Elk Meadow Park is a park and trail systemJefferson County Open Space: Elk Meadow Park
/ref> in Evergreen, Colorado managed by Jefferson County Open Space. This program began acquiring these ranchlands in 1977 to create the extensive protected area, which is made larger by adjacent

public land In all modern states, a portion of land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land, state land, or Crown land (Australia, and Canada). The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countrie ...

s. Contiguous to Elk Meadow Park on the west is Bergen Peak Park, a "conservation/wilderness" area that is part of the

Denver Mountain Parks The Denver Mountain Parks system contains more than of parklands in the mountains and foothills of Jefferson, Clear Creek, Douglas, and Grand counties in Colorado, west and south of Denver. Owned and maintained by the City and County of Denve ...

system. Through a cooperative effort between the two park management entities, the Too Long Trail in Elk Meadow Park continues to Bergen Peak, at 9,708 ft (2959 m). Noble Meadow, a conservation easement adjacent to Elk Meadow Park on the northwest along Squaw Pass Road, has no public access. The Bergen Peak Wildlife Area, managed by

Colorado Parks and Wildlife Colorado Parks and Wildlife manages the state parks system and the wildlife of the U.S. state of Colorado. , the division managed the 42 state parks and 307 wildlife areas of Colorado. , the Colorado Natural Areas Program had 93 designated s ...

, is next to the Park's southwestern boundary.

Trails and Other Activities

Elk Meadow Park is home to a number of outdoor activities. In the summertime, the many miles of trail serve as a place to run, walk, jog, mountain bike, and simply enjoy Mother Nature. Most of the park is open meadows with

grasses Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns ...

and wildflowers for the residents of Jefferson County to see and enjoy. There are two seasonal creeks running through the park, Bergen Creek and Troublesome Creek, and several smaller springs which feed very small creeks. Bergen Creek turns into a swampy area at State Highway 74 which spurs the growth of

cattails ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in ...

and wet-loving grasses. The Park encompasses the lower eastern slopes of Bergen Peak, which is covered in

Ponderosa Pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

s, Douglas Firs,

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the '' Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (Chin ...

s, and some small groves of

Lodgepole Pine ''Pinus contorta'', with the common names lodgepole pine and shore pine, and also known as twisted pine, and contorta pine, is a common tree in western North America. It is common near the ocean shore and in dry montane forests to the subalpin ...

s. The trail system begins at a small parking area with restrooms and a gazebo for summertime picnics. There are several small shelters along the trails erected by various organizations in Evergreen, Colorado. During the winter, the snow that falls in the park blows west to east creating a difficult drifting problem for Highway 74 once getting to tall in the Winter of 06-07. During winters with abnormal amounts of snow, it is possible to

cross-country ski Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

throughout the park and even

alpine ski ''Alpine Ski'' (アルパイン・スキ一) is an Alpine skiing arcade game, released by Taito in 1981. The player controls a skier, who can move left, right, or increase forward speed. The aim is to maneuver a skier through a downhill ski cour ...

on Bergen Peak. Hiwan Golf Club borders the Park's eastern side. Overall, the park is a nice place for a summertime jog through the foothills of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. Dogs must be leashed in Elk Meadow Park proper, as in all other Open Space Parks. An off-leash opportunity lies just across Stagecoach Boulevard at th
Elk Meadow Park Dog Off-Leash Area
On April 4, 2017, Jefferson County Open Space closed the entire 107-acre dog park within Elk Meadow Park indefinitely. This was in contrast to a previous plan intended to keep portions of the dog park open.

References

External links

Jeffco.us Open Space: Elk Meadow Park Homepage
{{Colorado Parks in Colorado Protected areas of Jefferson County, Colorado Meadows in the United States Protected areas established in 1977 1977 establishments in Colorado