Matthews Winters Park Hike

Last week, my friend Shawnelle was in town!

Shawnelle and I met in Germany about six years ago when we worked for the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort (that’s where I met Anthony too!), and quickly became friends.

I don’t get to see her often since she lives in California, so when Shawnelle wanted to visit this summer, I was super-excited!

Knowing that the altitude might make hiking hard, we decided to go to Matthews Winters park, which is just outside Golden and doesn’t involve a huge amount of uphill climbing.

Anthony and I had been to Matthews Winters before, shortly after we moved out here, and had had some trouble breathing, but we seem to have gotten over that, finally!

One thing to note about Matthews Winters is that there are a lot of rattlesnakes. Last time we were there, we had to dodge a big one on the trail, and this time we heard one rattling as we passed–we looked back and he’d come out of the grass and was sunning himself. Be careful!

We had lunch at the top and took a bunch of photos (it’s what Shawnelle and I do!), then headed back.

I really like this hike because it’s pretty easy, and has great views of Red Rocks and the foothills!

-Erin