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FrontRangeLiving.com -> Outdoors
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 THE
DINOSAUR HIGHWAY: DINOSAUR RIDGE--One of Colorado’s most unusual museums consists of a road sliced through a
mountain where dinosaur footprints, bones and fossils of prehistoric insects or
plants are etched by nature into the scraped rock walls. Children hug the giant
footprints, as if to clutch the spirit of a prehistoric beast while their
parents scan the shale for a glimpse of a fern or insect outline. Dinosaur Ridge
draws families, and even foreign visitors, to this unusual site. Once a month, a
ribbon of highway serves as a ramp up and over a modest mountain.
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OUTDOORS  ROCKY
MOUNTAIN ARSENAL NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE --A short distance from downtown Denver, in the heart of Commerce City, you’ll
find the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. At first glance, it’s
an unlikely site for wildlife. But this refuge reveals a story unlike any other.
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 WEEKENDS
WITH FIDO--When
you ask people how often they take their dogs to dog parks they may smirk,
or shuffle a foot or two and blush. Some will tell you they “go a little
bit overboard when it comes to the dog thing” and then admit that they
go at least four times a week and drive up to 30 minutes each way to get
to the best parks. They stay about an hour and, they say, trips to dog
parks are usually made in addition to walks around the neighborhood. They
tell you that the dog parks give their dogs some time to run, socialize
with other dogs and play.
By
Heather Grimshaw
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 UNTRAMMELED
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK: LESSER-TRAVELED TRAILS -- When I first came to Colorado, I avoided Rocky Mountain National
Park. It was too crowded and I thought
the scenery was ho-hum, especially compared to other parts of the state, such as
the San Juans or the mountains around Aspen. I admit it; I was a snob. But over the years, its closeness (and the joy of avoiding the I-70 and 285
corridors) started drawing me up, and I found another good reason to hike the
national park: its wildness.
By Kathy Kaiser
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 SURFING
THE COLORADO WAVES: For those who grew up near water--oceans, lakes, or ponds--the call of
the water is understandable. It soothes, invigorates, and offers hours of active
or peaceful enjoyment.
In a land-locked state those who seek water adventures find them more easily
than you might imagine. Across the Front Range manmade watercourses have been
mapped out for young and old kayakers and those who wade into the water to
watch. And then there are the natural courses, the rivers and streams that are
peopled with kayakers all year round.
By Heather Grimshaw
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 SNOWSHOEING
THE COLORADO TRAIL WITH FRIENDS: To some, snowshoeing conjures up
images of peacefully making one's way through serene forests and
blissfully getting in touch with one's inner self. Not me. Having never
been on snowshoes, I pictured myself struggling along, feet clamped in
oversized tennis racket-like contraptions.
But when my editor suggested a "Snowshoeing along the Colorado
Trail" story, I thought, why not? I'm athletic, I know people who
love it, and I'd be able to get my dog out for some exercise while trying
something new. So here's how a reluctant snowshoer-to-be actually learned
to enjoy her first trek.
By
Heidi Anderson
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 CELESTIAL
WANDERLUST: A GUIDE TO STARGAZING: The night sky glitters, lights skip and dance, and those down below gaze and
wonder. They watch closely and follow the show, connecting the dots, plotting
their course…Stargazing has an inextricable link to romance. It’s got all the essential
components: mystery, chase and ultimate discovery.
By Heather Grimshaw
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 HAVEN
FOR HUMMERS: While the color purple is considered regal, hummingbirds bow to another
hue--red blossoms with a tubular
shape, says garden coordinator Liz Nichol, referring to bell-shaped blooms of penstemons that are
filled with nectar. Such flowers make ideal dinner plates for the tiny,
long-billed hummers that return every summer to the Hummingbird Garden at
Starsmore Discovery Center, 2120 S. Cheyenne Cañon Road in Colorado Springs.
By Dianne Zuckerman
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 SNOWSHOEING
IN ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK: The
warnings were clear: lackluster snowfall, high winds and icy conditions in
Rocky Mountain National Park. But the lure was enticing--a snowshoe hike
with a ranger for two hours of trails. The warnings prove to be incorrect and
the day is perfect.
By Niki Hayden
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 COLORADO
HOT SPRINGS: Not quite warm enough for water sports. Not nearly cool enough to hit the ski
slopes. But September and October are the perfect months to make a weekend trip
to one of Colorado’s many inviting hot springs. In my six years in Colorado, I’ve been to a dozen or so, including Mount
Princeton, Glenwood Springs, Hot Sulfur Springs and Eldorado Springs. But none
has pleased me quite like the Strawberry Hot Springs just northeast of Steamboat
Springs.
By Beth Krodel
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 BARR
LAKE: A PEACEABLE KINGDOM -- Even if you didn’t know that Barr Lake is a premier
Colorado spot for bird watching, in a quick visit, you would soon find out. To
the unacquainted, Barr Lake is surrounded by giant cottonwoods and willows, which house
hundreds of birds. The closer you get, the louder the broadcasting of trills, caws,
chirrups, whistles and melodies hatch from a bird orchestra.
By Niki Hayden
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 CYCLING
IN VAIL-- ONE OF SUMMER'S BEST-KEPT SECRETS: Vail is snowy glitz in
winter, but when summer arrives, the crowds thin and bicycles replace
skis. True, Vail is best known for perilous mountain trails, but there are
14 miles of paved bike paths, most with breathtaking scenery and all free.
By Niki Hayden
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 COLORADO
ROCK FORMATIONS: "Geologists look at the landscape and see things others don’t,"
Gregg Campbell says, "for us, one million years is a short time."
Gregg stands on a bluff in northern Colorado, where Highway 287 nearly meets
Wyoming. Across the highway lies a mountain in red layers—rock and pebbly
soil, sandwiched with clay, like layers of a frosted cake. "Part of our
ancestral Rockies," he points out, a mountain of sedimentary rocks, where
pressure and time has glued all together.
By Niki Hayden
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 FLOWERS
IN THE FOOTHILLS: Although Crested Butte attracts wildflower lovers in July, a quieter
profusion of flowers just as remarkable blankets the Front Range--home to a
wider diversity of species than anywhere else in Colorado. The blooms begin
earlier and last longer. And this year, perhaps as an antidote to fire and
drought, the early bloomers have provided a lavish production.
By Niki Hayden
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 WINTER
WALK: On a crisp, cold winter morning, naturalist Lynne Sullivan gathers
her flock--a group of vividly hued coated hikers ambling along a Colorado mountain
trail in search of wildlife. Lynne is a modern version of the old-fashioned
ranger, a naturalist who guides others. Slender and long-legged as determined hikers often
are, she wears layered clothing,
thick-soled boots and carries all the right stuff—water
bottle and day-old pizza, sunglasses and binoculars.
By Niki Hayden
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 THE
OTHER COLORADO: The sandstone bluffs are the Pawnee Buttes. The unbroken vista is Pawnee
National Grassland. And together, they're one of Colorado's best-kept secrets.
This is the place to go when you want a peaceful drive or near-solitary hike,
far from the hordes of visitors seeking tourist-town glitz and more familiar
Rocky Mountain views.
By Dianne Zuckerman
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 DEEP
INTO BUTTERFLY TERRITORY: Suddenly
a magnificent orange and black streak soars overhead. We’re dazzled by its
speed, here and there, alighting and taking off. Sam swoops the net. We gasp as
he details the expeditions that monarchs embark
upon: the miles of flight, their return to specific places and the gradual loss
of their habitat. All the while, the monarch is still, held firmly in Sam’s
experienced fingers. He releases the monarch and it’s a blip on the horizon. We will see rare
and exquisite small butterflies ahead, but none as showy.
By Niki Hayden
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 MATCHLESS
LEGEND: Like the mining site that bears its name, the
word matchless also suits a story that could have been conjured up for a
film, had it not actually unfolded in Leadville, sometimes called the
Cloud City for its lofty elevation of over 10,000 feet. The tale takes on
fresh life for anyone who visits the site of the Matchless Mine, where
Baby Doe's one-room cabin, with its plank floor and small pot belly stove,
has been restored as accurately as possible.
By Dianne Zuckerman
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 CRESTED
BUTTE--COLORADO'S WILDFLOWER CAPITAL: Long after the columbines
have dropped their petals on the foothills of the Front Range, the
mountains surrounding Crested Butte, Colorado, burst into bloom. They are
beginning to awaken in the subalpine meadows of the Elk Mountains that
border the town when July and early August is bloom time at 10,000 feet.
By Debbie Whittaker
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 WHERE
THE BUFFALO ROAM: The
Medano-Zapata Ranch, the largest acquisition the Nature Conservancy has made in
Colorado, fits into the organization’s current focus on what is called
landscape-scale conservation. “Historically, the Conservancy has preserved
pockets of land in a wide variety of places,” says Sharyl Massey, the
group’s education and outreach coordinator for the San Luis Valley. “But
many species need a greater landscape. You can’t recognize political
boundaries, especially with migratory species. You have to work to save the
entire habitat.”
By Dianne Zuckerman
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 HUNTING
THE WILD MUSHROOM: Wild mushrooms may be the jewels of the forest, but with shitake, oyster,
woodear and portabello mushrooms in the stores, it’s hard to judge the
difference between a wild and cultivated mushroom. Here's the definition: wild
mushrooms must be collected from the forest and cannot be cultivated on a
mushroom farm. The exquisite, tender chanterelles or the robust, meaty boletus
rarely are found fresh in stores. They're discovered in the mountains of
Colorado.
By Niki Hayden
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 SPLENDOR
IN THE GRASS: Spring flowers may be the prima ballerinas of nature.
But by late summer, the ballet corps of stalwart grasses pirouette on their own. With author and
naturalist, Ann Cooper, we'll walk through a sea of healthy grasses and discover
originals to Colorado and the prairie.
By Niki Hayden
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 CRANE-SPOTTING:
My first sighting of the elegant birds comes unexpectedly, as the final
leg of the auto tour edges alongside wide meadows backed by bare-branched
cottonwoods. Shivering from a chilly gust and wiping watery eyes, I
suddenly comprehend that the smoke-colored blurs fading into the darkening
fields are cranes. Thousands of them. Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge
was created in 1953. But the sandhill cranes--whose huge, three-toed feet
first trod the world's wetlands at least 40 million years ago--have
probably been migrating through Colorado for centuries.
By Dianne Zuckerman
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 MOONSTRUCK:
The light of
the full moon makes for perfect nighttime hiking. There's enough
illumination for you to see the trail and the beauty that surrounds you at a
quiet time when few - if any - other hikers are out. And hiking at night gives
you the chance to get a new perspective on your environment; you're likely to
see animals that you don't during the day, and even some flora transforms at
night, with blooms closing or leaves curling up.
By Beth Krodel
 TACKLING
A "FOURTEENER": You don’t have to be an Olympic-caliber athlete to
hike one of these majestic peaks. So if you’ve never been to the summit of a
" Fourteener," now’s the perfect time to try.
By Beth Krodel
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 WINGS
ALONG THE ROCKIES: Colorado is home to 250
species of butterflies, more than anywhere else in North America. George
Brinkmann, retired horticulturist from the
Butterfly Pavilion and former staff 
horticulturalist of Denver Botanic Gardens, tells us how to plant
a butterfly habitat and why it's so important.
By Niki Hayden
THE
LURE OF FLY-FISHING: Patience may be the end product of fly-fishing, but
learning to handle the trout gingerly so that it's never damaged is a first
lesson. Experts prefer barbless hooks.
By Niki Hayden
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 UP,
UP AND AWAY: As temperatures drop, balloonists gather for airborne
festivals. Autumn begins the most popular season to sail over the
mountains and plains, viewing scenery from the vantage point of
birds.
By Beth Krodel
RENDEZVOUS WITH RAPTORS: Rehabilitating
raptors
is one of the environmental success stories in Colorado. Golden eagles
(pictured right),
turkey vultures, Swainson's hawk and American kestrels are guests of
this special program. You'll meet
several birds of prey caretakers from Colorado State University.
By Dianne Zuckerman
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