If you live on Green Mountain, the mountain itself probably feels like a fixed thing. The Green Mountain Trail has looped the same 6.5 miles for as long as most of us have been here. The Utah Trailhead lot fills up on the same Saturday mornings. The radio towers sit where they've always sat.
That's about to change, at least in the details. The City of Lakewood is roughly a year into a full planning process for William Frederick Hayden Park on Green Mountain, the second-largest park in Lakewood at more than 2,400 acres, and 2026 is the year the draft turns into a plan. If you use this park more than twice a month, the choices being finalized right now will shape your next decade of walks, rides, and after-work loops.
Here is what's actually in motion, and why it matters for anyone who already calls this neighborhood home.
The plan that most residents haven't heard about
The William F. Hayden Park Plan is not a rumor and not a proposal. It is an active, funded planning process that has been running since 2024, and the city has been steadily narrowing options through surveys and open houses.
A few markers of where things stand:
- Over 3,500 residents and visitors have participated in the planning process, and the project page has crossed 10,000 visits.
- Open House #2 was held on January 29, 2026, following a postponement from December 2025 due to an Xcel planned power outage.
- A draft Trails Concept Plan is now the working document, with the full draft plan slated for posting later this fall for additional community feedback.
If you missed the January open house, the community boards and Conceptual Trails Plan from that meeting are still posted on the Lakewood Together project page, along with an FAQ. The point is that the decisions about which trails get formalized, which get rerouted, and which social trails get closed for regrowth are being made now, not in some abstract future.
Two trail projects that are already underway
Separate from the big-picture plan, the city has been doing surgical work on two problem spots. Both matter if you access the mountain from the north or west side.
The Alameda underpass connector. The dirt trail connecting Forsberg Park to Green Mountain Trail through the Alameda Avenue underpass has been exceptionally rutted, with erosion continuously flooding debris onto the concrete underpass walkway, creating hazards for park users and a maintenance headache for staff. The fix involves adding a significant drainage dip near the underpass to redirect water flow off the trail, rerouting the connection to the Green Mountain Trail to minimize erosion, and reducing the trail grade for a more sustainable surface.
The Utah Trailhead reroute. City staff is partnering with Volunteers for Outdoors Colorado on a reroute of an eroded section of the Green Mountain Trail above the Utah Trailhead. If you've hiked up from Utah in the last two years and wondered why one stretch felt more like a scree chute than a trail, that's the section.
Neither of these is glamorous. Neither will show up in a "10 best hikes near Denver" listicle. But they're the reason the park will still be usable in ten years, and they're happening on trails the average Green Mountain resident uses on a Tuesday evening.
The trail network, at a glance
Most residents default to one or two trails and never really map the rest. Here is the working network as it stands before any plan changes take effect.
| Trail | Distance | Elevation gain | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Mountain Trail | 6.5-mile loop | Climbs to the park's high point | Multi-use, exposed, dries early |
| Hayden Trail | 1.6 miles | Switchbacks up the south side | Accessed from the Utah Trailhead |
| Green Mountain and Hayden Trail Loop | 3.3 miles | 636 ft | Moderate, shared with mountain bikers |
| Green Mountain via Green Mountain and Hayden | 5.1 miles | 853 ft | Out-and-back to the summit |
| Summit Loop | Short connector | Minimal | Ridgeline near the radio towers |
| North Access Trail | Neighborhood connector | Descends toward homes | Steep, rocky, direct |
The summit sits at 6,854 feet, and the shared path is used by hikers, runners, and mountain bikers, with well-marked routes and views of Denver, Red Rocks, and the surrounding mountains. If you're new to the area, the Hayden Trail from the Utah Trailhead is the most forgiving introduction. The full Green Mountain loop is the classic weekend commitment.
Why Green Mountain dries out before the foothills
Here is the piece of local knowledge that separates neighbors from visitors. When Mount Falcon and North Table are still gummy with April mud, Green Mountain is usually rideable.
The trails tend to dry earlier than many of the foothills parks, making the park a fantastic winter destination. The reasons are structural. Because the mountain is one of the first to rise out of the plains, you get unique views of where the mountains meet the prairie and fascinating geology. That same exposed, grassland-over-rock geology means wind, sun, and shorter snow retention.
The tradeoff is shade, or the total absence of it. Challenges noted on the summit route are limited shade and potential snake encounters, with arriving early and staying hydrated recommended. By late June, a 10 a.m. summit push is a different sport than a 7 a.m. one.
Wildlife and other things that live here
Once home to buffalo, the park now has a diverse wildlife population including coyotes, hawks, rattlesnakes, bluebirds, rabbits, mule deer, and occasionally a mountain lion. The rattlesnake note is not decorative. Multiple trail reports from the North Access and Green Mountain trails mention sightings, particularly on warm afternoons on rocky sections. Dogs on flexi-leads are the most common casualty. Short leash, eyes down on rocky stretches, and give any coiled shape the widest berth you can.
There's also a historical footnote most residents don't know: the north side of Hayden Park was used as an artillery target range for the Colorado National Guard's Camp George West during the first half of the 20th century. Occasional signage referring to old ordnance is a real thing, not a joke.
What this means for how you use the park this year
Three practical takeaways for residents who already know the basics:
- The Utah Trailhead lot is going to see disruption. Trail work above it means occasional closures on specific segments. Check the Lakewood Together project page before a weekend push, not after you've already parked.
- The Forsberg connector will be materially better by the end of the improvement cycle. If you'd written that route off because of the underpass mess, it's worth revisiting.
- The comment window on the draft plan is not theoretical. The city has explicitly said the draft will post this fall for additional feedback. Which trails get formalized as "system" trails, and which social routes get closed for revegetation, is the kind of thing residents complain about later and could have influenced now.
The mountain is going to keep being the mountain. But the map you'll be handing to a visiting relative in 2028 will not be the same one you'd hand them today, and the version of Green Mountain your neighbors experience is being drafted while most of us aren't paying attention.
A note from Brian
If you're new to the neighborhood and still learning the trailheads, or you've lived on the mountain long enough to have opinions about which social trails should stay, this is a good year to weigh in. Brian Harvey has been working with buyers and sellers around Green Mountain and the broader Lakewood foothills for years, and the park is a big part of what makes this pocket of the metro feel the way it does. If you have questions about the neighborhood, the trails, or how the park factors into life on this side of Lakewood, let's connect.