Teller Farm North and South

Rating: easy-difficult

Distance: 2.5 miles

Surface: dirt, crusher fines, some gravel

Width:l Avg: 10’ Min: 18” (avoidable)

Cross slope: Max: 8%

Grade: Avg: 0% Max: 8% for 43’

Trail Notes: The flat and easy Teller Farm Trail can be accessed from the north or south. It cuts through prairie and farmland. Because the trail is wide open, it offers some amazing views of the Front Range Doug Goodin peaks. A wheelchair-accessible fishing pier is located on the lake nearest the South Teller Trailhead with an overgrown, difficult crusher fines trail leading to it. At North Teller Trailhead, the Teller Lake #5 Trail ends at a wheelchair accessible overlook of the lake about 0.14 mile up the trail. The average grade is about 2%, with one steep section, 9.6% for 6’ about 400’ down the trail. Prairie dogs love to dig holes in the trail so keep your eyes open.

Hard Spots: Some parts of the trail become very muddy after rainstorms. An old bridge half a mile from North Teller Trailhead is difficult to maneuver over with a wheelchair due to old boards and the 2-6” lip on each side of the bridge. There are 5 gates along the route - the 3 in the middle are usually open. The self-closing gate at the North Trailhead is 43” wide. The self-closing gate at the South Trailhead is 57” wide, with a tension of 8 lbs to open.

Culture and History: This area is named for early landowner Henry Moore Teller. He was a U.S. Senator after Colorado became a state, and later the 15th Secretary of the Interior. While not personally involved in the Sand Creek Massacre, he did later defend the action. Teller’s stance on Indian rights seems contradictory. He was opposed to the Dawes Act, which called for the end of communal ownership of Indian lands. He felt it was a strategy to take land from Native Americans. But in a contradictory move, as Secretary of the Interior, Teller approved the “Code of Indian Offenses,” which forbade Native American cultural activity in the U.S.