Lair of the Bear Reviews

Our "go to hiking" trail with younger children or those who'd like a more even trail with few rocks or other challenges. The creek along the trail is gorgeous!

Beautiful place to visit! Go early because it gets busy, almost too busy where you can't enjoy it.

The views and the rushing water make this place ideal for a Sunday afternoon.

Good trails close to Denver! Gets icy during colder months!

Great park for a short walk with younger kids. Trail is in very good condition with only a couple of spots that are loose. Strollers and easy biking on lower sections of paths. Extra parking can be found above the park on the main road.

Super cool place to walk/hike/run/fish/bike. Nice trails in shade and along water. Fun place to picnic in the summer.

Prefer this place in the winter. Pretty flat trails and no gotdang mosquitos.

So close to the city and just far enough away to take an afternoon walk by the creek.

Great hike for kids of course it's packed on weekends

Great hike! But very busy so be careful when parking on the road or driving through the parking lot.

Nice park with wide and easy trails highlighted by Bear Creek, a great clean river that follows along much of the main trail. There is an out and back as well as some small loops. Hikes are short and family friendly if you stay in this park. If you continue on the bear creek trail you'll enter corwina, o'fallon and pence parks managed by Denver mountain parks.

Can get really busy, but parking is larger and after multiple trips have always managed to find parking if you go early and arrive before 8:30 or so on the weekend and during the peak hiking season.

A busy, albeit very busy park. Has a nice leisurely riverwalk up to a castle, as well as a short hillside loop with a small climb. Lots of picnicking tables and great creekside access. Several easy climbing trees along the river.

Always popular but spread out enough that it's still peaceful. Beautiful trails and scenery.

Great day hike, serene setting close to all of Denver

The Lair O' the Bear Park is close to the Red Rocks Amphitheater. There's free parking with 30+ parking spots, but it can fill up during popular hours. There are public bathrooms and a large, covered park map near the parking area. Be sure to take a photo to use as a reference. We hiked 2 miles up the Bear Creek trail and back in about 1.5 hours. Pics included from our hike in mid October.

Great spot to picnic. Gets busy on the weekends and lot can fill up.

Nice park in the mountains, but has become too busy.

Like the rest of Colorado now days, always way to many people to enjoy nature.

Fun and fairly easy hike. Great walk to enjoy with some friends and family. A good mix of shade and sunshine without breaking a sweat of hills. I like that you can always hearing the running water from the creek to which you walk along the entire way.

At the end, enjoy lunch at the picnic tables or some random boulders to soak in the beauty of Colorado.

Great park, access to easy and difficult hiking and biking trails along the river. Picnic tables and benches along the way as well.

Awesome hike, plenty benches, a pavillion, running water, bike service station, awesome park turns out no hammocking.

Excellent trails from beginner to advanced. We like it because we can stroll around with little kids.

Great trail for the dog and excellent for photo opps!
Not too difficult, we did it 8 months pregnant.
Don't take an untrained leash dog though. It can be difficult when the trails narrow and other pets and people have to negotiate by.

Fantastic trails around the creek and up the hillsides.

Great park that offers a lot of options for families, hikers and mtb-ers.

My dogs favorite trail! The creek is so nice to hike along, especially for the pup. Also, there s a castle right off the trail. Who doesn t love a great castle?!

Awesome experience. Trails are well kept and hikers were very friendly. The air smelled amazing.

First time there, the views were amazing and a great hike along with it. Not terribly difficult, but decent elevation. We started at 6:30 am on a Saturday and it was very quiet. By the end, the parking lot had a line waiting to enter. That was close to noon. I'd definitely go back again, betting it's even nicer in fall.

Even though the parking lot was a little full, there's so many paths to explore and so much space. Once we got deep enough in we barely saw any other people. It's easy to find your own little riverside nook, hang a hammock and chill.

We weren't able to go, it was super crowded, we ended up at O'Fallon park. But we did go last year and it was very nice.

Great trails! Enjoyed my first night ride with a good friend!

Went for biking. Liked it. The way up is a lung burner but the way down is very fun. The end along the creek is a great cool down. The downhill section was a little congested. Lots of hikers. The flow was good, there's a few jumps and cool rock sections. The turns are pretty sweet, except when it's really dry. Overall a pretty sweet spot.

Very peaceful walk along the creek. Not a challenging hike but worth the effort. Very nice paths.

If your interested in heading into the high country/foothills I suggest using 285 this will bring you into some wonderful easy to mid range hiking trails. This hike up to the top is easy for someone who is active, a few switch-backs and a nice hike along a ridge. Best to go in the fall. It is a short hike for someone that's athletic so plan more for your day...

Pretty crowded parking lot on a Monday during Covid, but after hiking out a 1/2 mile or so, it thinned out. Other people on the trail were friendly and respectful. Plenty of great spots to stop and dip your feet in the creek with the kids. We took Bear Creek Trail for about 1.5 miles and turned around. Very good spot for a hike with kids.

Nice ~1.5 mi loop, views of hills and the road. Name is better than the hike

As a beginner mountain biker, I found the trail to be very challenging but fun. I love the water that runs close to the trail in some places. Pretty trees. I saw a lot of ppl swimming and picnicking.

I've always loved this park! We had company in town and with only a few hours to get them into the mountains, this was the perfect spot as it's only a few minutes out of town.

Clean nice walk along bear creek. Theres two loops but if you can find the abandoned trail leading up its a nice hike to the top .

Lair O' the Bear Park is a very pretty place to go hiking. It is beautiful in the snow, too. I recomend this park if you love pretty places.

Such an amazing trail! Basically flat on the main loop, with steep options. Probably my favorite casual trail in the area!

Way too many people even in the morning and weekdays seem just as packed as weekends. Busses full of people, families, bike riders, hikers,runners, bird watchers,dog walkers and fly fisherman can all be found at once

This park holds so many wonderful memories for me. Many of my friends, my deceased husband, Jim who loved nature and myself visited this park frequently and it was always an enjoyable, memorable experience. Grateful!

This place is amazing. It's absolutely beautiful, my 2 year old and I did a medium trail just fine

So much space, only so much time in the day. No matter if you just want to sit and picnic, fish, bike, or hike you can do it here. Lots of places to eat and picnic. A nice creek running through, lots of shade on all the trails. Trails range from really easy to hard. They can be as short or as long as you want.

There is a decent amount of parking here, but it can fill up on the weekends, so show up early.

I have to say that this is a great place to visit early in the morning. It gets crowded around 10ish. There are many scenic spots for that perfect picture. Walking by the creek is a peaceful experience. Parking is limited. Early bird gets the worm!

Very nice trail. It was an easy walk with plenty of spots to stop and play in the water. The trails were clean and well maintained.

Loved the ambiance and hike. Family friendly trail and best place for picnic.

This place is beautiful. Good hiking trails, place by the water is perfect for kids to play. Bathrooms are close by and clean. Picnic tables available in a lot of locations. The only thing I would say is the trails are not small kid friendly, not stroller friendly. Get there early parking lot is not too big.

Nice relaxed hike along the river. The dogs will love it

Great hiking spot close to Denver. Family friendly and well-populated, this is a great place to introduce people to Colorado nature. The hikes are relatively short, but give great views of the surrounding foothills and valleys. The wildflowers that line parts of the trail are also beautiful.

The river that runs through the park is very high at the moment, but it definitely makes this a good place to cool down in the summer. The running water and shade mean that you'll at least feel a small temp drop.

This place is nice...it has the river it has a small easy trail .. You have the option on the small trail or longer trail. It's a beautiful walk. Bike path. The only thing I don't like is that it's so close to the highway. You can hear n see all the cars. The other thing I dont like is that it gets way too many people. I dont like over crowded parks.

Nice trails for an easy hike or bike. The castle is a nice touch too. Go early and even then expect to see lots of people and have trouble finding parking. Parking at Corwina Park is closer to the castle.

great location for a quick getaway...can get quite crowded on weekends

This is an amazing area and has the most unique plant life and bugs. Can't wait to come back in the spring when flowers are in bloom!! Great for toddlers too!

Overly busy almost all the time, would not recomend if you are going to fly fish as the path is right off the river and their is an excellent chance of hooking a hiker.

This place will always hold a special place in our hearts now. We wanted a place that would be beautiful and show some of the wonderful parts of Colorado for our ceremony, and this was it. An easy walk for my uncle and a quiet river as the background to our vows to one another. Could not have asked for a better place.
And if you're not wearing a dress, it's a great place to hike too.

We did a nice easy hike along the serene Bear Creek. The views were beautiful and it was very peaceful.