Best trail run
Alderfer/ Three Sisters Park
The hills west of Denver are crisscrossed with trails aplenty, but they aren’t all wonderful. Some are poorly maintained (or mangled by mountain-bike tracks); others are too exposed to the harsh summer sun, which at 8,000 feet can fry you before you’ve hit the two-mile mark. Alderfer Three Sisters, on the west side of Evergreen, offers the best of all worlds: scenic vistas (Mt. Evans looms to the west), nicely maintained trails, steep climbs and thrilling roller-coaster cruises, and protective groves of pine and aspen that are close-enough-together to save your hide, but open enough so that the trails are among the first in the area to dry after a drenching rain.