Things to do / Travel Guide
Ski bunnies, cool snowboarding cats, and après-ski party animals aren't the only mountain creatures you will find in the Colorado Rockies region. You'll be hard-pressed to capture it all on film: falcons flying overhead while rock and canyon wrens accompany them with song, black elk and bighorn sheep lumbering through the countryside, black bears ambling across forests, and mountain goats scampering between sandstone bluffs. The Colorado Rockies' harbor a startling number of flight-bound and four-legged species, and every season save winter provides a veritable burst of fragrance and color thanks to the artistry of Colorado's wildflowers, fir forests, and aspen groves.
Birds in the Colorado Rockies
In the Colorado Rockies region, a bird-watching bonanza awaits the avid nature observer. The scarce and imperiled Black Swift nests in Box Canyon Falls Park, south of Ouray in Southwest Colorado, but it is not alone: along County Road 361, which follows Canyon Creek, you can also spot blue grouse, red-naped sapsuckers, orange-crowned warblers, cordilleran flycatchers, and pine and evening grosbeaks. A feathered-friend frenzy awaits the birder at Colorado National Monument near the Northwest Colorado town of Grand Junction. Scan the startlingly stark red sandstone landscape for rare and beautiful species; the pinyon pine and juniper make the zone a zenith of nesting birds different from other avian habitats of the Rockies. You will see black-chinned hummingbird, western scrub-jay, juniper titmouse, the elusive black-throated gray warbler, and lazuli bunting. Swirling and swooping above Rimrock Drive, you can spot peregrine and prairie falcons, golden eagles, or catch the sweet melodious songs of rock and canyon wrens.
Large Mammals in the Colorado Rockies
Whether you wish to sneak a peek at Colorado's bighorn sheep or a bleating mountain goat, or hope to happen upon a big bull elk or a black bear, Colorado Rockies forests and wilderness areas will not disappoint. Bighorn Sheep Canyon, southeast of Salida in South-Central Colorado, is as good a place to spot a herd as Colorado National Monument or the eastern side of U.S. Highway 550 between Ridgeway and Ouray. The curled horns alone of a 250-pound bighorn ram, the mammalian symbol of Colorado state, can weigh up to 35 pounds, and though one might believe it difficult to overlook such a beast, they often blend into the countryside so keep your eyes peeled, and your binoculars and cameras cocked. To track elk (moose) or ogle their antlers, head for the San Juan National Forest and San Juan Mountains south of Telluride in Southwest Colorado, home to some of Colorado's largest elk herds. Also in Southwest Colorado, at the 279-acre San Miguel Canyon Preserve, along the San Miguel River near Telluride, you can spot black bear, mountain lion, porcupine, river otter, and mink. The smaller South Fork Preserve also near Telluride, below the 14,000-foot-high Wilson Peak, is also a great place for large mammal-spotting and wildlife watching.
Flora in the Colorado Rockies
From the pinyon and juniper trees of Northwest Colorado's Colorado National Monument's sprawling mesas, to the sagebrush and rabbitbrush of Curecanti National Recreation Area shrublands in Southwest Colorado, and from the tall, willowy cottonwood trees that line the Gunnison River to the fir and spruce of San Juan National Forest, the Colorado Rockies region is floraphile's fantasyland. Throughout the rocky and rich-soiled region you will find a range of plant life as varied as the topography. The Blue Mesa Reservoir in Southwest Colorado is nestled amidst Douglas fir, spruce trees, and ponderosa pine and the steep cliff walls of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison River also in Southwest Colorado are laden with mountain maple, serviceberry, and juniper. In the spring and summer the Colorado Rockies' alpine pastures bloom in a rainbow of hues. Kebler Pass, near the Southwest Colorado town of Crested Butte, and Independence Pass, near the Northwest Colorado town of Aspen, the wetlands along the Roaring Fork River, and Crested Butte, the wildflower capital of Colorado, come alive with the vivid colors of elephantella, paintbrush, lousewort, Rocky Mountain fringed gentian, and the lavender columbine, the Colorado state flower. But Colorado's most legendary and loved trees are the ever-enchanting wispy, white-barked aspens that grace the region's mountains and mesas. In the fall, drive, hike, and bike through Northwest Colorado's White River National Forest, perhaps the world's largest aspen forest, to watch these picturesque trees paint the landscape with their palette of yellow-gold, autumn-auburn, and espresso-brown foliage. A stroll in the valleys of the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness Area near Aspen will take you through dense dark spruce and fir forests, past aspen groves, and lush flowery spaces. Hike above treeline in spring for one of nature's finest wildflower displays.
Nature Spots in Vail, Aspen, Telluride, Steamboat Springs and the Colorado Rockies
Nature-Wildlife
|
|
|