Indian Mesa Trail

Dogs Leashed

Features Fall Colors · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

Be ready for a potentially hot and dry hike as you head up and down this wide, smooth doubletrack/dirt road into the Little Thompson River Valley. The wide dirt path starts with an unrelenting uphill that will get your heart pumping as you climb to the ridgeline.

After that, you'll be rewarded with a nice cruiser downhill, but don't get too comfortable. You'll reach a gate which marks the turnaround point. Beyond this gate is private property so if you choose to hike this far, your only option is to turn around and head back up the hill the way you came. There are some Initial views west of Mount Meeker and Long's Peak and views north of Berthoud and into Larimer County that make this trail more pleasant.

Mule deer and coyotes. Birds such as magpies, meadowlarks, robins, bluebirds, sparrows, wrens, and hawks. Rattlesnakes in the summer.

A great variety of plants with the highlights being prickly poppies, locoweed, asters, larkspur, coral bells, and sage. Some ponderosa pine and juniper up on the hillside.