Roxborough State Park, located in the town of Littleton, Colorado, offers a variety of hiking for beginners and families. The park features the same beautiful red sandstone that is also located throughout the foothills including Red Rocks Park and Garden of the Gods. The park’s highest peak, Carpenter Peak, offers views of the Front Range and Denver. Roxborough State Park is close to Denver and the perfect spot to visit if you are looking to tackle a quick hike without wasting too much of your day.
Roxborough State Park Quick Facts
Roxborough State Park Rating: ★★★ (3/5 stars)
Distance: 4 -7 miles RT (depending on trail) – View a trail map here
Elevation Start: 6,198 ft
Summit: Various – Highest Point in Park 7,111 ft (Carpenter Peak)
Estimated Time to Complete: 1-3 Hours (depending on trail)
Difficulty: Easy What does this mean?
Season: Year Round (Expect Snow December – March)
Directions to Roxborough State Park
Getting Here: Roxborough State Park is located in the town of Littleton, Colorado and accessed via Rampart Range Road. Roxborough State Park can be entered into your favorite navigation app.
Parking: Parking will typically not be an issue here as there are several large lots to park in around the park. There are multiple bathrooms available at the park’s main trailhead as well.
Fees: There is a $10 fee to enter the park or you can buy an annual Colorado State Park Pass for $80.
Dogs: Unfortunately, no dogs are allowed in Roxbourgh State Park.
Summary
Camping: No camping is allowed in Roxborough State Park.
Make it a Loop: Most trails in Roxbourgh State Park are loops. If you are looking for a slightly more difficult hike, you can pair one of the park’s loops with Carpenter Peak.
Park X Factors: Lack of Wilderness
Roxborough State Park is a fantastic day trip and the park offers very similar geology to the widely popular Garden of the Gods. Similar to Garden of the Gods, the park is located right next to neighborhoods and heavily used roads. The park is certainly worth a visit, but if you are looking for a remote wilderness hike, this probably isn’t your best bet.
Hike Tip(s): Roxborough State Park is a great alternative to the widely popular Garden of the Gods and Red Rocks Park. Although the park does have a $10 entry fee, it is far less popular and much less crowded than both of them. In many of my trips to the park, I have had trails completely to myself. Visit the park in the evening hours for a great chance at seeing deer and other local wildlife.
Best Views: Roxborough State Park is a great place to take portrait shots. The red sandstone rocks offer a beautiful backdrop and there are many wide open spaces to shoot in. If you are looking for the best aerial views of the park, take a hike up to Carpenter Peak or check out the Fountain Valley loop.
My Trip to Roxborough State Park: July 2016
Roxborough State Park was one of the first hikes I tackled when I moved out to Colorado. On my first visit, I was shocked how beautiful and uncrowded Roxborough was compared to many parks in the area. For whatever reason however, I literally have a black cloud over my head when I visit Roxborough State Park. The rain showers have actually been nice though because the park is generally 600 degrees (approximately).
Jackie and I arrived to the park around 1PM and there were about 20 other cars in the lot. Oddly though, when we started hiking, we hardly ran into any other people. The nice part about this Colorado State Park is there are ample trails to take and even after multiple visits, you can still hike a new trail. For this trip we decided to hike up Carpenter Peak and take one of our favorite trails, South Rim.
The hike up to Carpenter Peak offered fantastic aerial views into Roxborough State Park and was shaded for most of the trek up which was a nice reprieve from the 95 degree weather. After about an hour of hiking, we reached the summit and enjoyed the views into the residents’ back yards Denver. The hike up to Carpenter was nice, but if we were looking for aerial views of Roxborough State Park, we could have stopped about ¼ the way up and had better views than the summit itself provided.
Fifteen minutes of enjoying the summit to ourselves was enough, so we headed back down towards the park. The hike down was just as quick as the hike up and we were back down at the South Rim Loop trail in no time. The rain seemed to be on the same schedule as we were because it began to slowly pick up and eventually the skies opened up on us. Honestly though, neither one of us minded the raindrops because it cooled our bodies off from the hot Colorado summer sun.
As we made our way up the south rim of the park, the rain eventually tapered off and we both hoped for a rainbow, but none were visible. Towards the end of the loop, I was joking about seeing a deer to Jackie and turned out the joke was on me because we saw a doe eating her dinner in a field below the trail. It’s funny because this was the same spot we spotted a doe and her fawn the last time we were in Roxborough State Park.
The deer was unphased by her audience of two and continued munching on grass until we eventually moved along. A quick 10 minutes later we were back at the car and ready to head home.
