Colorado Trail Spotlight - East/West Regional Trail to Highlands Point

**Originally written in May, 2020**

The East/West Regional Trail is approximately 19.5 miles winding through grasslands and oak bluffs, including a thousand acres of Highlands Ranch Back Country. While there are several hike variations along this trail, we focused on Highlands Point from Grigs Road.

Dirt trails and sprawling views

About nine weeks into our Covid-19 quarantine, I hit a wall. I was grumpy and stir-crazy and absolutely zero fun to be around. I had confined my pregnant self to our home for far too long, until I realized that it was not necessary. As much as I wanted to keep my family, myself, and the sweet babe growing within me safe, there was no reason to avoid fresh air. This was the turnaround point for me, after this, we spent every weekend seeking new trails and refreshing our moods.

View of the Front Range

Easy hike with light hills

I pulled out my phone and googled until I found a trail that was reasonably close to home and that would provide the necessary mood-lifting boost. I stumbled across Highlands Point, railed the troops, and hit the road. It was the best thing I could have done for all of us – the views, the smells, the fresh air spoke to all of us and bumped us all back to our “normal” selves.

My three-year-old spent most of the time in the stroller, but that was due to his mood, not his ability. He did hike the last half mile back to the car though, once he had a snack in his belly, and allowed the scenic environment to sink in.

Highlands Point

Highlands Point has a large compass spread out on the ground, off trail. This is a great spot to rest, have a snack and soak up some incredible views. Everett loved this area, he got to explore with no pressure. There are really cute “telescopes” set up to see different points of interest, such as Longs Peak and Pikes Peak. Since moving to Colorado, this really was Everett’s first adventure discovering his new home. I highly recommend this trail as a fun activity to do with out-of-town guests because of the views and the points of interests being so obviously laid out.

11700 Grigs Road

Littleton, CO 80126