Escaping The Nutshell

Here is a GoPro time lapse video of a bike ride from Longmont's Willow Farm Park to Heil Valley Ranch on October 4, 2019. An image was taken every 1/2 second, so it's a bit jerky.

The route is about 12 miles one way and is shown here. The way is also described below.

From Willow Farm Park we headed west on the Dry Creek Greenway to Clover Basin Drive, then west on Clover Basin Drive, which becomes Pike Road after 75th Street. After Lagerman Reservoir, the road takes a sharp left and becomes 67th Street, then a sharp right, where the road heads west again and becomes Prospect Road. When Prospect Road ended, we turned left on 55th Street which becomes Ouray Drive. Ouray Drive heads south, then west, then south again, ending on Oxford Road, where we turned right (west). We took Oxford Road to its end on 41st Street. Turning right on 41st Street, we went to its end where the road takes a sharp left and becomes Ogallala Road. We took Ogallala Road to its end where the road turns right and becomes 39th Street. Going north on 39th Street, we turned left onto Plateau Road and followed that to US Hwy 36. We crossed Hwy 36 to the Green Briar Inn, then went west on Lefthand Canyon Drive to the Heil Valley Ranch entrance on the right. Then we headed up the gravel road to the upper parking area, and took a break at a picnic table.

This was a very enjoyable trip through mostly bucolic terrain, and the Heil Ranch picnic area was a nice place to stop and rest before returning.