On the city of Boulder's Boulder Valley Ranch trailhead page, Hidden Valley and Degge are listed as open to bikes, and Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes are allowed on both. The city's Guide to Electric Bikes on Boulder Open Space says bikes of every kind are prohibited on those same two trails.
Both pages belong to the same department. One of them changed in October and the other has not caught up yet.
That gap tells you where things stand on the open space north and east of Linden and Pinebrook Hills this fall. A trail plan approved in 2016 reached its main finish line in October. Over the past ten years, a set of hiker-only paths has been rebuilt piece by piece into a connected network for hikers, horses, and bikes. The final pieces opened faster than the rule pages could be updated, so until the city revises them, the posted signs at each junction are the most reliable guide.
A 2016 Plan That Finished in Pieces
Open Space and Mountain Parks has been working through the North Trail Study Area Management Plan since the Open Space Board of Trustees and Boulder City Council approved it in 2016. The plan called for fewer, better-built trails in place of many worn-in ones, more trails open to bikes, and some redundant segments closed so the ground could recover.
The work came one trail at a time:
- November 2024. A half-mile reroute of Eagle Trail south of the Boulder Valley Ranch Trailhead opened to hikers, bikes, and horses. It replaced a steep, loose stretch and was built for adaptive mountain bikes, the hand-pedaled cycles many riders with disabilities use.
- April 2025. Phase 2 of the Eagle reroute was finished along the mesa top, and construction started on Shale Trail.
- January 2026. Degge opened to hikers, and the city scheduled the Hidden Valley reroute for that summer.
- October 2026. The city reported that Hidden Valley and Degge were complete and open for bike access, including adaptive biking.
The Boulder Mountainbike Alliance announced the opening on Oct. 23 and celebrated with adaptive riders on the new trails. The alliance noted that the trails reached this point "after a decade planning, trail construction, and collaboration" with OSMP. It also credited its own Mike Rutter with building new sections of Hidden Valley singletrack in 2025 and 2026.
Hikers and horseback riders still have a bike-free way up. Shale Trail runs from the Boulder Valley Ranch Trailhead to Eagle Trail on the mesa top, and it is open only to hikers and equestrians. The city built it to give visitors a non-bike route to the top of the mesa and to replace two informal paths through habitat for the rare Bell's twinpod. Hidden Valley lies in the western Boulder Valley Ranch trail complex and connects Degge and Eagle, so it is not part of the Wonderland Lake loop.
Where the Two Rule Pages Disagree
The trailhead page currently allows bikes on Eagle, Sage, North Rim, Cobalt, Hidden Valley, Degge, and Left Hand, and bars them from Shale. It also allows Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes on all seven of those trails. The e-bike guide lists Cobalt, Eagle, Left Hand, North Rim, and Sage as e-bike trails in North Boulder. In a separate bolded line, it names Degge, Mesa Reservoir, and Hidden Valley as hiking trails where all bikes are prohibited.
The project page confirms the bike opening is the newer change. The e-bike guide still describes these trails as they were before October. The trailhead page also gives riders the rule that settles it: a bike may be ridden on trails posted with the international bicycle symbol. If you ride an e-bike, follow the sign at the junction until the city's pages match.
The rest of the e-bike rules are consistent everywhere. Class 1 bikes give pedal assist up to 20 mph, and Class 2 bikes use a throttle that cuts out at 20 mph. Class 3 e-bikes are prohibited on all city-managed multi-use paths and open space trails.
Foothills North Is Halfway There
The reroute closest to the 2nd Street side of North Boulder is still under construction. In July, the city's contractor, Timberline Trailcraft, built much of the new alignment from the corner of Dakota Boulevard and 2nd Street up to the plateau west of the Dakota Ridge neighborhood. The trail has a gravel surface, includes some rock features for mountain bikers, and is built to work for three-wheeled adaptive bikes.
The city's October update says the section west of 2nd Street is open and that trail junctions around North Sky and Foothills North have changed. It asks visitors to follow the directional signs. The city expects work east of North Sky Trail to take "a couple more months." Construction is scheduled to run through December 2026, weather permitting. Some segments may close temporarily, and the old sections being replaced will be closed for good and replanted.
The finished trail is meant to connect better with North Sky and Hogback Ridge, match the newer trails at Boulder Valley Ranch, improve the neighborhood access trails along 2nd Street, and move the route out of low-lying wetland. Regular bikes are welcome, but the e-bike guide says e-bikes are not allowed on Foothills North.
North Sky has its own rules. E-bikes are prohibited, and so is leaving the trail. Dogs are banned from May 1 to July 31 and must be leashed from Aug. 1 through April 30. North Sky is also the trail that makes the longer loops possible. In 2024, Boulder Reporting Lab described a ride of about 12 miles that starts at Boulder Valley Ranch, takes Left Hand, crosses US 36 to Joder Ranch, and continues onto North Sky. That story was written when Hidden Valley and Degge were still closed to bikes. Since October, both have been added to the network.
Picking a Trailhead When the Map Has Changed
Each of the four trailheads near Linden and Pinebrook Hills has a different set of trade-offs:
| Trailhead | Where | Parking | Restrooms | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four Mile Creek | 0.3 mile west of Broadway on Lee Hill | 36 standard, 4 ADA | None | SKIP and 204 bus stops at Broadway and Lee Hill; Foothills Trail runs north across Lee Hill and south toward Wonderland Lake |
| Wonderland Lake | 4201 North Broadway | 19 standard, 2 ADA | None | SKIP stop beside it; dogs on a hand-held leash at all times |
| Foothills | Off US 36, just north of Boulder | 22 standard | None | Trail access through the highway underpass |
| Boulder Valley Ranch | One mile east of US 36 on dirt Longhorn Road | 14 standard, 1 ADA | Yes | Open 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.; closes when trails are too muddy |
Boulder Valley Ranch, where the new trails are, has the smallest lot on the list at 14 standard spaces. It is also the only one of the four with restrooms. Foothills South and the Wonderland Lake trail are open to bikes, including Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes. Old Kiln is closed to bikes. From Four Mile Creek, Foothills Trail heads north across Lee Hill, and the Foothills Trailhead uses the US 36 underpass. With junctions changing this fall, the city points visitors to the OSMP trail map for the new Foothills North alignment.
If you start from 2nd Street, keep in mind that OSMP access points have no sanctioned parking. The city allows parking on public streets when space is available and asks visitors not to block driveways or streets.
In November, mud can shut a trail. The Boulder Valley Ranch area closes when conditions are too muddy, and the city asks visitors to check its muddy trail closures page before they go. Gravel surfacing on Foothills North was chosen partly to reduce those muddy conditions.
Dog rules differ by trailhead too. Under the city's rules for dogs on OSMP, at any trailhead a dog must be on a leash when it gets out of the car and while it is in the trailhead area. At Boulder Valley Ranch, a dog can be off leash only if it meets the voice-and-sight standard and wears a City of Boulder tag. The voice-and-sight standard requires the handler to keep the dog in sight at all times and to be able to call it back right away, before it chases people, dogs, wildlife, or livestock. On a multi-use trail, that includes bikes coming around a bend. Wonderland Lake has no exceptions, so dogs there are on a hand-held leash the whole time.
The Ride Ends on Lee Hill or Broadway
On Lee Hill Road itself, Upslope Brewing Company runs its Lee Hill taproom at 1501 Lee Hill Road. It is Upslope's original location, with a 7-barrel brewhouse visible from the bar, and it offers brewery tours on Fridays and Saturdays at 4 p.m.
Heading south on Broadway, Moxie Bread Co. is at 4593 Broadway and Amante Coffee is at 4580. Spruce Confections is at 4684 Broadway, and Proto's Pizzeria is a few doors away at 4670. The newest of these is Cinq à Sept, a French bistro from Half Eaten Cookie Hospitality that DiningOut reported opened in north Boulder on July 7. Chef Samuel McCandless told the publication he wanted "an easy place to come twice a week."
Friday, Nov. 6, is the first Friday of the month. The Daily Camera has reported that NoBo's First Friday art walk runs from 6 to 9 p.m. That makes it an evening stop after a daylight ride.
Over the past two years, the Boulder Valley Ranch trails changed with every season: Eagle in November 2024, Shale in 2025, Degge for hikers in January, and Hidden Valley and Degge for bikes this October. Foothills North is expected to finish before the year ends. If you'd like to know how ten years of trail-building near your street fits into what your home is worth, Linkow Baltimore Team can start with a free home valuation.
