Trail: Round Mountain Trail to the top of Sheep Mountain

Location: Off road 34, Big Thompson Rd, Loveland, CO

Round Trip Length: 9.1 miles

Trail Style: Out & Back

Skill Level: Moderate-Difficult

My Experience: Hiked this trail for the first time in early July 2018. Like that the trail is close to Loveland/Fort Collins but did not enjoy this trail. The trailhead is difficult to find. If you are driving from Loveland you can not see the sign and will pass it. You can only see the sign coming from Estes Park and might miss it if you are driving fast. The parking lot is very small and I could smell the bathrooms when I got out of my car. The beginning of the trail is washed out as there is no run off in place. It was cool to hike over the giant rock slide but the first mile you can hear the highway and they are currently doing construction nearby so we heard that our whole hike. (Would suggest hiking in 2019 if you want a quiet hike.) Unfortunately, I have injuries so I can only hike 4 miles so we hiked only 2 miles in. I did appreciate the mile markers and fun facts they have along the way. The views we saw are nice but are the same for the most part. This trail is great if you want a good workout. I would not recommend it for people, such as myself, who have injuries. By the time I got back to my car I was in a lot of pain. The trail was mostly hiking up rocks. There are 2 trails, next time I would try the lower Nature Trail instead of the Summit Trail.