Named in honor of the U.S. Army men who trained during World War II at Camp Hale, north of present day Leadville, the 10th Mountain Huts make up a network of backcountry shelters connected by over 350 miles of trails and roads in central Colorado.  Wildly popular with crosscountry skiers in the winter, the huts are quickly gaining equal popularity with mountain bikers and hikers due to the remote access only they can offer to backcountry enthusiasts.  While you may call them "huts," don't mistake them for some shoddy shack.  In fact, visitors to the huts are rewarded with some of the state's most picturesque scenery at some of the continent's most beautiful cabins.

Apex Park, like its neighbors White Ranch, Mathews Winters and Mt. Falcon, occupies a piece of real estate perched sideways on the hogback range that marks where the Rocky Mountains erupt out of the plains. The park trailhead shares the parking lot with the Heritage Square amusement park just off US Hwy 40 between the town of Golden and I-70. As is so often the case in Jefferson County Open Space parks, there is no opportunity to warm up before starting a serious climb – there’s nowhere but up right out of the parking lot. You have a choice of several trails in this small park -- Apex, Sluicebox, Pick 'n' Sledge, Grubstake, Enchanted Forest. All are demanding. Trails tend to be narrow and steep with sharp switchback turns and waterbars. In addition, these trails have become popular with downhill bikers, who use the roads on Lookout Mountain to shuttle their rigs to the top so they can bomb downhill with hardly a turn of the pedals. The trails all interconnect, so the rider can choose a variety of loops.