Heil Valley Ranch

Describing this trail is like Buddy the Elf describing his journey from the North Pole, «I passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel.»
The trails here are twisty, gooey, flowing single tracks that open into picturesque views of vistas, overlooks and meadows with rocks, flagstone and stumps acting as natural obstacles.
When you cruise down the Wapiti Trail, you are zooming into the seven levels of the wildflower forrest and your tires are sticking like half «sucked-​on» gum drops to the grippy, tacky trail surface… like pizza sauce clings to a white blouse.
Your eyes start to tear from the breeze, and it’s so quiet, you can actually hear the echo cries of a Canyon Wren and your stretching cheek skin as a smile rips across your face.
Then you do it all over again.

I spent all day here on the Wapiti Trail and Ponderosa Loop, about 8 miles total, in mid-​May. I think it is a great trainer trail close to Boulder, easy to get to to acclimatize and prepare for mountain trails. It was a beautiful hike, and we got to see some mule deer, which I had not expected.
The downside is, despite all their bitching about how rocky the trail is, Wapiti is heavily used by mountain bikers, so you will quite frequently have to get off to the side to let them by. If you are looking for some peace, you may not find it as the avalanches of sweating and grunting macho bikers pump past you. I would use this as a training and exercise trail — save your bliss for the the real mountain trails where bikers are banned or unable to compete with hikers.

So time to update Heil Valley. They have just opened a new trail that branches off the Turkey Run Trail and leads down to the town of Lyons. I haven’t had a chance to ride that trail yet, but I will soon.
The Turkey Run Trail has firmed up from my last review. There are still areas that are a bit soft and the cactus on the sides of the trail require extra vigilance. Also, this trail has some rocks that will sneak up on you. This past summer I had a wreck that resulted in a broken leg due to the high speeds and sneaky rocks.
Heil maintains its ⁴⁄₅ stars because the upper loop is still a mess of PITA rocks. In truth a 4.5÷5 is a more accurate rating due to the firming up of Turkey Run.