Colorado Gators Reptile Park
Colorado Gators Reptile Park Colorado Gators Reptile Park is where you’ll find hundreds of alligators basking in the high desert of the San Luis Valley, about 17 miles north of Alamosa near Mosca. Warm geothermal water keeps the ponds comfortable year-round, and today the park is a rescue home for hundreds of reptiles, including alligators, […]
Crystal Mill
Crystal Mill The Crystal Mill is the weathered wooden powerhouse perched on a rock ledge above the Crystal River in the old mining camp of Crystal, about six rugged miles east of Marble. Built in 1892 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it may be the most photographed spot in Colorado, and […]
City Park
City Park City Park is Denver’s largest urban park, with more than 300 acres of lawns, lakes and shade trees on the city’s east side. It’s home to the Denver Zoo and the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, and the view from the museum steps across Ferril Lake to the downtown skyline and the […]
Pawnee Buttes
Pawnee Buttes The Pawnee Buttes are two sandstone towers that rise 300 feet above the shortgrass prairie of the Pawnee National Grassland in far northeastern Weld County, about 13 miles south of the Wyoming line. A 2-mile trail crosses the open plains to the West Butte, and the big-sky silence, nesting falcons and wide horizons […]
Red Rock Canyon Open Space
Red Rock Canyon Open Space Red Rock Canyon Open Space is Colorado Springs’ quieter cousin to Garden of the Gods: 1,474 acres of tilted red sandstone fins, old quarry walls and piñon-dotted canyons right off U.S. 24 on the west side of town. With more than 40 miles of trails, climbing routes, dog-friendly loops and […]
Washington Park
Washington Park Washington Park, known to locals as Wash Park, is Denver’s favorite big backyard: about 160 acres of lakes, flower gardens and shady paths southeast of downtown. Walk or run the loop, watch the sunset over Smith Lake from the 1913 boathouse and spread out a blanket on the largest meadow in the Denver […]
Zapata Falls
Zapata Falls Zapata Falls is a hidden waterfall tucked inside a narrow rock crevice on the slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, just south of Great Sand Dunes National Park. A short, rocky trail and a cold wade up South Zapata Creek bring you face to face with water plunging more than 25 feet, […]
Helen Hunt Falls
Helen Hunt Falls Helen Hunt Falls pours through a granite notch in North Cheyenne Cañon Park, a free city park on the edge of Colorado Springs. You can see it from the roadside parking area, walk a short path to the footbridge above the falls and keep climbing to Silver Cascade Falls for a sweeping […]
Argo Mill and Tunnel
Argo Mill and Tunnel The Argo Mill and Tunnel is the giant red gold mill that climbs the hillside above Clear Creek in Idaho Springs. Built in 1913 at the mouth of a tunnel bored more than four miles into the mountains, it processed millions of dollars in gold ore, and today guided tours lead […]
Mueller State Park
Mueller State Park Mueller State Park spreads across more than 5,100 acres of aspen groves, spring-fed meadows and pink Pikes Peak granite on the west side of America’s Mountain, just south of Divide. With 44 miles of trails, 138 campsites and big views of Pikes Peak, it’s one of the best places in the state […]