Description

This an excellent little cruise close to town that's perfect for a quick evening ride.

The scenery is worth slowing down to look at, though.

The valley floor and hillsides are dotted with trees and punctuated with red rock fins.

They’re the same type of rock that makes Red Rocks Amphitheater, but here they are shorter and more scattered, making kind of a forest of stone. South Valley Park can get pretty packed with hikers and bikers, but the most crowded sections are on wide, easy paths.

The singletrack sections are less crowded.

Be courteous to other users and remember that riders should yield to hikers.

Begin on the popular Coyote Song Trail, then turn onto Lyons Back for a short but tricky climb with rock stairs and water bars.

On top, you’ll find easier terrain and nice singletrack on Columbine Trail, in a narrow mini-valley between two long ridges.

Make a loop with Cathy Johnson Trail, an easy doubletrack, to come back and ride the Lyon down. For a longer ride, use Coyote Song to link with Grazing Elk Trail or Rattlesnake Gulch.

Grazing Elk is good for beginners and Coyote Gulch for more experienced riders.

Those extensions aren’t mapped here, but the park is not hard to navigate.

The trails are rideable year-round if they are dry, but they're usually muddy in winter and early spring. Sources: https://www.jeffco.us/1431/South-Valley-Park https://dayhikesneardenver.com/south-valley-park-ken-caryl/ https://www.jeffco.us/DocumentCenter/View/9384/South-Valley-Park-Map https://ken-carylranch.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/KCR-Open-Space-MapRevOct2015.pdf