NCAR/Mesa Trail to Kohler Mesa

Distance: 5 miles round trip
Elevation: 5,120ft - 6,250ft
Elevation Gain: 1,237 ft (cumulative)
Date Hiked:  26 November 2011
Dogs: Off leash in designated area with Boulder green tag
Bathroom at trailhead:  Inside NCAR

A hike from NCAR to the Mesa Trail and beyond takes you along the scenic Flatirons, which are majestic even on a cold day in November. 

In Colorado, it is always best to hike after a big feed and Thanksgiving 2011 was no exception.  Braving temperatures in the 20's, we headed to Boulder since the dogs needed the exercise as much as we did and Boulder is the only Metro area that allows dogs off leash.  The others, Boulder County and Jefferson County, all require dogs on leash.  That might work for a lazy Labrador or your mother's Yorkie, but not for a German Short-haired Pointer, who can run 20 miles a day and still beg for more.  This is something that communities that restrict dogs don't get.  Fortunately,   Boulder has more trails and more dogs per capita than most places in the U.S.   It is just a matter of choosing a route and letting Fido run free.

The first 0.2 miles of trail is an interpretive trail behind NCAR.

The towering 3rd Flatiron from the trail behind NCAR.

For this day's adventure we decided to start from NCAR because the parking lot is huge, around 1500 employees work there during the week.  Other trailheads in the area have room for only 20 cars or so and so fill up by 8am on weekends.

Heading down the south side of the NCAR Mesa

Turn right at this junction and it will connect to the Mesa Trail going north

We started out on the NCAR trail, which begins to the north of the building.  It follows an interpretive trail for 0.2 miles before heading down the south side of the hill, down a gully and up a steep slope to the large green water tower that supplies NCAR before dropping yet again down to the Mesa Trail.  I used to love to make new employees tell us their life story on this trail because it could steal your breath away if you do it fast enough or if you have just moved to Boulder from sea level.

Heading to the gully

Crossing the gully.  Snow and ice can collect here all winter

From this point we followed the Mesa Trail through another gully to the junction of the Kohler Mesa Trail at 1.4 miles.  It is a short 1 mile across Kohler Mesa to the NOAA trailers and a picnic table on the right.  From this vantage you are gazing across the plains.  The NOAA complex is just below with the University of Colorado nearby.   This day was hazy, but in the fall, all the trees in the city make for a colorful tableau.

Heading up the north side of the gully

Further along the Mesa Trail

On the return trip we tried something different by descending Kohler Mesa on a short spur trail leading to the Skunk Canyon Trail, which parallels Kohler Mesa at the bottom of Skunk Canyon.  Head west on this trail and it will eventually climb back up to the Mesa Trail.

Ponderosa Country

On the eastern end of Kohler Mesa 

It was fun to do this route again because I used to hike behind NCAR several days a week, it was one of the major benefits of working there.   The flatirons are an amazing rock formation and the Mesa Trail parallels them for 6 miles.  From that backbone are numerous spur trails sticking out like ribs on a dinosaurs skeleton.  This route follows three ribs (the NCAR Trail, Kohler Mesa Trail, and Skunk Canyon Trail) and a span of spine (the Mesa Trail) in an out and back formation.  Create your own combo anywhere in the trail system and you are sure to enjoy yourself.  One other combo I have blogged is the Homestead/Mesa Loop, which starts at the south Mesa Trail Trailhead.

The trailers that used to control the NOAA antenna farm.