Meeker Trail System surprised me. I wanted a hiking break on my drive from Breckenridge, Colorado, to Heber City, Utah. Doing a little research before drive, I decided to stop in Meeker, a town I haven’t spent a lot of time in. I drove up 7th Street to the Phillip and Dorcas Jensen Memorial Park with 57 acres of rugged open space. There’s no parking, but I asked a couple of locals chatting around the corner and they said I was fine to park along the street.

The trailhead offers several options for hiking and biking. There were two teenage boys who looked like they had just finished a ride as I started my hike. They ended up being the only people I saw while on the trail. I decided on the Pinyon Trail. It’s 0.8 miles if you take it to the Sanderson Hills Trailhead. I stopped where it connects to the Sage Hills Trail and hiked back to 7th Street Trailhead for about a 1.5-mile hike, perfect for a road trip break.

The trail starts out in a meadow. As the trail climbs up, it weaves in and out of pinyon pines so there’s plenty of shade along with great views, even with the smoky haze in the air on the day I hiked.

I did an out-and-back hike, but I could have continued over to the Sanderson Hills Trailhead and connected to the Meadow Loop to also get a hike that’s about 1.5 miles. I was pleasantly surprised by the Meeker Trail System and look forward to logging more miles when in the area.

Author Jennifer Broome has traveled extensively across the Colorado and still loves finding new places to explore in the Centennial State. Check out the Explore Colorado section for more ideas of things to do including driving the Million Dollar Highway. Not far from Meeker is Dinosaur National Monument. Check out blog on Sound of Silence hike on Utah side of the national monument straddling both states.