Colorado Grasslands

Colorado Grasslands Photography Adventure

When you think of Colorado for most people endless mountain ranges come to mind. Although that is partially correct due to the fact that the Rocky Mountains cut the state in half.

To the east of the Rockies, it's almost completely flat and is the beginning of the grasslands which take up a quarter of Colorado and continue for a good 800 miles thru the central United States.

Within these shrinking echo systems, there are endless amounts of insects, flowers, birds, and other wildlife.

Recently I was in Colorado and took a 5-mile hike from grasslands to the base of the Rockies. It was midsummer, hot, and had very little shade. Even at this time of the year, there were plenty of wildflowers that hosted butterflies, birds, and other insects. Just in a 10-foot radius, I counted 5 different flowers, 20 different insects, and 4 different birds. Unfortunately, I was traveling light and didn't take my macro lens to go nuts on some bugs and flowers. Every flower photo I did take had a different insect on it. One photo of a Bee Plant flower even had three different bugs on the same flower.

As the trail reached the base of the Rockies the foliage changed and trees started to pop up which was a welcome relief to take a break away from the intense sun. A few deer had the same idea. Every small patch of trees along the foothill grassland had deer resetting under them. They were waiting out the heat of the mid-day to graze in the lower prairie when the sun starts to go down. This is also the time when the predators come down from the hills. There were signs of Mountain Lions, Coyotes, and Bobcats all along the trail.

If you are looking to visit some of Colorado's Grasslands, you can take Highway 34 towards Estes Park. There is the Devil's Backbone Trail and Bobcat Ridge Trail. Between these two areas, you can experience three types of Grasslands; Semi-desert, Foothill, and Piedmont grasslands.

Checkout our Field Guide to Colorado Wildflowers

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