Fastest Known Times (FKT's) for Round/Sheep Mountain

  Note the name -- Round/Sheep Mountain (the trail starts off as Round Mountain, but the actual summit is Sheep Mountain). A mountain is a landform which rises at least 2000 vertical feet above its surroundings. From its base at the Big Thompson River, Sheep Mountain rises about 2750 feet, making this a true mountain run. The summit is about 2700 feet higher than the trailhead, but the total vertical climb to the summit is about 2900 feet. The total vertical climb for the round-trip is about 3100 feet because of some downhill stretches on the way up (which turn into uphill stretches on the way down). This is a fairly technical trail (subjectively rated a 7 or even 8 out of 10 on my rating scale), with some gnarly rocky stretches and many tight switchbacks. The descent can be very fast, but dangerous.

Directions to the trailhead: Go to Loveland, turn west on US-34. After about 10 miles, you will enter the Big Thompson River Canyon, passing by the 'Dam Store'. About 4 miles up the canyon, JUST PAST Viestenz-Smith Mountain Park (which will be on your right) is gravel road turnoff on the left. Turn left onto this very short road which drops you into the trailhead parking lot. There is a very small sign at the turn (easy to miss) that says 'Round Mountain'.

Top elevation:     5750 feet        Base elevation:    8450 feet        Total vertical gain: ~3100 feet        Total distance:    ~9.2 miles

Start:    At the gate at the end of the parking lot. Go up the gravel road, then make a left, following the direction of the sign which says 'Summit Trail'. This is the only junction on this trail.

Middle:     Touch the 7-foot high summit cairn (not the 2 foot high one which is about a hundred feet below the summit)

End:     Same as start

NOTE: overall FKT times are trailhead-to-trailhead times and DO include time spent at the summit. Time are trail times -- cutting switchbacks is not allowed (that would go under a separate category of time and is discouraged).

The overall FKT's for Round Mountain are highlighted in green. The fastest times reported by other runners are highlighted in yellow, ranked by time. Please send me your time if you'd like to be listed.