Round Mountain

Description 

Round Mountain is well known in the Big Thompson Canyon as a hiking trail, 5 miles to the summit. There are, however, rock formations on the eastern and southern flanks. I don't know if there are enough worthy problems to make it worth the 2 1/2 mile hike to get to the first set or rocks or not, but if you like to go hiking and boulder along the way or if you like seclusion and roaming through the woods looking for boulder problems then Round Mountain may be to your liking.

Getting There 

Drive west on US Highway 34 out of Loveland. About 3.5 miles west of the Beige Siphon Tube you can find the parking lot for Round Mountain on the south side of the road. It is directly across the highway from Vistenz/Smith Park. Start up the trail head and at about 0.25 miles take the summit train to the left. Hike up past the two mile mark (miles on the trail are marked with sign posts), and continue about another quarter of a mile. Brown, fine-grained, granite boulders begin appearing at trailside. The first formation of any size is on the left side of the trail and appears to be a small outcropping up to 25 feet tall that drops away downhill. From here, you can wander the forest on both sides of the trail in search of solitude and boulders.

The Classics