Where the Gunnison River comes tumbling out of the mountains, it gurgles through deciduous bottomland forests that seem to have been transplanted straight from New England, complete with Least Flycatchers and the occasional Veery.
The Black Swift is legendarily difficult to observe, but in summer, here in the heart of Colorado's San Juan Mountains, a sighting is virtually guaranteed.
Blanca Peak was known to the Navajo as the sacred peak of the East, one of the four holy mountains that bounded and guarded their nation.
It's five hours to Browns Park from Denver by car, but it might as well be fifty. The few people who venture as far as the state's northwesternmost corner are richly rewarded.
This trail, based in Fort Collins, allows easy access to almost every habitat in northern Colorado, from high-elevation forest to high-quality shortgrass prairie. Some of the sites here are right in the middle of town; some are breathtakingly remote.
The Four Corners country may be the best place in the state to experience a true natural quiet. Here, inside national monuments called Hovenweep and Canyons of the Ancients, below red-rock cliffs and desert mesas, you will have the rare opportunity to get away from human sounds.
Just south and west of Denver are some “roads less traveled” that traverse scenic canyons, oak scrublands, conifer forests, and old burn scars in the foothills. This trail is for those who want to get off the beaten path without traveling far.
Some places on the plains are an acquired taste, but this is not one of them. This is what Southeast Colorado is all about.
Almost everywhere in this dry landscape is evidence of the ancient past. The colorful sandstone in this region encases some of America's richest and most famous fossil beds, the namesake of Dinosaur National Monument and its nearest town.
West of Vail Pass, the Colorado River and Interstate 70 come together to wind through the heart of the Rocky Mountains, where Bald Eagles spend the winter fishing in the fast-moving water.
Carved out of the extreme northwestern corner of Colorado, Moffat County is a sprawling quadrangle nearly the size of Connecticut with fewer than 15,000 human residents, most of them in the town of Craig.
Even among native Coloradans, the Flat Tops are a well-kept secret. Flat though their tops may be, these impressive mountains are the centerpiece of the second-largest wilderness area in the state.
Thanks to decades of open space preservation and land conservation, the Boulder area is packed with places to view wildlife. Boulderites love the outdoors, and if you come to visit, you’ll immediately see why.
This trail takes its name from Fruitgrowers Reservoir, the best place on the West Slope of Colorado to see waterbirds, from huge flocks of Sandhill Cranes to squadrons of shorebirds and flotillas of ducks.
Here at the start of the river that carved the Grand Canyon lies an easy-to-reach taste of Colorado's West Slope.
East of Grand Junction, the Grand Mesa is an astonishing place. Here, nearly 500 square miles of pristine forest have been lifted some 5,000 feet above the surrounding terrain, creating what some call the largest flat-topped mountain in the world.
Grand Junction, the largest town on Colorado's West Slope, sits at the confluence of the Colorado and Gunnison Rivers at the foot of soaring redrock mesas sculpted by wind and water into dramatic shapes.
Whooping and cackling like fiends, leaping into the air and puffing out their inflatable necks like frogs, the male Greater Prairie-Chickens put on a show each spring unrivaled in the animal kingdom.
In the shadow of Greenhorn Mountain, the beacon peak that anchors the southern end of the Wet Mountain range, this trail highlights a part of Southeast Colorado that is off the beaten path, but not remote.
The Gunnison Sage-Grouse is a special bird. Formally described by science only in 2000, it evaded detection for decades because people looked at it without seeing it-they assumed all sage grouse were the same.
This trail follows the upper portions of the Arkansas from its origins above treeline down to pinyon-juniper covered hills and shallow canyons.
Those visiting Denver with a hankering to experience the high plains need look no farther. This trail is full of fresh air from start to finish.
This is a land whose great diversity is sorted into layers from the bottom of the mountain to the top. Down low, in the deserts around the floor of Mesa Verde, the land grows mostly shrubby and spiky plants, like prickly pear and saltbush, which are home to equally spiny creatures, like the short-horned lizard.
Above the road between Rico and Telluride, in the remote southwest San Juans, there rises a spectacular spire of rock that reminded its namers of a reptile's head.
To follow this trail is to see the mountains’ highlight reel, with birds to match. This is the Colorado on your postcards.
Denver, the Mile High City, is famous as the gateway to the Rocky Mountains and as the capital city of Colorado. It also has an excellent system of parks and natural areas that make it possible to find nature right in town.
North Park, virtually synonymous with Jackson County, is a high, flat, peak-ringed valley that teems with far more wildlife than people. Some of Colorado's finest and most extensive remaining sagebrush country can be found here, right beside some of Colorado's finest and most extensive wetlands.
This lush prairie is home to seasonal wetlands, dramatic buttes, and some of the most famous migrant traps in Colorado. It is rightly one of the most popular wildlife watching destinations in the state.
The Front Range is a phalanx of snow-capped mountains that guards the center of Colorado against any approach from the east. This is Denver’s mountainous backyard, a must-visit area for anyone interested in Colorado nature.
The Piedra River collects most of the water from Colorado's largest wilderness area, the Weminuche, running from permanent snowfields in the high mountains through subalpine meadows down into forests of gigantic ponderosa pine.
This trail is is quintessential Colorado, offering visitors a variety of wildlife watching opportunities all within a stones throw to Colorado Springs.
Named for the shallow prairie lakes that appear and disappear with the unpredictable rains, the Playa Trail showcases ephemeral beauties.
The "Trail that Has It All", visitors can see a plethora of plovers, visit the Old Santa Fe Trail, or visit some of the areas large reservoirs.
Of all the wonderful places hidden in Southeast Colorado, this trail might just run right past the most surprises.
Thanks to a chain of large lakes that attract birds by the tens of thousands in migration and winter, this has long been one of the most popular wildlife watching routes in Colorado.
The Arkansas River Valley is so thickly packed with top-notch places to view wildlife that it sometimes boggles the traveler's mind.
The area south and east of Steamboat Springs is one of the lushest regions of Colorado, boasting relatively few people but high natural diversity, including huge numbers of deer, elk, and pronghorn along the backroads.
The west side of urban Denver runs smack into an area of hogback ridges, huge red sandstone rock formations, and semiarid shrublands. Thanks to a spectacular system of parks, huge tracts of beautiful habitat have been preserved for posterity, only minutes from the city.
The Roaring Fork River crashes down out of the West Elk Mountains towards the Colorado River, carving out a beautiful mountain valley as it goes.
The northern San Luis Valley is a land of natural spectacles. Some are aerial, like the talon-locking tumble of a pair of Golden Eagles in midair courtship, or the high-flying spirals of a flock of Black Swifts above a canyon cascade at dusk.
The northeast corner of Colorado sits atop a special ecosystem, a mix of desert and prairie known as sandsage, home to tallgrass species with a little southwestern spice.
Tracing a high and remote path through Colorado's least populated region, the Silver Thread Scenic Byway winds its beautiful way through montane forests and meadows from the low to the high, past mountain lakes that teem with waterfowl in migration.
The playa lakes and manmade reservoirs of this section of Southeast Colorado are magnets for waterbirds of every stripe.
Only 1-2 hours from Denver, South Park is a flat area nearly the size of Rhode Island at an elevation of 10,000 feet, which harbors remnants of a rich prairie and wetland ecosystem.
Following the Highway of Legends Scenic Byway for much of its length, and circumnavigating the stunning Spanish Peaks, this trail nearly runs the gamut of Colorado habitats.
The towns of Longmont and Lyons, along the St. Vrain River north of Boulder, support an amazingly high density of places to watch birds and other wildlife.
For travelers driving west from Denver, Summit County offers the first taste of the West Slope. Famous for ski resorts like Breckenridge, Arapahoe Basin, and Copper Mountain, it's also home to well-preserved natural areas that offer good wildlife watching at any time of year.
Among Colorado birders, this area of Prowers and northern Baca Counties is nearly synonymous with migration.
Everyone agrees that "Uncompahgre" is a Ute word, but few can agree on what it means. Some say it means "hot springs"; others say it means "red lake" or "the place where water makes the rocks red."
Along this trail lie a rich collection of parks and pathways that allow astonishing nature study right inside the metro area.
This trail encompasses the parks and waterways of northeast urban Denver, plus a large swath of the adjacent plains, stringing together the finest spots to enjoy nature right in the shadow of the city.
Famous for its whitewater rafting, the Arkansas Canyon offers an amazing variety of wildlife viewing opportunities in a spectacular setting.
The summit of Wolf Creek Pass is one of the snowiest places in Colorado during the winter. During the summer, it's one of the most scenic.
The Yampa is one of the few rivers in Colorado that remains almost entirely undammed and undiverted. Much as in past centuries, it supports a rich riparian ecosystem along most of its length.