In the summer, when there are 14 to 15 hours of daylight each day, hitting Mount Galbraith near Golden for a beautiful and vigorous hike before work is glorious. Located at the threshold of Golden Gate Canyon, I can get in a hike of 4.5 miles in a little over two hours, with an elevation gain of almost 1,000 feet.
I prefer it as a weekday morning hike because this hike attracts a lot of folks on weekends, and there are only 27 parking spaces at the trailhead. The last time I did it, on June 21, there were only six cars in the lot when I started the hike at 6 a.m.
It was an especially beautiful Friday morning. Temperatures were in the low 60s under a light overcast sky. As I climbed the first mile, a lovely fog bank hung over Arvada.
I was back in my car at 8:15 a.m. The trailhead, which is located 1.
2 miles up Golden Gate Canyon Road from Highway 93, is at 6,280 feet. The hike begins with a 1.3-mile climb up the Cedar Gulch Trail to the Mount Galbraith Loop trail, which rings the upper part of the mountain.
After completing the loop, descent is via Cedar Gulch. The loop can be done clockwise or counter-clockwise. There are some narrow rock scrambles on the backside of the mountain that are less threatening to climb up than go down, if you hike in the counter-clockwise direction.
Those aren’t the only rocky sections on this hike, so I do recommend bringing trekking poles, even though most of the trail is pretty smooth. Hiking clockwise, the first 1.5 mile offers views of Nor.
