We are in Denver to see our daughter and help her with bringing her new house up to date, but of course, we will be doing some sightseeing. The weather was a bit chilly the first couple of days, and instead of venturing out in the cold, we decided to check out the Wildlife Drive of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.
Unfortunately, you cannot bring dogs along and a very sad Penny had to stay behind.
The Rocky Mountain Arsenal was a US Army chemical weapons manufacturing plant, a POW camp for German soldier, and home to private pesticide companies until it was selected for an extensive clean up. In the mid-1980s, wildlife, including endangered species, moved into the space and soon after, the land became a protected park.
We started the 11 mile guided drive by downloading the prerecorded audio guidethat would play on our car radio.
The guide explores the park, mile by mile, for the 11-mile drive.
We didn’t have to drive very long before we spotted our first mule deer.
and the second. There were many more to follow.
The deer kept coming and soon we entered the enclosed bison area where a small herd of wild bison was introduced to the refuge in 2007.
We drove past large areas that are home to prairie dogs, but were only able to spot their homes. I guess they didn’t like the cold weather.
Driving towards the mountains,
but never really got any closer,
We were content watching the animals glow as the sun sank lower behind the mountains.
Between miles 9 and 10, we stopped for the short walk up Rattlesnake Hill Trail.
There are binoculars at the top
and you can view bison on one side, or the city with its mountainous backdrop on the other.
We walked back down
and played with tumbleweed.
Tumbleweed!
We don’t get to play with tumbleweed back home much. As a result, there is a bit of a facianation on our part.
did you know that the inner part of the tumbleweed dries up to a very light styrofoam consistency that allows it to tumble and scatter it’s seeds? They don’t just tumble around for no reason; it’s survival.
There were lots of tumbleweed there, which brings to mind the unfortunate case of tumbleweed attacking Richland, Washington, burying trucks and cars under 20 feet of dry vegetation and closing down the highway for 10 hours. They used snow plows to clear the road.
Reluctantly, we left the tempramental tumbleweed behind and went back to the car to finish our drive.
For the grand finale, at the 11th mile, one last buck showed up
and slowly and deliberately
made its way to the other side of the road
ignoring all signs.
Suddenly, the sun was behind the mountain and the rangers showed up to herd everyone out. The humans that is.
Lo and behold, even the car wash in Denver has a mountain sunset view!
We drove under crimson skies to rescue Penny.
Next time, we’ll take Penny with us since the perimeter trail of the park as well as another short trail do allow dogs.
Absolutely stunning!! I loved the picture of you both in the field against the beautiful sunset and all of your pictures from your trip…and I’m already looking forward to seeing sweetheart Penny❤🐶with you both the next time!! The tumble weed picture was amazing, I’d want one like that myself too😂😂
Thanks so much, Roshni! Colorado is so beautiful, that even though I was having some camera issues, I wasn’t able to completely destroy all of the photos. You simply can’t go wrong with the mountains, the light, and the animals. Everything is stunning 🙂
Fascinating information about tumbleweeds. I had no idea that they were scattering seeds. I just thought they were dead. Come to think of it, I don’t know if I’ve ever seen tumbleweeds in real life. How come they’re in movies so often? Setting the scene, I guess.
That’s funny because I feel like I see tumbleweed wherever I go in the US. I guess we don’t hang out in the same areas 🙂
I am just amazed that a former chemical weapons plant and home to private pesticide companies was cleaned up to become such a beautiful place.
Right? This place was soooo contaminated with such a cocktail of chemicals that it’s just amazing that it the place that it is today. There was a lot of damage to wildlife, especially birds though.
I imagine the is still some residual stuff left even now.
I bet you are right!
Gad they cleaned this area up so nature could return. Thanks for sharing. Happy Trails. Allan
Me too! Such an amazing place and practically in the city. Thanks for joining us!
Great post, love the pic of the buck and the one-way sign! We were all set up to explore Colorado in the spring of 2020, but as everything started to close, we decided to stay put in Palm Springs where had been weathering the lockdown. Maybe next Spring/Summer 2022! Thanks for this!
Thanks! That’s my favourite picture too 🙂 Too bad you didn’t make it to Colorado, but I hope you get a chance to visit. There is so much to see and do here. I wish we were here a longer.
Great post and the photos were lovely!
Thanks for coming along, June!
Can’t think for a better use of the former chemical weapons plant and POW camp. Great photography. Maggie
Thanks, Maggie. I totally agree 🙂
I love the Mile 11 series of the buck!
Tumbleweed is something I think of connected to the western part of the continent; we don’t see it in New England, and because I only see it when I’m traveling, it makes it into my blog, as well.
Thanks from one tumbleweed fan to another 🙂
Incredible photos! Sounds like a wonderful day!
Thanks so much! I hope your day is wonderful too 🙂
Thank you 😊
that looks like a terrific driving tour; I did not know there such tours anywhere in the U.S.
It was a really nice surprise to find this tour!
Very nice tour. I enjoyed it too 😉
Thank you.
So glad you enjoyed the tour 😀
I love hiking in the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. We just “discovered” it this year while we were stay in Aurora. It is such an amazing place. I love seeing the bison and deer.
You are so lucky to have this place in your back yard!
Cool! Lots of wildlife to see!
It’s a really cool place!
Oh, just lovely photos. I’ve never been to Denver, but some dear friends in L.A. have purchased a new home there and will be moving when it is finished. I will definitely visit them after they are settled. Yeah! Muriel
It’s a very cool city! If you visit try and do the driving tour of the Arsenal, I think you’ll enjoy it!
What a great use of this area to clean it up, convert it into a park, and protect endangered species. Seems like you had some great wildlife viewings. Lovely pictures of the sunset by the way.
Thank you! And, yes, a really cool initiative!
I love this trip into the wild – such a great refuge – thanks for taking us along!
Thank you for coming along!
Great to see this post – I have never been through the Arsenal although I don’t live far from there. The sunset photos and Denver skyscapes are lovely. I didn’t know about the town that was buried by tumbleweeds, what a story!
I hope you get a chance to go, it’s a cool place. Apparently, tumbleweed attacks are pretty common in some parts 🙂
While I understand they don’t allow dogs in wildlife refuges, I do find it sad that they can’t even come along inside the car and stay in the car (or camper) for short periods of time. I assume that’s because of the summer heats and they don’t want to distinguish and change the rules for certain seasons. Cool animal sightings. But that tumbleweed must have scratched you up pretty good…
I know! When we were travelling with our dog, Emma, there were so many places that she couldn’t go and we had to skip those places. The tumbleweed was not scratchy at all. I think that there are many kinds of plants that become tumbleweed, and perhaps some are scratchier than others!
I lived just a few miles from there in Parkhill. You can take dogs on the perimeter trail around the outside. If I couldn’t make it to the mountains, I’d take Annie on different portions of it! Glad you made it to Denver!
Oh, cool! We are just south of there in Montclair! I remember reading your posts about the Arsenal Reserve!