Outdoors

Trails & the River

Two creeks, one whitewater park, and five trail areas inside fifteen minutes of Main Street. Start with the river: the number below decides what kind of day it is.

The St. Vrain, right now

The river

The North and South St. Vrain join in the middle of town, and the state gauge just below the confluence reports the flow every fifteen minutes. The reading below is that gauge, with a plain-language translation.

Saint Vrain Creek at Lyons

— cfs

Live reading loads with scripting on

Without it, the gauge’s own page has the current number and the last week’s graph.

Colorado Division of Water Resources station SVCLYOCO.

The gauge, with the week’s graph

Right now

September: low water, best walking, elk bugling

The river is down to wading and fishing water, the days are clear and the nights cold. The artisan market in Bohn Park, the last concerts, and the elk bugling on the Hall Ranch meadows at dusk. Cottonwoods start to turn along the river at the end of the month. The best month for the trails.

A day in Lyons The trails

What the number means

Levels, as locals read them

A rule of thumb from the outfitters and the tubing regulars, not a rule. Cubic feet per second (cfs) is the gauge’s unit. Children twelve and under must wear a life jacket on the river in Lyons; everyone should when it is fast.

The North St. Vrain pouring white between red boulders in the canyon above Lyons — Runoff in the canyon: this is a “high” reading, and not tubing water

Under 40Low. Too shallow for tubes and you will walk the riffles; fine for wading, fishing and sitting on the whitewater-park rocks. Most of September to April.

40 – 100Mellow. Easy tubing through LaVern M. Johnson Park with a life jacket on the kids. Late summer.

100 – 300Prime. The classic float from the Apple Valley Road bridge down through town, with the park’s drops at their best. Usually July into August.

300 – 700Fast. Pushy water and real holes in the park; life jackets, experienced floaters, no first-timers, no small children. Late June and early July in a big snow year.

700 – 1,200High. Not for tubes. Kayakers and rafters only, and the park features wash out. Peak runoff, late May to mid-June.

Over 1,200Flood watch. The Town posts advisories at this level and localized flooding begins; stay off the water and away from cut banks.

Sources for the thresholds: the local tubing outfitters’ guidance and the Town’s 2023 flood-advisory threshold. The Town’s river page carries the current rules and any closure.

Tubing

Three put-ins, all free. The Apple Valley Road bridge on US 36 just west of town gives the long float through the canyon meadows to LaVern M. Johnson Park. The park itself, on Colorado 7 at the west edge of town, is the short run through the whitewater features. The take-out most people use is at the bottom of the park; a longer float continues under Main Street to the east end. Tubes and life jackets rent in town in summer.

The whitewater park

A quarter-mile of engineered pools and drops on the North St. Vrain inside LaVern M. Johnson Park, rebuilt after the 2013 flood. Kayak play at 300 cfs and up; tubes and bodies at anything less. The bank is sandstone slab and lawn, so it is also the best picnic and spectator spot in town. A Town parking pass applies to the lot on busy days.

Fishing

Wild browns and stocked rainbows on both forks, best in the low, clear water of late summer and fall. Bohn Park has an accessible fishing platform. Up County Road 80, Ralph Price Reservoir in Button Rock Preserve holds browns, rainbows and splake, and needs a City of Longmont permit on top of the Colorado licence: 600 a year, sold from April. Colorado fishing licence

Five areas, fifteen minutes

The trails

Distances and rules from the managing agency’s own page, linked in each row. Sunrise to sunset; no camping at any of them.

Area	The trails	Dogs	Bikes	Trailhead & parking
Hall RanchBoulder County · 1 mile west on CO 7	13.6 miles. Bitterbrush (3.7 mi, difficult) climbs the rocky front to the Nelson Loop (2.2 mi) through ponderosa meadows and the Nelson house ruins; Nighthawk (4.7 mi, hikers and horses) is the quieter way up; Antelope (1 mi) the short one; Button Rock Trail (2 mi, foot only) drops west toward the preserve. Elk in winter, wildflowers in June. County page	No	Yes on Bitterbrush, Nelson Loop and Antelope; the Front Range’s classic climb	Hall Ranch trailhead: 64 spaces in two lots, restrooms, shelter; Antelope trailhead: 8 spaces. Full by 9 on summer weekends.
Heil Valley RanchBoulder County · south of town off US 36	19 miles. Picture Rock (5.2 mi, moderate) runs from the Lyons side up to the ranch and links to Wild Turkey (2.9 mi) and Wapiti (3 mi) for a long loop; Ponderosa Loop (2.6 mi), Overland Loop (2.3 mi) and the short Schoolhouse and Lichen loops sit near the main trailheads. On-trail only: it is elk habitat. County page	No	Yes on most trails; no e-bikes anywhere on the ranch	Picture Rock trailhead on Red Gulch Road, off US 36 south of Lyons: 25 spaces, restroom. Wapiti (main) and Corral trailheads off Lefthand Canyon Drive; the Wapiti lot can close in monsoon season.
Rabbit MountainRon Stewart Preserve, Boulder County · north-east off CO 66	The dry, low, early-season option with the big view back to Longs Peak. Eagle Wind loop (about 2.5 mi, moderate), Little Thompson Overlook (1.5 mi one way) and Indian Mesa (about 2 mi) all start at the one trailhead. Rattlesnakes in summer; hunting closures some autumn days. County page	Yes, on leash	Yes on Eagle Wind	N. 53rd Street, 2.8 miles north of CO 66: 38 spaces, restroom, shelter, horse trailer spaces.
Button Rock PreserveCity of Longmont · 7 miles west, end of County Road 80	Longmont’s watershed around Ralph Price Reservoir. The gated Longmont Dam Road is a gentle 2-mile walk along the North St. Vrain to the dam; the Sleepy Lion trail (2 mi) climbs above it and makes a 5.4-mile loop with the road. Fishing by permit. City page	No	No	Dirt lot at the road end, small and full early on weekends; no parking on the road.
In townTown of Lyons	The river path links Sandstone Park, the Depot and LaVern M. Johnson Park without crossing the highway; the St. Vrain Trailhead on 2nd Avenue gives the south bank and Bohn Park, with the dirt-jump bike park beside the fields. Flat, short, and the right length for the evening.	Yes, on leash; off-leash park at Bohn Park	Yes	Free street parking on Main; Town pass in the park lots on busy days.

A hiker on the red-dirt Bitterbrush trail at Hall Ranch, sandstone ridge behind — The Bitterbrush trail, Hall Ranch

Ponderosa pines above a rocky slope at Hall Ranch, looking across to the hogback and the plains — The view east from the Nelson Loop

Colorado 7 winding between red sandstone walls in the South St. Vrain canyon — Colorado 7 past the Hall Ranch trailhead into the South St. Vrain canyon

Where it all is

The map

Trailheads in green, parks in teal, the put-ins, the gauge and Main Street for bearings. Pick a pin for the agency page and directions.

Opening the map loads tiles from OpenStreetMap; nothing is requested until you do. How that works.

Before you go

Closures, weather and the rules that bite

Closures: The county closes trails after storms, for prescribed burns on the Nelson Loop between January and April, and for elk and raptors in season. County trail closures
Mud: Riding or walking a muddy trail ruts it for the season; the county asks you to turn back if you are leaving prints. Rabbit Mountain dries first, Hall Ranch by late spring.
Weather: Afternoon lightning most summer days from about one o’clock; start early. Chinook winds through the canyon mouth in winter. The National Weather Service forecast for Lyons
Fire: Stage 1 and 2 restrictions are common from June; check before any flame, including at the campground. Current fire restrictions
Parking passes: The Town’s park lots use a parking pass on busy days; the county trailheads are free. Parking, on the visitor page
Emergencies: Call 911. Lyons Fire runs swiftwater rescue on the St. Vrain; Boulder County Sheriff covers the open space.