October 25, 2023

By Tim Briese

8.1 miles, 1400’ elevation gain, 5:20 roundtrip time

Cheesman Canyon lies below the Cheesman Dam and Reservoir on the South Platte River southwest of Denver. My friend Craig, who had hiked it several times before, invited me to hike it with him and I jumped at the chance since I had often heard about it but had never done it before. We met at the Cheesman Canyon Trailhead on CR 126 a couple of miles west of Deckers. We followed a trail through the forest about three quarters of a mile southeast to the canyon and then proceeded to hike up the trail along the west side of the scenic river. One notable feature immediately apparent was a proliferation of huge boulders both in the river and along its edges.

a tree seemingly growing out of a rock

craig standing on the trail amidst the big boulders

The trail generally contoured some distance above the river but occasionally dipped down close to the water. There were a few fishermen here and there trying their luck. This could be a hot hike in the summer with its southern exposure. Even today in late October it was a little warm. In spite of several short climbs and descents the trail was generally easy to hike and in excellent condition for the first mile or so in the canyon. This was apparently the part of the canyon that most people visited.

craig standing on a big rock

After that initial stretch the trail became much sketchier, with steep gravelly sections and occasional exposure. Craig asked if I wanted to turn back but I was interested to see the canyon all the way to the dam and he was fine with that. In some places the trail climbed high above the river to avoid cliffs down lower.

It was challenging going for a while but we eventually made our way to a nice view of the dam.

cheesman dam and reservoir

At this point there was a good trail that continued about two miles to a parking lot north of the reservoir. We decided to hike there and loop back around to our trailhead via a road rather than retrace our difficult route in the canyon. The trail climbed high up onto slopes that afforded nice views of the reservoir.

cheesman reservoir. much of this area is now treeless after the hayman fire of 2002

The hike was starting to feel a little grueling by the time we reached the road, and Craig tried to flag down a couple of vehicles to hitchhike without success. We tramped a couple of miles down the road back to our vehicles and headed for home.