The park is 12,000 acres of beauty with elevations ranging from 7,600 to 10,400 feet located northwest of the city of Golden.  We hiked 4.0 mile trail to Panorama Point with very scenic views north towards Rocky Mountain National Park.  The trail is heavily wooded with Aspen, Lodge Pole and Ponderosa Pines with various colorful wild flowers along the path.  The trail is considered moderate but there is an elevation gain of 1,043 feet – whew.  I know what goes up must come down, I just don’t remember anything but climbing up, up and up some more.  The hike was well worth the effort and we enjoyed it thoroughly.

The campground has large sites, lots of trees for shade on a sunny afternoon and very quiet. We found it very relaxing listening to the rustling leaves of the Aspen trees; it almost sounded like the waves gently rolling onto a beach.  So enjoyable to sit outside and just take in the scenery and the sounds.  This is a wonderful State Park and I would recommend it to anyone traveling this way.

There are several old mining towns within a very short driving distance to explore on short day trips from the State Park.