Just to south of Canon City are what they called the south Canon trails. They are primarily mountain biking trails but most are also hikeable and some are equestrian friendly as well….you just never know who you’re going to meet on the trails.
First time we went, we did a couple of easy ones to get to the one called “Hard Time” which was labelled as difficult. Difficult to hike maybe due to the elevation gain over a very short distance, impossible to bike (in our opinion) Some spots we so narrow and steep we couldn’t see how anyone could ride, little own carry a bike around it….crazy people out there I guess because there were tire tracks to prove it had been done.
Subsequent visits we did some different trails that were more moderately difficult. Lots of ups and downs and significant elevation gain. One of our favourites was the redemption hike which included a mile long slot canyon we scrambled up and down thru, we especially loved that part. Our longest hike here was 7 miles and almost 1000 ft elevation gain.
The views from on top of the ridges were amazing and there were plenty of different wild flowers along the trails, very pretty. Luckily the only run in we had with wildlife were a couple of brief encounters with mule deer, lots of lizards dashing about and thankfully no snake encounters (rattlers are common)