A Hike Around the Lakes at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge

August 1, 2021

This morning, we headed back to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge to hike along a couple of the lakes.

We started by hiking around Lake Ladora.

There were several people fishing in Lake Ladora. The first part of the flat hike was mostly under cottonwood trees. The shade was very nice. The edge of the lake was lined with cattails in several places. Dragonflies darted everywhere.

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There were flowers next to the path.

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We crossed a narrow floating bridge as we walked back to our starting point. The cattail were several feet above our heads. I reached up my arm and the cattails were still a foot taller.

We saw a male Redwing Black Bird, a female Redwing Black Bird, and some almost grown chicks.

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Here are some pictures that show some of the features of the lake. The did have some benches and picnic tables along the trail.

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On the map, the Lake Ladora loop trail was 1.6 miles. It is a flat and very easy trail. We saw families with babies in strollers walking the trail.

Lake Mary is just a short walk way from Lake Ladora. Lake Mary has boardwalks over the lake.

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The Lake Mary loop trail is .6 miles. We only walked along the boardwalk, before turning around and heading back to truck.

We were hungry and wanted to get something eat. If I had realized what a nice spot it would be for a picnic, I would have taken a picnic lunch for us.

I am very glad we went back, even if we didn’t take the Wildlife Loop this time.