Hey, Shayna here. I am so many things but the overwhelming part of my identity right now is MOM. I have 4 veryrambunctious,crazy,noisy, spirited children and while I enjoy a good girls night out or even the coveted adults only date nights, the majority of my time is spent with the family. I am starting this blog becauseI need more attention,I like to write, I want to log where we go and how easy or not easy it was to take the kids...aka "family friendly". This is not the same as "kid friendly". I have been to my share of kid friendly places that offer very (very) little for mom and dad. Just remember that my point system is highly influenced by a) my mood that day, b)the environmental conditions that only God controls (i.e. weather) and c)how much fighting there was in the car on the way to the location so this is very very very unscientific. Enjoy!
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Chautauqua Park- Boulder, CO
Chautauqua
Overall: 9
Price: 10
Kid Friendly: 9
Parent Friendly: 9
Easy Access: 7
I would put Chautauqua (Shuh-talk-wuh) on my top 10 must do's in Boulder CO whether you are on a family trip or an adults only trip. The views are amazing, the paths are friendly (unless you are new to trail running and you want to see how many times you can "run" up and down the trail...but thats a story for a different blog), the parking is....
sketchy (meaning on a beautiful day like this, be prepared to hike to your hike cause spots are are rare as gold). That there behind us is the Flat Irons and they are stunning. There are so many trails up and around that park that I haven't gone on all of them even though I have been there dozens of times. There is a very family friendly loop that is about a miles and a half that the kids love to take. This does not take you up to the flat irons (although many of the trails do) but it does have a good variety of terrain and elevation for the kids. Plus when you are coming down, you have a beautiful view of Boulder.
sketchy (meaning on a beautiful day like this, be prepared to hike to your hike cause spots are are rare as gold). That there behind us is the Flat Irons and they are stunning. There are so many trails up and around that park that I haven't gone on all of them even though I have been there dozens of times. There is a very family friendly loop that is about a miles and a half that the kids love to take. This does not take you up to the flat irons (although many of the trails do) but it does have a good variety of terrain and elevation for the kids. Plus when you are coming down, you have a beautiful view of Boulder.
This scree field is on one of the hikes up to the flat irons and my kids have a weird obsession with rocks so we spent a good chunk of time climbing all over here. On sunny days like this one, there is also a high likelihood of seeing some rock climbers up on the Irons.
This is us taking a break. One awesome thing about this hike is that at the cabin/visitor center they have what they call "exploration packs" that you can check out for FREE. In these packs there are binoculars, cups, nets, and manuals with ideas on how to observe the animals and plants on your hike. We have caught (and released) our fair share of butterflies there.
This was not a "destination" hike where we needed to get someone and back before our time was up, so the kids were free to explore and play. Its no wonder that almost every time we have gone up here we see various artists parked on the side of the path painting and drawing and reflecting on all that has been given us.
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