Top 5 Best Spots to Get Engaged Around Boulder

If I were secretly being paid by a groom to photograph them actually in the act of getting engaged, here are 5 really sweet places I'd want to be:

5. Lost Gulch Overlook: Beyond the top of Flagstaff Mountain another 5 mins up the road--sweeping views of Continental Divide and of Boulder. Lotsa big rocks to scramble upon, just don't drop the ring or yourself off the edge or it will be a very short engagement.

4. The Boulder Train Museum just NW of Valmont Butte. It's free and also a cool spot, especially for train buffs. Climb on restored locomotives and usually nobody out there to spoil the moment. Private. Vibrant colors, too.

3. While rockclimbing up the 1st Flatiron--never tried it but I bet it would be neat. Unequalled views and a rush for adrenaline junkies. But I will be shooting with a long lens, as you won't get me to bring my best gear where one slip up and it (or me) drops 800 feet to an untimely demise.

2. Hidden alleys in back of Pearl Street Mall--great brick walls, strange things stuck to the sides of buildings, and lots of neat people out and about. Okay, so this would be better for an engagement shoot rather than having to drop to 1 knee to propose for the actual thing. Up to you. But great texture!

1. Mesa Trail hike ending in romantic picnic above Chautauqua Park and the Flatirons. Charming. Gorgeous. Popular, but well-deserved reputation. Have picnic outside of concert hall and listen to world-class Colorado Music Festival for free. Walk the heavily wooded trail just south of hall for a fun adventure.