Sunday, September 1, 2013

Colorado Hikes: Roxsborough State Park

Happy Labor Day weekend! Andrew's up in the mountains with some friends, and my aunt and uncle are in town from Iowa. We decided to check out Roxborough. I'd actually never been there before, even though it's a popular day hike.

The day was perfect for hiking. We have had the craziest weather for Colorado, and I love it. It was overcast and cloudy, as it has been for much of this past month. It made for cooler temperatures and good hiking weather. I don't recommend doing this hike with kids on a hot, sunny day because there was no shade. It wasn't a problem at all for us today!

Unless you have a state parks pass, the entrance fee is $7. I didn't even think of that when I agreed to go with my family. Thankfully, my dad offered to buy our entrance fee! My mom brought her jogging stroller along. What would I do without my parents?




The main trail that we took (the Fountain Valley Trail) is mostly flat. We accessed it from the visitor's center. As we walked, there were a few lookout points to hike up to. We chose to do those, and they weren't all that easy with little kids. I wouldn't have been able to do those parts with the kids myself.



After the first part of the hike, we switched and put Oliver in the stroller. I carried Jo almost the rest of the way! At one point, my mom tried to relieve me, but Jo wasn't having it.

We left the stroller behind to hike up to Lyons Overlook. Oliver hiked up there himself! It was beautiful.


There was sand near the overlook that the kids played in. Oliver declared that it was brown sugar.

We didn't do the full loop. My dad helped me get the kids back to the visitor's center after Lyons Overlook. The visitor's center was air conditioned, and the kids got to color and relax. It was nice. They had a board on the wall that marked all the animals people have reported seeing and on what days. There have been a lot of black bear sightings recently! In July, there were a lot of mountain lion sightings, so definitely don't let any little kids wander off.

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