The year 2011 was a big year for the Colorado National Monument, and a big year for us. My husband and I celebrated 5 years while we visited Colorado National Monument, and Colorado National Monument celebrated 100 years thanks to John Otto, who was the first custodian of Colorado National Monument.
In 1907, Otto wrote, “I [...]
The distant thunderhead was towering high enough to scrape the moon, which hung in the sky like a silver kite. The onset of dusk painted the westerly side of the storm vermilion; the lightning flashes and thunder-quakes tickled our senses like little chemical jolts, visceral but evanescent.
“Shouldn’t we, um, take cover?” asked my companion, a [...]
Long before tourists arrived, a lone Englishwoman explored the vastness of what is now Rocky Mountain National Park.
Isabella Bird’s sojourn here came in the fall and early winter of 1873, not long after the mountain man and before the first pioneers built ranches here. She recorded her impressions in a book, A Lady’s Life in [...]
At 14,264 feet, Mount Evans is one of Colorado’s most well-known peaks and is part of the vast Mount Evans Wilderness, whose boundaries start about 35 miles west of Denver. With 74,400 acres stretching from Echo Lake to Grant, the wilderness is a great place to forget about the city and enjoy some high-altitude trails.
Above [...]
Hikers in Telluride can journey to Bridal Veil Falls for spectacular views and also learn a little about the history of the small town tucked deep into Colorado’s San Juan Mountains.
The onetime mining town sits at an 8,750-foot elevation and is surrounded on three sides by steep peaks. The trail to the top of Bridal [...]
Castlewood Canyon State Park is a little-known spot that is sure to please any wildlife and nature enthusiast. This Douglas County state park, located south of Parker off Colorado Highway 83, is home to not only some of Colorado’s most magnificent plants and wildlife, but provides families with recreational opportunities.
Among activities to be enjoyed in [...]
When it comes to lakes, Colorado may not have the largest or the most, but the state can comfortably boast of having some of the loveliest high-altitude bodies of water in America. Some can be explored by car, while others require effort before their charms are revealed. With hundreds to choose from, the toughest part [...]
One of Colorado’s more attractive scenes is St. Mary’s Glacier, located in Clear Creek County, less than an hour’s drive west of Denver. It’s close enough for a day trip, yet far enough away to lose yourself in the quiet mountain serenity.
Technically, St. Mary’s Glacier isn’t a glacier because the mass of ice and snow [...]
Colorado was built for people who love the outdoors. And what’s not to like? With almost 300 sunny days a year and some of the best scenery in the country, it’s the perfect place for adventure lovers.
But there are some of us, dare I admit it, who aren’t always out there climbing fourteeners, mountain biking [...]
Sunset casts its golden light and eerie shadows across the vast sand dunes. We have just arrived, and feel like we should kick off our hiking boots and dig our toes into the silky sand. But no, it’s only about 40 degrees now, and it will get lots colder once the sun dips behind the [...]
