Name: Megan Adamczyk
Location: Apex Park, in the Rocky Mountain foothills near Golden, CO (outside Denver)
Distance: 3 to 8+ miles. Apex Park is a trail complex, so you can choose your own adventure. I usually start from the east side of the park (directions below) and follow the Apex trail to the Enchanted Forest Trail to the far west end of the park and loop back. By choosing your longest options you can get an 8 mile run in through the park, or if you are looking for something shorter you can run as little as 3 miles.
Why I love this run: The best part about living and running in the Denver area are the numerous options for trail runs in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Apex Park is my favorite because it is a short drive from Denver and there are several trails to choose from depending on how far you want to run. The terrain is challenging, but the beautiful views more than compensate for the burning legs and lungs. The park scenery ranges from open meadows to dense pine forest. At some high points you even get a glimpse of the city. During the summer the shade and elevation keep Apex Park a few degrees cooler than the city and gets you away from crowded parks and city noise.
Info/ Directions:
Some general park information:
http://jeffco.us/openspace/openspace_T56_R4.htm
A map of the trail (handy to print out and bring with for the geographically challenged like myself):
http://jeffco.us/jeffco/openspace_uploads/apex_map_2011.pdf
And some info about each trail section:
http://jeffco.us/openspace/openspace_T56_R63.htm 
To get to Apex park take I-70 westbound out of Denver. Take exit 259 towards Morrison. Keep right and then make a sharp (almost hairpin) right onto County Road-93, which turns into US-40. Turn left onto Heritage Road and park in the lower parking lot.
What the what?? This is right by me. How have I never heard about these??? Dang. I need to check these out!!
Wow! Can’t wait to make my way out to Denver again to check this out!
This looks so beautiful. Wish I lived closer!
Beautiful!!