Florissant Fossil Beds and Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center

As we prepare to embark on our adventure as volunteer camp hosts at the Apgar campground at Glacier National Park I need to catch up on a couple of fun spots we visited while camping with our grandkids a couple of weeks ago at Mueller State Park.

We spent two weeks at Mueller - the first week with our Grandson Caleb and the second with our Granddaughter Ella.

Mueller was the perfect “headquarters” and jumping off point for our exploration of the Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs area. The park has tons of great hiking trails, a playground, great educational displays in the visitor center, watchable wildlife and even a kid friendly fishing pond.

Yes, we hit many of the great attractions in the Springs Manitou area including the Air Force Academy, Pikes Peak, the North Pole, Garden of the Gods, and the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

Yet, two of our favorite adventures were right in Mueller’s back yard. The first was Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Caleb loves everything about dinosaurs and fossils and these fossil beds contain one of the richest and diverse fossil deposits in the world. Who knew Colorado once had forests of giant redwoods! We were all fascinated to learn about a very different prehistoric Colorado. 

The next “surprise” was the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center. One of the key tenants of their Mission Statement is education – and indeed Ella, JoAnne and I learned a ton and gained a new appreciation of these magnificent creatures. 

I should mention that one week after our visit this entire area was affected by the Waldo Canyon Fire. So, tragic.