Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge

July 26, 2021

This morning, Bruce asked me if I wanted to go hiking. My answer was yes, I wanted to go to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge.

The wildlife refuge is about nine miles from the Denver Meadows RV Park. It is 15,000 acres of prairie grasses, wildflowers, tumble weeds, and cottonwood trees.

This is a free attraction. There is a welcome center and you can buy drinks there.

• 

• 

• 

If you like bicycling, there are several trails and electric bikes are allowed on some trails. While dogs are not allowed in the main part of the refuge, there are several trails along the outside of the refuge that you can take your dog.

There is an eleven mile Wildlife Drive in the refuge. You are not allowed out of your vehicle on the Wildlife Drive due to the bison 🦬.

• 

• 

The bison were hiding today. We could just barely see them through the cottonwoods. I tried to take a picture, but it didn’t come out.

We did see prairie dogs up-close.

• 

We also saw deer up-close.

• 

• 

• 

• 

There were wildflowers along the way.

• 

• 

We saw three dust devils, with tumble weeds caught in them. I got some pictures of the largest one.

• 

• 

Along one of the hiking paths, there was a turn off that took us near a creek. We saw several small toads. They blended right in to the background. We didn’t see them until they hopped. See if you can spot the toad. (Update: Based on research, this appears to be a either a Woodhouse toad or a Western toad. Due to the the lack of crest along the head, I believe this to be a Western toad.)

This was a fun way to spend the morning. I hope to go back and be lucky enough to see the bison at a closer distance.