Denver, Colorado Springs and the Front Range
Keys or a ring gone on a Front Range trail, in a city park or under fresh snow
Foothill trailheads, city parks, reservoir swim beaches and snow, from Fort Collins to Colorado Springs
Halfway up from the Morrison trailhead of Mount Falcon Park you opened the pack for water. At Washington Park the jacket with the keys in it lay beside the net for an hour. With lost car keys, moments like those are the ones to write down. Snow can fall in Denver from September to May, and March is on average the snowiest month, the National Weather Service's records show.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewelry recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in Denver, Colorado Springs and the Front Range with a metal detectorist who can search there. Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the place, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
A lost ring is handled the same way, and so is an engagement ring, an Oura ring, an earring, a necklace, bracelet or chain, an Apple Watch, a key fob, metal-framed glasses or a hearing aid, on the grass at Sloan's Lake or on the swim beach at Cherry Creek.
Write down the stops, not the whole hike
For a trail, send us the trailhead, the trails you took and every place you stopped, each water break, photo and change of layers. If your phone or watch recorded the walk, screenshot the track. For a park, name the lawn, the net or the nearest bench. In snow, leave the surface alone and stand a stick where you think it happened.
Take one photo looking along the trail or across the grass and one looking back, drop a pin, and send them to us on WhatsApp with a picture of the item or the spare key. Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Littleton, Boulder, Fort Collins and Colorado Springs are all covered.
Places we cover in Denver, Colorado Springs and the Front Range
- Denver
- Aurora
- Lakewood
- Fort Collins
- Colorado Springs
- Littleton
- Boulder
- Morrison and Indian Hills
- Washington Park
- Sloan's Lake Park
- Cherry Creek State Park
- Chatfield State Park
- Aurora Reservoir
- Bear Creek Lake Park
- Mount Falcon Park
- Red Rocks
- Boulder Reservoir
- Horsetooth Reservoir
- Garden of the Gods
- Memorial Park and Prospect Lake
- Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park
- Rocky Mountain Arsenal refuge, Commerce City
Front Range places, one at a time
Each card names the trailhead, lawn, beach or cove worth putting in your message.
Two trailheads into Mount Falcon Park
Mount Falcon Park, a Jefferson County Open Space park in Morrison, is entered from the Mount Falcon West trailhead in Indian Hills or from the Morrison trailhead on Vine Street. Its Castle Trail gains 2,000 feet (about 610 metres), a steep climb from the east, and most of the park's trail miles are multi-use. Keys could come out at a water stop or while you change shoes at the car.
Washington Park and Sloan's Lake in Denver
Washington Park has two lakes, Smith Lake and Grasmere Lake, and the city's park map marks volleyball areas on the meadow between them. The same map shows a 2.5-mile (4 km) outer loop and a 0.6-mile (1 km) loop round Smith Lake. Sloan's Lake Park, on Denver's western edge, has a 2.6-mile (4.2 km) paved path round the water, tennis courts, playgrounds and picnic areas. A wedding band could come off at the net, or an earring on a picnic blanket.
Cherry Creek's roped swim area and the swim line at Aurora Reservoir
Cherry Creek State Park is in Aurora, around an 880-acre (about 356 hectare) reservoir, with a sandy beach, a roped-off swimming area and stables that offer horse rentals and hay rides. Aurora Reservoir has a swim beach marked by a swim line and an eight-mile (13 km) trail around the water. For a necklace in the water, tell us which side of the rope.
Chatfield's 69-acre dog area and Bear Creek Lake Park in Lakewood
Chatfield State Park in Littleton has a seasonal swim beach, paddle boarding on the reservoir and the gravel ponds, about 24 miles (39 km) of horse trails and a fenced 69-acre (about 28 hectare) dog area with two ponds. Bear Creek Lake Park, on West Morrison Road in Lakewood, has a swim beach with a sand area, horse trails and a campground. A phone or a fob could leave a pocket in the saddle or as you throw a ball for the dog.
Horsetooth Reservoir and Boulder Reservoir
Horsetooth Reservoir lies west of Fort Collins, six and a half miles (about 10.5 km) of water surrounded by 1,900 acres (about 770 hectares) of public land. It has two seasonal swim beaches, Horsetooth and Sunrise, and coves such as Dixon, Quarry and Orchard. On water this size, the name of the beach or cove comes first. At Boulder Reservoir, swimming, sun bathing, boating and picnicking are among the activities the city of Boulder lists.
Rocky Mountain National Park and the Arsenal refuge
Estes Park is the eastern gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, where Bear Lake Road leads to Moraine Park, Sprague Lake and Bear Lake itself. Much closer to town, the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge in Commerce City has an 11-mile (18 km) wildlife drive and short loop trails round Lake Mary and Lake Ladora, with a boardwalk and piers at Lake Mary.
Garden of the Gods and Memorial Park, Colorado Springs
Garden of the Gods is a free city park on North 30th Street in Colorado Springs. It has more than 22 miles (35 km) of trails. The Perkins Central Garden Trail is an easy 1.5-mile (2.4 km) round trip at the base of the rock formations. Memorial Park, also a city park, has a 1.25-mile (2 km) paved trail round Prospect Lake, 15 football and soccer fields and 12 tennis courts. Tell us which lot you parked in and which trail or field you were on.
Who you deal with and what gets passed on
One reader for the whole thread
Your WhatsApp messages are read and answered by one person, from the day you write until the search is over.
Your track screenshot does the explaining
Your trailhead, recorded track, pin and photos go to the detectorist just as you sent them, so they can see which stops to search.
A straight answer about a long trail
With a recorded track and a list of stops, the eight-mile (13 km) trail round Aurora Reservoir comes down to a few places worth searching. Without them it is a lot of ground, and we say so honestly before anything is booked.
The cost conversation
We explain the costs before any search is booked.
What the season changes about a search here
Denver's snow season in figures
Denver's long-term average is 56.6 inches (about 144 cm) of snow a season, on National Weather Service records that go back to 1882, with a March normal of 11.4 inches (29 cm). In winter Cherry Creek State Park lists snowshoeing and cross-country skiing among its activities. Keys dropped in snow could be trodden under or end up in a shovelled pile, so mark the spot and leave the snow alone.
Swim beaches keep a summer season
The swim beaches at Cherry Creek and Chatfield open from Memorial Day through Labor Day, and Aurora Reservoir and Bear Creek Lake Park keep the same season. For a loss while swimming, tell us how deep the water was on you and what on the shore you were level with.
Paved trail or dirt
Cherry Creek has 35 miles (56 km) of multiuse trails, 15 miles (24 km) of them paved. Garden of the Gods mixes paved and dirt trails. Ask the park office whether anything was handed in, and tell us what was underfoot where you think it fell.
Seven situations, from a Morrison trailhead to a cove on Horsetooth
Just came down the Castle Trail at Mount Falcon and my car key is not in my pack. Do I walk back up and look?
Check the car first. Look under it and empty the pack. Then write down every place you stopped on that 2,000-foot (610 metre) climb, screenshot any recorded track and message us.
My wedding band came off during volleyball at Washington Park and other teams have played there since. Could it still be there?
It could, so ask. The ground around one net is small and has edges you can point to. Tell us which net, which side you were on and where you went down for the ball.
A gold earring came off in the roped-off swim area at Cherry Creek, about waist deep. Does anyone search in water?
Yes, some detectorists search in water, and that is who we look for. Tell us the day and how far you were from the rope, and send a photo of the matching earring.
My key fob is somewhere in my mother's yard in Aurora after an afternoon raking leaves. I looked up metal detector rental Denver. Worth trying myself?
Yes, it can be. Renting suits a fresh loss on dry sand or a lawn, and some tool rental shops rent metal detectors. For water, wet sand, a long trail or something as small as an earring, a detectorist makes more sense.
My wife's bracelet came off on the Perkins Central Garden Trail in Colorado Springs and we are only visiting. I looked up metal detecting Colorado, but we know nobody here. Can this be arranged once we are home?
Yes. Everything is arranged on WhatsApp, so you do not have to be there. That trail is a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) round trip, and the last photo you took that shows the bracelet narrows the stretch. Send us that and the parking lot you used.
I dropped my keys in the fenced dog area at Chatfield and there is snow on the ground. It is 69 acres. How do you narrow that down?
By your route, not the whole 69 acres (about 28 hectares). Mark on a map screenshot which gate you used, which of the two ponds you passed and where you stopped to throw a ball. If your own tracks still show in the snow, photograph them.
We were anchored in Quarry Cove on Horsetooth and my husband's watch went over the side. We know the cove but not the exact spot. Is that enough to go on?
It may be, so ask. Water off a boat is a harder search than a swim beach, and we will tell you honestly how yours looks. Send any photos from on board that show the shoreline.
Denver, Colorado Springs and the Front Range
Name the trailhead, the park or the beach and we start there
A map screenshot with your route, two photos and the time.
Write to us on WhatsApp with the place, the day and what went missing, be it keys, a ring, a watch or a phone. You will hear how we see the search and what else would help. Start with one message.