I have visited this park twice, in 2010 and 2015, and the views and wildlife were worth the visit both times. This is a free park maintained by the city of Colorado Springs. The park can be seen by driving, biking, or walking and there are a couple of pull-offs and parking lots. There are trails off of the parking areas and a biking lane that follows the road. The park also has a very large gift shop (called the Trading Post) and a separate Visitor's Center. Bursts of wind can blow through the park, particularly around the main parking area, bringing with them blowing dust, so be mindful when you are in the higher areas. Additionally, storms can come up quickly, so be prepared. There is also plenty of wildlife including deer, bunnies, and squirrels/chipmunks, so please drive carefully. Highlights of the birds I saw included a Prairie Falcon, Black-billed Magpies, Western Scrub-Jays, Spotted Towhee, and a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Pinion Jays can also be found here, but I did not see one. The main attractions here are the rock formations, which are beautiful, and I also really enjoyed the Least, or Colorado, chipmunks!
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Wow! This place had quite a collection. I was expecting a history of mining, which they also had, but the majority of this museum is a spectacular collection of minerals. The Geology Museum is located within the Colorado School of Mines in Boulder, Colorado. There are two floors and the rooms that house the museum are relatively small, but they are packed full of incredible things to look at. The upstairs is minerals, found locally and globally, a short history of mining, and crown jewels. The downstairs contains fossils of all kinds, meteorites, more minerals, and a gift shop. In addition to the museum, the campus has points of interest, including dinosaur tracks and imprints/fossils, that you can walk to. I did not realize it, but we got there 45 minutes before the museum closed an it was not enough time for me. I would have gladly gone back the next day, but due to the 4th of July the rest of the weekend was a school holiday, so the museum was closed. An added bonus was that the museum was free. We will definitely visit again when we are in the Boulder area. I took way too many pictures, and I can't upload them all, so this is only a small sample of what the museum held.
Barr Lake State Park is about 40 minutes northeast of downtown Denver and it was well worth the visit. This was only one of two parks that I got to visit in the Denver area and it turned out to be one of my favorite stops in eastern Colorado. They won me over when the first thing I saw was a adorable owl at the front entrance! As if that wasn't enough, I also saw some great birds and beautiful scenery. About half the park is trails while the other half can be driven. I spent my time at the boat ramp and on the Neidrach Trail before a storm chased me back to my car. Even while I was waiting out the storm, I spotted a few good birds including a Swainson's Hawk being mobbed and a Black-billed Magpie. I liked this park so much, that I returned again before we left Colorado. Even the bunnies thought it was too hot before the storm! Highlights of the birds I saw included Clark's and Western Grebes, Bald Eagles, Osprey, a Swainson's Hawk, an American Kestrel, Northern Flickers, a Downy Woodpecker, a Black-billed Magpie, Bullock's Orioles, American White Pelicans (which I never expected), and Barn Owls. There is plenty of wildlife around, so please drive slowly. Our favorite bunny. It must have been a juvenile because it would get so close at times that we could have touched it. Mom was a bit more wary. The Barn Owls were what I came to see, and they did not disappoint! If you do go to see them, please be respectful of their nest by quietly watching from an appropriate distance. I was able to get my pictures by putting my camera up to my spotting scope, which was set up at least 40 feet away. Like most birds, owls are protected by Federal Law. Apparently the lake was pretty high since Colorado has been getting lots of rain lately (summer 2015). The park is owned by the state, but the lake itself is owned by a Farmer's Association company that sells water. They can access water from the lake at any time in order to provide water shares to farmers. This means that the lake is not always as high as when I saw it and my understanding is that they can drain it to pretty low levels sometimes. Nonetheless, it was a very pretty park with views of meadows, Barr Lake, Cottonwood groves, and the mountains. I am not sure how birdy it is when the lake levels are low, but there was a nice variety of birds when I visited. The people that I spoke with at the entrance station, visitor's center, and the Park Rangers were all very nice and knowledgeable about the park. I can't wait to go back and explore more of the park next time!
The entrance fee was $7 for the day. There were several bathrooms, picnic areas, and a nice visitor's center. The park has plenty of information about activities that you can join on their website and on the information boards that can be found at parking areas. They have a nice website with up-to-date information about activities, several maps, and other good information: Barr Lake State Park website. Two of their activities included Moon Walks and outings on a Pontoon Boat, both of which I thought would be fun! This park is maintained by Jefferson County, and wow, have they done a nice job! I have to admit, after seeing the name, I didn't know what to expect and was hesitant to go, especially since the park is in the foothills of the mountains (I mean why else would you name a park Lair O' the Bear if there weren't bears everywhere?!), but when I saw that American Dippers had recently been sighted on the eBird list, I was off before you could yell "Bear!". This park is about 40 minutes west of downtown Denver, and while I did not see any bears or mountain lions (whew!), I did see lots of great birds. They have a nice parking area and the trails are open for use by horses, mountain bikers, hikers, and dogs, though a couple of short trails are restricted to hikers only. This was a pretty busy park with plenty of bikers and hikers and all of the dogs were well behaved with one exception (there's always one...). There were also plenty of fishermen and anglers enjoying the river. Facilities included bathrooms, picnic areas, and an educational area. The trails were easy to walk and level. Taking the trail upstream of the parking area, there were two stream crossings where you had to skittle across slippery rocks for a couple of feet, but these were a good ways down the trail. There are two bridges that can be used to cross the river, but at the time of my visit, the one upstream of the parking area (Dipper Bridge) was closed. And I don't know how this couldn't be a dinosaur footprint! The park was apparently greener and more vegetated than normal due to recent rains. I don't know what it normally looks like, but it was beautiful when I was there. This was also my favorite drive while we were in the Denver area. Besides the scenery, highlights included American Dippers, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Violet-green and Tree Swallows, Yellow Warblers, Lazuli Buntings, a Spotted Towhee, and a Black-capped Chickadee (for birders like me that spend most of their time in Carolina or overlapping ranges). There were also plenty of butterflies, including a Weidemeyer's Admiral (pictured below). And of course, the star of the park, the American Dipper! I was lucky enough to not only find one Dipper, but two! A juvenile and adult were foraging along Bear Creek. They may be plain looking birds, but American Dippers are very neat. They can only be found in clear, fast flowing streams with exposed rocks to perch on, and they only eat the aquatic insects and larvae that can be found in these streams (Sibley 2014).
More info about Lair O' the Bear can be found here: https://jeffco.us/open-space/parks/lair-o-bear-park/ as well as info about other Jefferson County parks. Map of Lair O' the Bear: |
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September 2022
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