Mt. Falcon Mountain Park

For my first mountain excursion since arriving in Denver, I ventured out to Mt. Falcon Mountain Park in Jefferson County about 40 minutes outside the city. I got there just after 7:00 a.m. on an early September weekend when there were hardly any cars in the parking lot. By the time I left a little past 10:00 a.m., the lot was full of cars battling for a spot. The secret to avoiding the crowds in Colorado it seems is arriving early.

The mountain park's miles of trails cut through high country meadows and past vistas overlooking Front Range foothills, the distant and hazy skyline of Denver, and Red Rocks Amphitheater just to the northeast. The trail also pass ruins of pioneer homesteads from a more rugged time. High up on one cliff facing the Rockies sits the cornerstone of what was to be the "Western White House," a summer palace built as a gift to the president. Funding dried up soon after construction began, however, and it never got built.