Hike South Boulder Peak

Starting at the Mesa trailhead, continue a half a mile through a relatively even grade before arriving at the North Fork Shanahan trailhead, which will take you another half a mile on much steeper grade up to Fern Canyon where you will start a much harder portion of the hike; here, you'll head straight up the mountain through a heavily forested area filled with streams and an abundance of wildlife.

Once you reach the end of the Fern Canyon trail, your efforts will be rewarded with views of the Continental Divide and Indian Peaks Wilderness straight in front of you with Green Mountain, Boulder's second largest peak, to your right. At this point, continue to ascend the Bear Peak trailhead another 0.3 miles through boulder fields and a heavily scorched forest (lingering proof of the wildfire that took place in the summer of 2012).

Once you've conquered the final climb, scramble up immense boulders and reach the top of Boulder's highest peak.