FLORISSANT FOSSIL BEDS NATIONAL MONUMENT 15807 Co. Rd. 1, Florissant Price: $10 per person
is elevated 800 feet above the city along a narrow razorback ride. The dramatic, steep, and guardrail-free views of the surrounding landscape features visible Cretaceous-era dinosaur tracks! TINY TOWN AND RAILROAD 6249 S. Turkey Creek Rd., Morrison Price: Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for kids age 2–12, and free for kids 2 and under Explore the child-sized, historic miniature village of Tiny Town before hopping on the train and riding around this unique attraction.
unique open spaces with colorful clays that were collected by American Indians to make paint. The brightly colored bands are found in varying amounts and you can also see geological formations including spires and hoodoos formed from erosion.
Beneath a grassy mountain valley in central Colorado lies one of the richest and most diverse fossil deposits in the world. Petrified redwood stumps up to 14 feet wide and thousands of detailed fossils of insects and plants reveal the story of a very different, prehistoric Colorado.
UFO WATCHTOWER Off Hwy 17, Hooper Price: $5 per person, kids under 6 get in free The UFO Watchtower invites
DEVIL’S SLIDE STRESTLES Rollins Pass Rd., Winter Park Price: Free
extraterrestrial seekers and curious minds to the watchtower for a chance to spot an alien or UFO for themselves. Allegedly, this location has hosted numerous UFO sightings over the years. CANYONS OF THE ANCIENTS NATIONAL MONUMENT Montezuma and Dolores counties Price: Free The Canyons of the Ancients protects a stunning cultural landscape with the highest known density of archaeological sites in the US. The Monument features more than 8,000 documented sites including villages, kivas, field houses, cliff dwellings, petroglyphs, and ancient roadways. Price: Admission is free for ages 5 and under, $15 for ages 6–15 and 65–79, $30 for ages 16–64, and free for ages 80+ See hundreds of rescued reptiles including alligators, crocodiles, caiman, tortoises, and turtles. See albino alligators, and Morris the movie star alligator! You can even get hands- on experiences with the opportunity to pet, hold, and take pictures with a small alligator. COLORADO GATORS REPTILE PARK 9162 Lane 9 N., Mosca
Looking for a daring hike? Built in 1905 at an elevation of 11,600 feet on the edge of South Boulder Canyon in the Rockies, the Devil’s Slide Trestles cling to the side of a mountain with only oblivion between them and the waters of Middle Boulder Creek. INDIANA JONES HOME 502 Front St., Antonito Price: Free to see, prices vary to stay The Indiana Jones boyhood home, featured in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, is a real, historic Victorian house now operating as the Indiana Jones Bed & Breakfast.
SAUL THE STICKER BALL StickerGiant, 880 Weaver Park Rd., Longmont Price: Free
Weighing in at 231 pounds, the Guinness World Record-holding largest sticker ball was created 10 years ago for the first National Sticker Day. DOTSERO CRATER 2300 River Frontage Rd., Silt Price: Free Dotsero Crater, a 700-meter deep maar volcano, was Colorado’s only active volcano that erupted around 4,000 years ago. MEDANO CREEK 1199 Hwy 150, Mosca Price: Entrance fee starting at $25 per vehicle With the natural beach and a spring “surge flow” phenomenon, this seasonal stream at the base of the Great Sand Dunes National Park typically flows from April to July.
OLD GOLD CAMP ROAD TUNNELS Gold Camp Rd., Colorado Springs Price: Free
These historic, haunted, 19th-century railway tunnels are popular for hiking and biking in Pike National Forest.
B-17 BOMBER CRASH SITE West of Fort Collins/Bellevue in Roosevelt National Park Price: Free
Colorado’s Comanche Peak Wilderness Area might seem like an unexpected travel bucket list destination, but for wilderness hikers and World War II history buffs, it can’t be missed. Tucked away, this wilderness hides a hard trail leading to the rusted-out wreckage of a B-17 bomber.
RAINBOW FALLS West end of Manitou Springs, off Serpentine Dr. Price: $20 per vehicle
The Rainbow Falls Historic Site is a 50-foot waterfall featuring a short, round-trip easy hike. A popular attraction due to its chilled water and picturesque setting, there is also a unique bridge that passes over Rainbow Falls and Fountain Creek.
BISHOP CASTLE 12705 Hwy 165, Rye Price: Free
GNOME ROAD (ELF LANE) Nokomis Rd., Red Feather Lakes Price: Free
Nestled in the Wet Mountains of Colorado, just above 9,000 feet elevation, stands a marvel of its time: the world’s largest one- man project, The Bishop Castle.
NEVADAVILLE GHOST TOWN Nevadaville Rd., Central City Price: Free
This whimsical, quarter-mile dirt road is densely populated with hundreds of donated gnomes, fairy doors, and trinkets. This residential street offers a fairy-tale experience to encourage visitors of all ages to explore slowly. SKYLINE DRIVE Access from U.S. 50 on west side of Cañon City Price: Free A scenic, almost 3-mile, one-way paved road
ICE CAVES OF RIFLE MOUNTAIN PARK 13885 County Rd. 217, Rifle Price: Entry fee is $5 per vehicle
Love a ghost story or the eerie feeling of an empty town? Nevadaville is an extinct gold-mining town, with the community largely a ghost town. There are several original buildings and some graves, but if you’re in the mining mood, along the hillside above and below town are a few historic mines you can view from the road.
Don’t miss the ice palaces of glistening icicles as you explore the caves to see 20-foot icicles hanging from cave walls, turquoise waterfalls frozen in time.
JUNE 2026 COLORADOPARENT.COM 15
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator