relatively flat, with only 95 feet of elevation gain. It has sweeping views of the park itself and the Indian Peak Mountains, and is open to hikers, bikers and horses.
We hiked this trail on a stormy day in early May and the views were still quite nice. There were a few bikers, but mostly foot traffic. We, sadly, didn’t see any horses. The trail was relatively dry when we hiked it, but I would imagine that it becomes a mud pit quite easily.
The turn off to the horse stables is well marked. The parking area for the Equestrian Trail is the first right.
This trail is not well marked, but is also easy to find if you know where you are going. That’s what I’m here for. Once entering the park, navigate to the horse stables turn off. Once at the turn off, look for a parking area on the right about 1/8 mile up the the road. Park here and walk towards the bathrooms, the Equestrian Trail is on the other side.
Head South on the Equestrian Trail for 1.6 miles. The turn around point isn’t marked with any signs, but there is a “Pets Must Be Leashed” sign, where the trail intersects another unmarked trail (Wetlands Connector Trail). That’s where we turned around.
The hike took us an hour and nine minutes to complete, including a short water break at the turn around point. We’re in pretty good shape but we definitely took our time. Personally, I think this would have been more fun had we taken our bikes, and it would make an excellent 5k run. That said, it wasn’t a bad early morning hike and we definitely enjoyed ourselves.
Our turn around spot.
There is a park entrance fee of $8, or you can purchase a Colorado State Park’s Pass for $70.
or more information, click here: http://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/Chatfield/Pages/Trails.aspx
Just some of the beautiful views you’ll see on the Equestrian Trail