Paul and I made a 7.1 mile loop by linking several trails in the system. We began from the day use parking lot and headed out on the Zook Loop. We then joined the Blackmer Loop and took the Cougar spur. The Cougar spur parallels the Blackmer loop to the west and gains a bit more elevation. After rejoining the Blackmer loop we retraced our way back on Zook until we came across Sundance and we ran that counterclockwise to Talon. We ran Talon back to the truck.

The north sides of the hills were experiencing severe melt yesterday as the temperature climbed into the low 60's. There was "Psycho Wyco" type of mud in several sections of these trails, probably around 1/4 mile in total.

The trails themselves are immature as the park is still fairly new. That is, the initial trails have been laid in but the pea gravel topping has been overcome by the undersurface. The trails were very soft and will need more material brought in to stabilize the tread.

Some parts of Blackmer and all of the Cougar spur are great single track trails. The park does not allow dogs on the trail so the smells of nature are fairly pure, even from the trailhead. This could quickly become one of my new favorite places to run.

The trail information about Cheyenne Mountain State Park has been put up on the website. I will add a section here for updates for conditions and other information about the park and trails.