Roosevelt National Forest: Round Mountain Trail with a Side-Trip to Stone Mountain

I got permission to go for a solo hike today. With a forecast of nice weather, I decided that a trip down into Colorado to hike the Round Mountain National Recreation Trail might be in order. I awoke at 5 am this morning, took the dog for a walk and then grabbed my gear for the drive. I was on the road by 5:30. I stopped at McDonalds in Cheyenne to grab breakfast to go and, after stopping for gas in Wellington, made it to the trailhead just west of Loveland by a little after 8 am. There were 3 other vehicles in the lot upon my arrival. I quickly readied my gear and then hit the trail.

The trail starts out as a wide, closed road. 

There are some pretty nice views right off the bat. 

I quickly turned off the nature trail and onto the "Summit Trail". 

It seems the Round Mountain trail goes by two names; it's also known as the Summit Adventure Trail. Interestingly, it doesn't lead to the summit of Round Mountain, but instead Sheep Mountain. Talk about confusing. The trail starts on land that I assume is owned by the City of Loveland, but pretty quickly passes into Roosevelt National Forest. 

The trail is 4.75 miles to the summit of Sheep Mountain and each mile is marked with a post.

I would say that the first two miles of the trail are the steepest. Beyond the first mile, views opened up west to the high, snow-covered peaks.

At mile 3, the trail gets a bit rockier and you pass this interesting rock formation that sits right on the trail. Toilet rock?

Beyond the rocky section the trail heads into the woods on the way to the summit. There are not any views from the summit proper. There is a benchmark at the summit 

and a large cairn that I took a selfie at. 

Embedded in the cairn is a metal cannister that contains the summit register. 

I signed the register 

and ate a snack, and then headed back towards the way I had come. 

On the way down, I felt I had enough energy to take a bit of a detour. In between miles markers 4 and 3 there is a faint path that leads east. Just beyond the trail junction is a tree with a metal marker embedded in it. 

The unofficial trail leads south of a ridge and you can catch intermittent views of Longs Peak and Mount Meeker through the trees.

After a short walk a view of Stone Mountain comes into view. That would be my objective for this part of the hike.

There is a bit of an easy scramble to get the the summit of Stone Mountain. Once up at the top, the view is amazing. You can see Longs and Meeker, Horsetooth Rock, Loveland, Fort Collins, and my favorite view, out to the Mummy Range.

I met two guys from Greeley up there. I talked to them for a bit, had one of them take my photo, and then I set off to hike back to the car. The hike down went pretty fast, but I did take some time to enjoy the views down the Big Thompson River Canyon.

I arrived back at my car to find a packed parking lot ready for the long drive back to Gering.