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Hall
Ranch Trail
Hall
Ranch has been heralded as a crucial wildlife habitat. It is
home to the tiny ruby-crowned kinglet, golden eagle, great horned
owl, Cooper's hawk, night hawk, mountain lion, elk, bighorn
sheep, white-tailed deer, black-tailed prairie dog, coyote,
fox, badger and bobcat. The prairie rattlesnake is also commonly
seen from March through October at Hall Ranch.
Hall
Ranch has multiuse trails and picnic shelters available for
visitors and is located one mile west of the town of Lyons on
Highway 7.
HALL RANCH MAP
History
Hall
Ranch is located at the interface between the mountains and
the plains. The western portion of the ranch is made up of igneous
rock formed more than a billion years ago. The eastern side
is composed of more recent, red sedimentary Fountain and Lyons
Formations which has been extensively quarried. Many of the
buildings on the University of Colorado's Boulder campus were
built using stone from these quarries.
The
property was the home of the Arapaho and Cheyenne Indian tribes
before the more than 20 different Anglo families lived and operated
businesses at Hall Ranch. These families prospected, farmed
and quarried sandstone.
If
you travel on the Nelson Loop Trail, you will be in the historic
Antelope Parks area which was originally homesteaded by Rich
Clark in 1890. In 1922, the homestead was purchased by the Nelson
Family. In the mid-1940s, Hallyn and June Hall bought the property
and for more than 50 years, it was a working ranch. Boulder
County Parks and Open Space bought the property in 1993 shortly
after the passage of the 0.25% open space sales tax.
Trails
Hall
Ranch consists of 3,206 acres of backcountry. Because of its
importance as a wildlife habitat, we strive to balance the protection
of wildlife and recreation. Therefore, dogs are not allowed
on this open space property.
Hall
Ranch provides over 12 miles of multiuse trails. Bitterbrush
Trail (3.7 miles) and Nelson Loop (2.2 miles) are both multiuse
trails open to hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians.
The
Nighthawk Trail (4.7 miles) is open to hikers and equestrians
and Button Rock Trail (2 miles) is open only to hikers.
Facilities
The
entrance to Hall Ranch is found on Highway 7, one mile west
of Lyons.
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