Nederland, CO - Unit 29

Aspen Grove near Nederland, CO

Unit 29

July 2009

Uni 29 north of Nederland, Colorado is lush in some places. This is one of those places. You'll also find plenty of water and great habitat around Caribou, Colorado nearby. If you have kids or not a lot of time you might consider parking at the Sourdough Trailhead and walking south from there. There are a series of old road that go around this lush aspen grove. It's a nice, easy walk with a good chance of seeing elk early in the morning and especially when it snows. In dry years there are a lot of elk in the aspens. In wet years there are few and you'll have to wait until Maybe late November or December before tracking some nice bulls who winter here for a while. This is a transition area. Either elk are feeding here, wintering here for a while or passing through to private land. Don't visit on a weekend. The elk avoid the area on the weekends for the most part. Too many hikers and road traffic. The elevation of the area is a perfect 9,000 feet so you can find elk here almost all year.

This fine day in July was cool with rain threatening. The University of Colorado Research Center is off to the right of this area. You can control their tundra camera online. It's a good idea to check the web cam before heading up.

You can see the area is lush even in the small meadows. There is a small road or hiking trail we are on. This is about the spot where kids will complain. Ask them to push through the boredom and pain because it gets better from here. That's my best friend in the photo. Life was only half full until I met him and his Mom. Now my life is overflowing with pure joy. I never knew life could be this great. This is the view heading south. You can hear cars along the Peak to Peak highway from this spot. We just crossed a small creek. This area looks very small on a map. It is surrounded by private property to the south, west and north. That's ok because it's just big enough to hike around and hunt elk. To see it all would take a few days of hiking. This area has a perfect mixture of dark timber for bedding, steep slopes, and the best aspen grove within the entire Denver metropolitan area.

Yes, mushrooms in July! It's been a very wet year along the front range of Colorado. This one is a whopper.

You can see how easy the walking is on this loop that takes you south and west of the parking area. It takes a little over an hour with kids. And the things you can see along the way are very educational. Old mines, elk sign, and a lot of plant life. Elk tend to travel to the north and south directions when they are in the area. Some elk summer north of here and when the rut starts they will head south to this general area to find cows. There is a small herd of elk that mate on the Caribou ranch nearby. The closest parking area to hear them bugle is the Caribou Open Space just north of Nederland on the Peak to Peak highway.

Elk winter in the area and here is some proof. Most will eventually cross the highway near the meadow by the turn off to this area. It takes about 1 foot of snow or more for the elk to migrate out. There is more food on private lands at lower elevations. The elk population in the area isn't impressive at all. Only about 1,100 elk live in the unit. And the unit is huge.

I expected to find more elk in the area but it is July and there are too many people in the area for the elk to tolerate them much. They are higher up around the many lakes that make up the Boulder watershed (private). Notice the faint elk print in the pine needles? This is the only fresh sign I found. Elk are like ghosts in this area. You'll find enough sign to give you hope but it's hard to find elk.

The loop around is really nice.

There is a good stretch of dark timber south of the aspen grove. It is at the base of a very steep aspen covered slope. That's where you want to be at some point in your day. The habitat is perfect for elk. Check out the aerial photos from Google, Digital Globe or even Terraserver.

There are plenty of scrapes in the area. Not too old. Not far off the trail and road. It tells me there are some good satellite bulls in the area and the bulls move through this area. Like I said there is some private land south of the aspen grove where some elk go during the rut.

A bone near the trail tells me some elk expire during the winter. Probably in December or March. Bulls that over extend themselves during the fall can expire usually in December. Then some die in March just on the edge of another spring.

The dark timber in the area is fabulous. Just like the Troublesome but not as far of a drive. This is where you want to sneak through during the day. You can't move fast. Elk notice movement better than they can see. They are very keen to vertical movement in the area.

There are some good markers in the area. We did the loop clockwise from the parking lot to the main dirt road. Stick to your right at every intersection and you'll be fine. There are many options in the area.

Where aspens mix with pine - this is elk heaven!

Notice the scrape in the center of the photo? There were enough scrapes from 2008 to make me reconsider this area for archery season. It obviously has some very good bull activity.

The trail may climb 100-200 feet in elevation from the creek we crossed east of here.

Another good scrape.

This marker isn't far from the main dirt road at all. Some people will park along the dirt road and pick up the trail from here. A lot of people like to drive up after work in the evening during September to test their elk calling techniques.

This is the main dirt road. Follow it to Rainbow Lakes Campground. Or continue on to Caribou, Colorado. A very nice drive if you have a car or 4WD.

The old road or trail continues on westward. I'd suggest following this west as far as you can for easy access to the large ridge west of the big aspen grove.

You can park here. There isn't much space at this pull out off the main dirt road.

Like I said, this habitat is perfect for elk.

If you get a chance to visit do it. It's not far from Boulder and Denver and worth spending a day or two. It's popular place to visit on the weekends. You won't be alone almost anytime you visit in the summer. I urge you to park and hike west up the big ridge. There are old miner cabins on top and you might even run into moose. Be aware of the private property lines. Boulder is serious about their watershed. Don't trespass there. Most people will hike around the aspen grove. If you want to see elk head west up the long ridge. It's not a bad climb at all. That's where you want to hunt in the fall west of the road.