I visited Colorado National Monument one fall afternoon on my way to visit my nephew in western Colorado. Rim Rock Drive, the road through the park, is only about 23 miles long. I stopped at several viewing spots to take pictures, then headed to the Lower Monument Trail to hike for a couple of hours.
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| View of Rim Rock Drive |
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| Independence Monument |
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| View of Monuments from Rim Rock Drive |
I had read that the Lower Monument trail has great views of the monuments and bighorn sheep. A good write-up of the Lower Monument trail is on the Rocky Mountain Trails website. However, since I was already on Rim Rock drive (and wasn't sure how to get to the other trailhead), I hiked from the Upper trail entrance near the Coke Ovens. The descent to the canyon floor was rocky. I lost the trail a couple of times because it looked just like the rocky ground all around it! In one area, I missed seeing a trail marker sign and a cairn. There was a wash area that I thought might be the trail but fortunately, I reconsidered.
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| Sign and Cairn |
I always look for wildflowers along the trails. The only flowers I saw on this late summer hike were broom snakeweed, asters and rabbit brush. The soil was very sandy on the canyon floor. Not surprisingly, there was a lot of cactus.
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| Broom Snakeweed |
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| Asters |
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| Coke Ovens |
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| Kissing Couple |
I would love to go back to the park someday and hike some of the other trails.
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