Backcountry Wildlife Hikes

David Neils, Guide and Wildlife Conservationist

Cost: $200 per person

Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean. John Muir

Client Feedback: Alisha’s Leashes, Boulder, Colorado

Enjoy a Guided Wildlife Hike

Experience a custom backcountry and wildlife hike in Northern Colorado, suited to your interests and physical abilities. Your guide, David Neils, has spent a lifetime in wild places studying and filming elusive wildlife species. Mountain lions have been the focus for the last twenty years.

During the summer we’ll want to get an early start, no later than 7:30 am. If you’re up for meeting earlier we’ll have better weather and it will be cooler for hiking. Plus the sun angle in the morning is fantastic for photography or simply enjoy the country with your own eyes. We also have a much better chance of seeing wildlife. Plan on a 5-6 mile round trip hike. We can adjust the length and difficulty of the hike based on your needs.

You’ll be immersed in Nature’s classroom, a place always striving toward harmony. Every day we are moving from one season to another. Your guide will point out what’s happening real time and help you make connections between different wildlife species, insects, habitat, slope, aspect, elevation. The connections are endless. And the more we understand, the richer our experience is.

The Hike Includes:

• understanding which animals to expect on the landscape and why

• air currents and how they decide wildlife movement for many mammals.

• learning how mountain lions hunt and navigate across their territories

• why mountain lions are elusive and yet predictable

• how mountain are different from other predators

• being safe in mountain lion country

• learning how to maximize your chances of seeing wildlife and wildlife activity

• being prepared to deal with backcountry emergencies

• setting up trail cameras or DSLR camera traps to film wildlife successfully

What To Bring:

• layered clothing

• sunscreen, sun hat and sunglasses

• decent footwear for hiking (closed toe footwear)

• snacks and lunch

• at least two liters of water

• camera (cell phone is plenty)

• a sauntering spirit

Your guide can recommend other places, after our hike, to explore that are stunningly beautiful and without the crowds.

You’ll learn where to look for mountain lion activity as well as the activity of other predator and prey species. When Neils started studying mountain lions he thought they were elusive and unpredictiable. Now he knows, without a doubt, they are elusive and yet one of the most predictable animals of their size in North America. How they hunt and navigate is completely different than a fox, coyote or bobcat.

Finally, to explore these wild backcountry places with confidence and fully enjoy them requires being prepared. In Colorado, the weather can change on a dime. Hypothermia is your greatest risk and completely avoidable. Your guide takes backcountry safety seriously because he’s typically with his dog when studying and filming mountain lions and far from any road or trail. If he needs help, nobody is going to walk by him.

This is a great opportunity to ensure you have the Ten Essentials in your pack. Check out his Ten Essentials Plus system. If you’re just getting started, he recommends buying the SOL Bivvy XL first. It will save you from hypothermia and is an incredible shelter to wait out a thunderstorm.

Please contact David Neils and note the day you are interested in. Use the payment button below to pay for one or more participants. The cost is $200 per person.

I had the pleasure of enjoying a hike with David Neils, learning about all things mountain lion! He is so knowledgeable and shared so many interesting facts about where they live, how they hunt, mating patterns, and how they mark their territory. We even covered other animals such as bobcats, bears, foxes, and elk and deer. He was incredibly thorough in answering any and all questions I had for him. He shared photos he's taken and even told some of his amazing stories which were incredible! This was such a worthwhile day to spend and would highly recommend his hikes to anyone who is curious about these incredible animals and Colorado wildlife in general.

Alisha of Alisha’s Leashes, Boulder, Colorado

Enjoy a backcountry hike without the crowds in stunning country. Share the landscape with wildlife that rarely see a human being.

"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." John Muir

David Neils and his French Brittany Spaniel Autumn. Sauntering in Mountain Lion Country. Couldn’t be happier.