By Steve Benson For the Camera A mile west of Lyons on Colo. 7, Hall Ranch is accessible yet remote. Bitterbrush, one of two trails leaving from the ranch parking lot, is a popular mountain biking trail, but that shouldn't discourage trail-runners. The ranch is home to an array of richly diverse ecosystems, as runners travel through grasslands, woodlands, forests, cliffs, and canyons. The trails are just as varied, rolling through gentle meadows one minute, climbing and descending steep hills the next.
Crowds are rare.
Weaving through, mellow uphill terrain, the trail smacks into a series of switchbacks as runners ascend 680 feet in the first mile and a half. Once the trail flattens out, however, runners are rewarded with sweeping views. Adjacent to the ranch is U.S. Forest Service property and the city of Longmont's Button Rock Reservoir. The combined acreage of the three almost equals that of Rocky Mountain National Park. Mount Meeker and Longs Peak can be seen in the distance.