Hiking in Lakewood: Green Mountain

View from Green Mountain Summit with old summit marker rock

Spring is a good time of year to explore the trails on Green Mountain in Lakewood. After a wet May, Green Mountain is actually quite green and the wildflowers are exploding in colors of yellow, white, purple and blue.

Another reason to visit Green Mountain in the spring and not the summer is the lack of tree cover. This is not a place you want to be a hot, sunny day or stormy afternoon.

Green Mountain is a Lakewood city park. It's called William Frederick Hayden Park and it's Lakewood's second-largest park.

There are at least four parking lots along the perimeter of the park: the Rooney, Forsberg, Utah and Florida lots. The lots vary in size, the Florida lot has parking for about 30 vehicles and a portapotty. For directions, google 13535 W Alameda Pkwy, Lakewood. From 6th Avenue West, exit Union/Simms and turn left, after 1.1 miles turn right on Alameda and drive about 1.7 miles to the trailhead on your right. The trailhead has a very small sign on a pole just before the turnoff that says "William Frederick Hayden Park."

There are two trails out of the parking lot, either will take you to Green Mountain, but start at the east end for a loop hike. (There are two trails here, take the left trail)

The Green Mountain trail quickly begins to climb the mountain. Expect to climb 225 feet in just the first 0.4 mile and 550 feet in the first mile or so to the radio tower. It's not terribly steep, but it will give you a work out. From the radio tower the trail moderates, gaining another 150 feet in the next mile to the summit. Keep following the signs for the Green Mountain trail. From the radio tower to the summit the trail gets more rocky, becoming almost slick at times due to the amount of small rocks on the trail. The summit is a bit deceiving, but when it feels like you've started going down the backside, turnaround and look for the summit on the south side of the trail. At the top, there is a large pile of rocks. That's not the summit. The summit marker was on a nearby rock, look for the indention in the top. (see photo above) In May 09, the summit marker was missing, though there was another marker on a nearby rock.

From here, hikers can choose several looping trails or return on the Green Mountain Trail to the John O. Hayden Trail. The Hayden trail winds back down the mountain toward the Utah parking lot. Just before the parking lot, the Green Mountain Trail turns left, taking hikers the last 0.3 of a mile to the Florida parking lot.

Want to make the hike more interesting for kids? If you have a GPS device, consider looking for one or more of the several geocaches in the park. For a list, visit the geocaching Web site. The zip code for the park is 80228. If you don't have a GPS, one geocache to look for is in the rocks on the north side of the trail by the radio tower. Search under the rocks for a very small box. Consider bringing a very small trinket to leave behind and make sure you return to the box to its hiding spot so the next person can enjoy the adventure.

The loop of the Green Mountain Trail to the summit and back down the Hayden trail is 4.5 miles with a total elevation gain of about 800 feet. This makes for an ideal after work hike in the evening, especially on cooler evenings.

View William Frederick Hayden Park, Green Mountain, Florida Lot in a larger map