A small group of residents, including Hanson, regularly hikes the trail to pick up trash and dog excrement. Where it becomes a problem is on the weekend when there are 200-300 cars, they are parked along the sides of the road, they’re parked on adjacent roads in the neighborhoods. “There will always be 50 cars, and we don’t mind people using the trail, it’s beautiful. “The trail is heavily over-used,” said Mindy Hanson, who lives about a mile from the trailhead. When we visited last week, there were about 70. One day in May when the falls were running furiously with snowmelt, residents say they counted 900 cars parked along the road. There are two small parking lots, meaning lots of people have to park on the shoulders of a narrow, winding mountain road in a residential area. The problem is, Maxwell Falls is just a short drive from a metropolitan area of nearly 3 million people. Many trod the trail last Saturday and frolicked by the rock formations that frame the falls. It’s moderately strenuous yet suitable for families. The trail climbs more than 2 miles through dense forest to waterfalls that gush in the spring and slow to a trickle in the summer. Only five miles southwest of Evergreen, the hike to Maxwell Falls is a lovely way to spend a morning. Sometimes it creates tension, overcrowding and calls for better management, especially in a state with a booming population and record-breaking crowds in outdoor spaces, and that’s certainly the case at Maxwell Falls in the foothills of Jefferson County. Proximity to scenic beauty does have its drawbacks. Saturday, June 24th 2023 Home Page Close Menu
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