Home Album Guide to Rabbit Mountain Topo No Story
| Distance: | Approx. 1/4 mi to the junction for the trails - 1 mile to the overlook and 2.5 mi. around the loop |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
| Hike Time: | 1.5 hours for each trail - or more if you linger. |
| Elevation: | 5500 ft. to 5850 ft. (the loop) or 6000 ft. (the overlook) |
| Season: | Year Round - watch for rattle snakes from mid-March to mid-Octorber - Some areas posted during the nesting season. |
| USGS Maps: | Hygiene and Carter Lake Reservoir |
| Directions: From: Longmont |
From the intersection of US 287 and Colorado 66 in North Longmont, Drive 6.8 mi. West on highway 66 to N. 53rd Street. Turn North just past the Longmont Water Tank and follow the road 2.8 mi. to the trailhead. |
The summit of Rabbit Mountain is posted and closed during the nesting season to protect the golden eagle habitat. Please avoid all posted areas.
Rabbit Mountain offers an easy hike or mountain bike ride at the confluence of the Great Plains and the Rocky mountains. The trails offer sweeping vistas of the plains of central Colorado as well as the Rocky Mountain Continental Divide. The wilderness preserve is managed by the Boulder County Parks and Opens Space system so the trails are well maintain and easy to follow. The park is open from sunrise to sunset; pets are allowed on a leash; mountain bikes are allowed but camping is not.
There are two main trails located in the preserve; the Little Thompson Overlook trail and the Eagle Wind Loop on Rabbit Mountain. In addition there is a third route, the Indian Mesa trail which follows a road East for a short way before turning North to the boundary of the park. It is 1.6 mi. one way but is not shown on my TOPO, although it is shown on the trailhead map.
The following information is summarized from a brochure produced by the Boulder County Parks and Open Space Dept. The area has been inhabited for at least 5,000 years by nomadic hunting and gatherers - until the Arapaho Indians were "displaced" the middle of the 1800s. Rabbit Mountain was an ideal wintering place for the Native Americans.
Geologically Rabbit Mountain was formed by the erosion of an anticline produced by the formation of the Rocky Mountains 65 million years ago. There are two major faults in the area resulting in seven natural springs caused by underground water trapped by the anticline. Slippage along area faults has cause Rabbit Mountain to be about 3 miles East of the hogback ridge that it is derived from and in addition, it's orientation, with it's steepest side on the East and the gentlest slope on the west, is the opposite to orientation of the main foothill hogbacks.
The grasslands of the plains and the forests of the mountains or the foothills provide an ecology in which many plants and animals thrive. The ecology of Rabbit Mountain is primarily shrub growth and is characteristically dry and rocky. The area is home to owls, hawks, falcons and eagles; mammals include mice, voles, rabbits, prairie dogs, deer, elk and occasionally, mountain lions.
Trekker