Hiking Colorado in April?
Replies: 9 - Last Post: Dec 4, 2012 9:02 PM Last Post By: Tippycanoe
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Hiking Colorado in April?
I'm a canadian looking for somewhere warm enough to hike the first week of April. We are trying do find somewhere within a one day's drive from Manitoba. Wondering about trying the Colorado Springs or Pueblo area. What would conditions be like? Realizign that ir is spring and the weather is variable. Is there enough to do at lower elevations to keep us busy for 5 days?Thanks. Also open to suggestions of other destinations.We won't be camping, so night time temps are not an issue. Day hikes only.
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Unless this continues to be a dry Winter... Early April is the "mud season" even at lower elevations in the Colorado Mtns... I would try your luck in The Black Hills in Western South Dakota or put in a extra days driving time(both ways) & enjoy Big Bend Ntl. Park in West Texas... carracar3
Santa Fe, Taos, Canyon de Chelly and south would be better in April.4
It is a very long days drive! It is as far as we can tolerate without having to stop for a night. Other years we have gone to the Moab area, but I was hoping to spend less time in a car this year.Thanks for the advice. I was not aware that mud would be an issue. Sounds like I'll need to get further south.
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Tippy, we hike year 'round in Colorado so I doubt you'll have any problem finding places. I hiked three times this week and plan about the same for next week. If it's cold or snowy, we tend to hike at lower altitude in places like Boulder or Jefferson County Open Space. My advice--go to Meetup.com and do a search for hiking groups in the Denver area. (There's dozens of them.) The hikes that they are scheduling will be the ones that are accessible at the time. You can either join the groups or Google for the hike information. You are also welcome to PM me for suggestions when you get here. Mud is seldom an issue at lower elevations but I would suggest taking along some sort of traction devices in case you find ice. Snow tends to melt in the daytime and freeze at night.6
I'm assuming you mean 24 hours of straight driving, with people taking driving shifts. If that's the case, you might have better luck weather-wise in New Mexico, as 99dragons suggests. The higher elevations will be cold, but there are lots of good canyon hikes. However, this hiking is not as advanced as what you find in Colorado.7
I haven't been there in years. I remember that May in Colorado was idyllic, stunning actually. I also remember that if you buy a local map you can find all sorts of free little camp sites in the mountains.Manitoba to Colorado sounds like a long way but if you've got the time it is a worthy trip.
Edited by: LongIslandBob
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As long as you are dressed well (which, coming from up North, I'm sure you would be) hiking in colorado in April is great. We can sometimes get late spring snow storms, but those typically come in March. We hike quite a bit, so feel free to reach out once you have more detail about when/where you might go.
