Colorado Hikes: Deer Creek Canyon Park – Plymouth Creek and Meadowlark Trails

This 4.53 mile late June 2026 hike is the first of a few that I’ve been meaning to get off my chest and on to my website. As usual, this is by no means a hiking guide, but rather a recollection of the hike that I experienced on that particular day.

The original idea was to publish pictures and commentary within 24 hours of taking the hike: keeping the ideas fresh in my mind and making it feel like a true hiking “blog post”, posted more or less in real time.

But the challenges of bringing a newborn baby boy in to family have been innumerable. That’s not to say it’s been incredibly difficult, but with all the logistical challenges that learning to be a parent takes, my writing easily fell to the wayside. As a result, I may not have incredible insight about this hike, but I still do want to document it and get it out there.

I’ve hiked this area before, a more comprehensive hike in 2023 that summited Plymouth Mountain: be sure to check that out as well.

**SEE ALSO: Plymouth Mountain Trail at Deer Creek Canyon Park**

For the 2026 version of this hike, I didn’t set out to summit Plymouth Mountain. Instead I took the Meadowlark Trail to Plymouth Creek Trail to create a loop, and extended it with a little extra elevation up the Plymouth Creek Trail In total, the hike spanned 4.53 miles with 965 feet of elevation gain over 1 hour, 46 minutes, and 20 seconds.

In this new era of my life, becoming a father, hiking remains something that is important to me. However, brevity also becomes paramount, so a hike under two hours that’s only about 30 minutes from me creates a roughly three-hour “door-to-door” experience, minimizing the time my wife has to take care of our son alone.

Without further ado, let’s dive in to some pictures. This hike took place near the end of a long, hot, June day. I hiked from roughly 6:30-8:30pm, taking in some sweet sunset views despite some clouds that had rolled in.

Plymouth Creek Trail & Meadowlark Trail at Deer Creek Canyon Park in Littleton, Colorado

Hiked On: June 30, 2026

Distance: 4.53 miles

Elevation Gain: 965 feet

Time: 1 hour, 46 minutes, 20 seconds

The originally proposed loop route. To add some extra mileage and elevation gain, I added a little bit of uphill on the Plymouth Creek Trail.

The city of Denver, in the distance, and I do believe this was one of the many times this Summer that Denver was experiencing some kind of wildfire smoke.

By here I believe I was on my “extra mileage” vertical portion of the hike.

Two deer: one a heavily-spotted baby deer, crossed my path just before the hike was over.

Ending Thoughts

This was a decent hike that easily could’ve been extended, or I simply could’ve attacked Plymouth and/or Bill Couch Mountains without lollygagging on the Meadowlark Trail. At the time I hiked, the Plymouth Creek Trail was experiencing daily closures during normal working hours, up until about 4:00 or 5:00pm. This didn’t affect my evening hike on June 30, 2026, but it disauded me from coming back for my next hike even though I was in the area.