Denver, CO: Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge

The very last thing we did in Denver (literally, on the way to the airport) was to check out the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. That's a long name for a nature preserve :) But we had a couple of hours to use before our afternoon flight. It wasn't long enough for a hike, and I just happened upon this area near the airport while looking on Google Maps for something nearby to do.

If you have about an hour of time and a nice day, do this Wildlife Drive. It is completely free. You can rent binoculars from the visitor's center by leaving your ID with them. (There's also a small gift shop in the visitor's center, and some exhibits that we didn't get a chance to see.)

The drive takes you around the highlights of the preserve.

The first part you enter is the bison area.

We got lucky and saw some bison right away! It was awesome!

After the bison area, we also saw some elk hiding in the brush.

The views on this drive are gorgeous.

There is also a prairie dog area (although they can escape by digging under the fence, which we saw later on the way to the airport). I had never seen a prairie dog before.

We took a second pass through the bison area after finishing the whole loop. Eric thought we might be able to see them closer, and he was very correct...

...because they were crossing the road. This was simply an awesome way to end our Colorado trip.

This guy got stuck for a while in the sign. (He got out eventually.)

I want to print this one out large and frame it in our house. There's simply to better America picture I can think of, unless you added in some corn stalks.

Driving through this wildlife area was the best way to end our great trip to Colorado. If you get a chance to go through it, do. It's right next to the airport and worth it!