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Besant Point Trail | Pinewood Reservoir County Park

Loveland, CO | 04/07/20 | 3.53 miles | 167′ gain

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Another short & easy hike with Kyle. We visited Pinewood Reservoir on a Tuesday to avoid the crowds. Due to the lockdown, we did see more people than I’d assume visit on a normal Tuesday, but we still had plenty of solitude.

We paid the $9 day use fee at the Carter Lake fee station on the way in and then drove to the farthest trailhead. That was the parking lot I’d used when I hiked in Ramsay-Shockey Open Space and I was familiar with it, but it was surprisingly busy. We decided to park at the Pinewood Campground parking lot instead, and we were the only car there.

We hiked south on the Besant Point Trail and followed it all the way around the reservoir.

All of the many cars we’d seen earlier must all have been in Ramsay-Shockey, because we barely saw anyone on the Besant Point Trail. The boys enjoyed getting to run around. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you might notice we usually only bring one dog at a time (even though we have four!). This is because they’re extra crazy when they’re together, plus they each love getting special alone time with mommy & daddy.

The southern portion of the Besant Point Trail is an interpretive trail that focused on osprey. I’ve never seen one and I really didn’t know much about them, so I found the interpretive signs very interesting. We were a little too early in the season for osprey, but we did spot a nest.

The Besant Point Trail is almost completely flat and the walking is very easy. There is one cliffy section along the southern edge that was fun to look over. Signs warned not to cliff jump here, but the rocks at the bottom seemed more convincing.

Once around the cliff, we contoured north along the western edge of the reservoir, eventually passing the Shoshone Trail in Ramsay-Shockey Open Space. We continued on the Besant Point Trail around Fisherman’s Cove and I saw my first flowering cactus of the year!

There was a short but steep climb above Fisherman’s Cove, but we soon found ourselves back on a flat trail that we followed across the dam and back down to the car. A nice and easy hike!

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Chelsea

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