Arthur’s Rock
Arthur’s Rock Trail is the most popular hike at Lory State Park. It features an easily accessible route through shaded valleys filled with wild plums, upland meadows, ponderosa pine groves, and bare granitic knobs.Along with Horsetooth Rock to the south, the craggy summit of Arthur’s Rock provides the best views of Fort Collins and the intervening, sinuous hogbacks and 6-mile-long Horsetooth Reservoir. The hike provides a great place to visualize the uplift of the Rocky Mountains 60 million years ago as it tilted the strata to the east and transformed a shallow sea into a mountain belt. Interest points along the way: (1) the narrow gulch just beyond the trailhead formed by a transition from nonresistant, 300-million-year-old sandstone to hard, 1.4-billion-yearold granitic rocks; (2) open meadows and ponderosa pine forests on friable schist below Arthur’s Rock; and (3) the bare summits and cliffs of Arthur’s Rocks, formed by a large intrusion of 1.4-billion-year-old granitic rock.
Driving Directions
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Directions to: Arthur’s Rock
print directionsTrail Statistics & Information
| Activity | Hiking |
|---|---|
| Nearby City | Fort Collins |
| Skill Level | Moderate |
| Duration | 3 hours |
| Season | Best Spring through Fall |
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