Hi All,

Wife and I have two boys who will be 2 and 4 years old this summer. We'd like to begin section hiking the CO Trail as a family, ideally in sequential order east to west. I'd love to start this year as it would be very meaningful but the logistics are challenging. I was hoping anyone with familiarity around the eastern edge of the trail could weigh in. Particularly interested in:
  1. Steepness / Difficulty - Can an active, coordinated 4 year old manage it, or is there scrambling, etc?
  2. Are there tent sites at mile 8.0 Bear Creek? Seems to be reliable water source and could be a good stopping point for Day 1.
  3. Mile 8.0 to 15.4 (Road 97) or 16.1 (South Platte Townsite) - Is there water or camping in here? I think our 4 year old could cover this stretch in two days, but not one. I think anything over 2 miles will result in some time carrying him in our arms, which is ok, but we can't do that for 7+ miles.


If we start the section hike this year, I think one parent would have to bike the kids and a kid carrier pack to the dam in a trailer, with the other parent starting out earlier with a heavier pack with gear. Kids would have a snack and play near the dam while the biking parent returned the bike and got back to the dam over the next couple hours.

Any thoughts on the latter half of Section 1?

Thanks!