Namaqua Hill Cave Hike
Cave and Star trail near Namaqua Hills in Loveland Colorado
Namaqua Hill is a private housing development in Loveland Colorado with several beautiful features. During the winter season, a star made of lights is switched on identifying the top of the hill. There is also a tectonic uplift to the North with some amazing cliffs and a biking/hiking trail that weaves through it all.
I used to have friends who lived in the hills here and would let me hike to the star along the irrigation ditch at the base. It’s also accessible from the top or North end but this ditch trail can be very beautiful and pleasant. It offers variety with beautiful tree cover then a red and white sandstone trail that finally reaches the summit. I’ve spotted rattlesnakes and cows there along with lizards, squirrels, birds and other small animals. It’s a neat place but unfortunately there has been some vandalism and graffiti in recent years with lots of broken glass on parts of the cliff formation. This is a private location but if you’ve got friends who live there you may be able to gain access.
After years of biking and hiking the trail I discovered that on the opposing foothill, just to the North of Namaqua Hill where there are no houses, there is a small cliff side cave! If you hike down the valley between Namaqua and the next foothill you will end up on a rocky ledge that goes down towards Loveland. If you explore the ledge enough you will discover a cave built right into the rocky cliff and even a few climbing bolts pictured below. The cave has some graffiti inside, char from fires and even a few historical marks. For anyone considering a visit, do be safe as the cave is situated over twenty feet up and ten feet down from the top, a fall could be catastrophic.
Be careful when navigating the cliffs or trails here, never hike alone and do not trespass. I do not recommend climbing the cliffs. Also, please do not vandalize the location and always take your trash out… leave only footprints and take only photos :)
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2009-09-27
13:15:08
Looks like a neat trail, be careful not to disturb wildlife there, I found another post here showing a similar looking cave that was home to Vultures and their offspring.
"This morning we climbed to a cave along a cliff face (on private land) to see a vulture nesting site. The cave was in the Fountain sandstone formation and was situated a good 4-500 ft above the roadway. The mother vulture was not present, but the two fledglings were in the cave. I say fledgeling, but I doubt that these young ones have flown yet. According to the land owner who has been carefully and quietly observing their progress, the youngsters have not yet flown.
The buzzard cave was found in the red sandstone of the Fountain formation, west of Loveland, Colorado. The Fountain Formation is the deepest of the sedimentary formations along the Colorado Front Range. It is seen only along the western margin of the Great Plains here owing to the uplifting effect of mountain building. In fact, this sandstone formation consists of the eroded debris of a previous iteration of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The present iteration is often referred to as the Laramide Orogeny."