Twice Around Betasso

A quiet evening, no plans and a pair of running shoes = two times around the Canyon Loop at Boulder County's Betasso Preserve.


Time: 1:25
Distance: 9 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Fair
Weather: Windy and warm(ish)

Set off around 5 p.m. from the small parking lot for the Betasso Connector Trail just before the tunnel up Boulder Canyon.  Jogged easy up the early steeps, then just set the autopilot on "low heart rate run" and ran up to the main part of the Betasso Preserve to the start of the 3.3-mile Canyon Loop.

Ran this easy and fun loop twice in the counter clockwise direction and returned back to the truck via the Connector Trail. All the trails were in great shape. Just a few wet spots and a couple of very short, sections of rapidly melting ice. Most of the bikers were friendly. Glad I waited until the end of the day to run. The wind had died down quite a bit by the time I was out there, but there was still some steady blowing from the west when one hit the preserve's open areas.  Nice and quiet down in the trees and canyons.  That was a far cry from last night when the massive wind gusts buffeted our house and kept JP and I awake from about 2 - 4 a.m.

Legs were a bit heavy from yesterday's tempo run (and last night's poor sleep, no doubt). I really enjoyed the mellow pace, but had to remind myself several times not to get carried away and to keep things mellow.

Eager for the opening of the four-mile Benjamin Trail at Betasso, which is supposed to open up this spring. Will be nice to have some more dirt to run on here.  Map of new trail here.

Good luck to everyone running the Salida Run Through Time Marathon tomorrow morning.

1,478 feet o' elevation gain.

Betasso Preserve - Cruising

Easy run up to Betasso Preserve from Boulder Canyon and once around the loop. Explored a few social trails along the way.


Time:  1:20
Distance: 8 miles
Effort: Easy
Body: Good
Weather: Sunny & Warm


Jumped on the Boulder Canyon connector trail just before the tunnel around 2 p.m. and headed up to Betasso. I hadn't run up this former social trail since they did a bunch of reconstruction on the water pipe that runs beneath part of the trail. The trail immediately climbs steeply from the canyon bottom headed up to a bit of a bench before entering a series of switchbacks leading up to the paved road that accesses the Betasso Water Treatment Plant.


The early part of the connector trail was strewn with way more loose baseball and softball-sized rocks than I remember, making it virtually unrideable for the mountain bikers that regularly use this trail to access Betasso, one of the few city/county-owned properties that permit mountain biking. Once past the loose stuff, the trail is in decent shape, but is showing a lot of wear from what must be pretty heavy use, combined with some pretty challenging topography through which to construct a sustainable trail.


Anyway, the 1.25 mile climb went quickly (save for the 100 meters of trail where the stench from the water treatment plant was virtually unbearable). From there, it's a fun, easy and rolling three-mile loop around the park. The trail here is probably the smoothest mountain trail in Boulder County. Would be a good loop to do tempo runs.


I remember reading somewhere that a trail connecting Betasso and a recently acquired adjacent property to Four-Mile Canyon is in the works, or at least being planned. Didn't see the trail, so it must still be on the planning boards (or I just plain missed it, which is completely possible).  Still, I explored a few social trails and old road beds to see where they led (nowhere particularly interesting, but I did get a bit more vert and some additional mileage).


After closing out the loop, I returned back down the Boulder Canyon connector trail to the truck.


A bit hot out, but -- as always -- great to be out on the trails.