Posted June 16, 2020 –
Waterton Canyon trail and parking:
- Open on Weekdays (opening a half hour before sunrise and closing a half hour after sunset)
- No Potable Water (canyon spigots/fountains are off; river water available needs filtering and/or treating)
- No Overnight Parking
- Closed on Weekends
These circumstances will be in place until further notice, shaped by the unprecedented high use sparked by this year’s pandemic. Authorities with DenverWater.org oversee and patrol the area.
WATERTON START ON WEEKDAYS. Colorado Trail travelers wanting to start from Denver on a weekday can start from Waterton Canyon, utilizing the information presented on the Starting in Denver page at ColoradoTrail.org and in the different CT guides available via the CT Store.
WEEKEND ALTERNATIVES. The weekend closure affects only the Waterton Canyon trail and parking part of CT Segment 1, the first 6.7 miles of Seg 1. Your first-opportunity, non-closed CT entry point, though, is Lenny’s Rest Bench at mile 7.9 of Seg 1, where the side trails from both Indian Creek Trailhead and Roxborough State Park intersect the CT. Potentially helpful are the bottom-of-the-page info and map presented here:
Alternative CT Starts near Denver via ColoradoTrail.org
Other possibly helpful links:
Long-term PARKING possibilities include RV Storage businesses like this one