Here the plains of Denver finish and the Rockies begin, and they do not ease into each other. The point lies in the foothills west of Golden, near Indian Hills, in a steep, pine-dotted landscape where red sandstone fins stick up from the slopes and the city's glow is only a few miles behind the ridge. Evergreen, the nearest sizeable town, sits in a mountain valley beyond.
The red rocks here are part of the same geology that produced Red Rocks Park, the famous amphitheatre in Morrison, where huge slabs of sandstone tilted upward by the rise of the mountains form a natural concert hall. The Dakota Hogback, a long ridge of tilted rock, runs along the front of the range, and the road through Bear Creek Canyon cuts through it in a narrow gap. Mount Falcon Park, nearby, has the ruins of a burned-out house on a hilltop, with views over the whole Front Range.
For riders, the lure is how fast the roads change. Within twenty minutes of the suburbs you can be on bends carved into the side of a canyon, with Bear Creek running below and the walls close on either side. Colorado Highway 74 is a popular route, busy on weekends with riders, cyclists and day-trippers, so patience helps. Further west, the road toward Squaw Pass leads up toward Mount Blue Sky, once called Mount Evans, which carries the highest paved road in North America, topping out at over 4,000 metres. That road is only open in the warmer months, usually late May to early September, and weather at the top can turn nasty with little warning.
Golden, just east, is a handsome little town with the Coors brewery and the School of Mines, and Lookout Mountain above it holds the grave of Buffalo Bill, a local legend whose Wild West show toured the world. The view from up there on a clear evening is one of the best of the metro area.
Fuel is easy in Golden and Evergreen, less so once you climb. Mornings are best for quiet roads, and afternoon thunderstorms are common in summer, with lightning on the ridges, so plan to be lower by mid-afternoon. In autumn, the aspens turn gold and the whole Front Range glows.