Lookout Mountain

I went to Lookout Mountain once already. The drive up to the top from Golden is a little daunting for me, but if you go up from I-70 it's definitely manageable for those who are afraid of heights and cliffs. I brought the kids with me this time and we had a picnic. The views were just as beautiful as the first time I went. Although I'm glad I've gone and I'm glad I took the kids, I probably wouldn't make this a regular thing to come up here. Not for anything in particular, but because of the drive.

Red Rocks

I heard recently that people will go to the Red Rocks Amphitheater and run up and down the stairs. It reminds me of the incline in Manitou Springs, which I was unable to do and only tried once! I thought it would be a good fitness goal for the summer to practice this and so have taken the kids several times. We have a goal of, as a family, to go up the stairs 100 times. We're at 52 right now, partly because Cainen loves doing this and can go up and down about ten times. Last time I did seven. We increase our goal every time we go. I would definitely recommend trying it out. It's a great atmosphere, great views even if you don't want to do the stairs. There are way more people here then I expected. Some people are amazingly fit! I find it inspiring and it pushes me to go one more time. There are also trails around here, which we have yet to explore. Bring plenty of water!

Riverside Cemetery

This isn't a Denver park, but Riverside Cemetery is designated as a natural historic district because of it being the first cemetery in Denver. You can check out their website here. It has an interesting history. The guy who we met told me that they used to bring deceased people in horse and wagon and that the bodies that were moved from Cheesman and Congress park were moved here to Riverside. There are grave sites here without markings. Madison has been really interested in seeing a cemetery and I wanted to show her the realities of what going to a cemetery were like. We saw a lot of graves of very young people and an orphanage had a section where they buried children who died in its care.

You're not allowed to take pictures of the stones out of respect for people's privacy, but I did want to take a couple of pictures to show the scenery. The cemetery used to be the only thing out there, now it's crowded out by industry.

Cheesman Park (again)

We went to Cheesman's Park for Madison's 14th birthday party. We spent a couple of hours there. Her friends video taped themselves eating marshmallows, playing strange variations of sports, and then chatting under a tree. We played frisbee and catch. People treat Cheesman like it's a beach and wear bikinis. It's usually crowded and people are playing all sorts of games. A lot of dogs here too, so watch where you walk!

Cherry Creek Reservoir

I got a Cherry Creek Reservoir pass. I wanted to be able to explore the park without paying 9$ every time I wanted to go in. They have a swim beach, trails, and boating, among lots of other things which I have yet to explore. One thing I have noticed about the park is how flat it is. There's not really a place for you to hike around, more walking, running, biking. The swim beach is great and we've explored a couple of trails so far. Since we have a year pass I want to go so often that we know where everything is and the best places to go. We've already seen a coyote, prairie dogs, cranes, hawks, and other birds we can't name. We tried to go swimming but the water felt like it had ice cubes in it, but we'll definitely be coming back for that. Go at least once!

Pinehurst Park

This was another park we went to because we were near Littleton, it's southwest of the Denver area. It's a great neighborhood park. You can walk around it, it has a couple of soccer fields, picnic table, and playground. We had a lot of fun here because Cainen was practicing going down the slide on his skateboard and we got the most hilarious picture ever!

Bow Mar Heights Park

Bow Mar Heights Park is a fairly big park, in a nice area, easy parking, and spacious. We went to it when we were near Littleton, so it's a ways out there for us, southwest of Denver. I remember thinking that it was a really pretty park, and would especially be nice in the Spring and Summer months, but I don't remember feeling like I had to come back again. It's a great park if you live in the neighborhood.