Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

 

Visited: May 2019

Nearby city: Colorado Springs, CO

About 35 miles west of Colorado Springs, high in the Rockies, you can find the last relics of an ancient, bygone era. In the Eocene Epoch (approximately 34 million years ago), this now-mountainous area was a large lake. This aquatic environment was home to fish, clams, snails, mollusks, a wide variety of insects, and perhaps most interesting of all: groves of large redwood trees. These trees had some differences with today's redwoods in Northern California, but they were very similar. This unique environment was destroyed by copious amounts of ash and lahars due to nearby and ferocious volcanic activity. This ash helped preserve the large collection of fossilized remains found here.

The most striking fossilized remains at this site are the large stumps of petrified redwood trees. Early pioneers discovered these large petrified stumps in the late 1800s, and they became quite popular with tourists. Unfortunately, many tourists would chip off pieces of the petrified stumps to take home as souvenirs. Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument was established in 1969. Geologic and paleontological research is ongoing at the site.

Head to the Visitor Center and go through the exhibits. We then took the short Petrified Forest Loop trail. It's only about 1.5-2 miles. The petrified redwood tree stumps were pretty cool to see.

Stop by the Hornbek Homestead about a mile's drive north of the Visitor Center and learn about some of the first people that settled in this area.

For more info on the park: https://www.nps.gov/flfo/index.htm

BONUS: Colorado Springs is a very scenic town and is worth a stop of a couple of days or so. We went to Garden of the Gods. The remarkable and craggy rock formations just outside of town are quite fascinating. The colors of the rocks are vibrant and stunning. Take the scenic drive through the "Garden" and make sure to get out of the car and walk among the towering spires.

Seven Falls is also a neat place to visit in town. A towering waterfall cascades down a cliffside. There's a nice restaurant at the base of the falls and you can take the stairs (it's tiring, but not too bad) all the way to the top of the waterfall.

the restaurant at Seven Falls

We also went to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. This is one of the best zoos I have been to.

We got to feed the giraffes. 😀

Once you leave the zoo, take the road further up the mountain to the Will Rogers Shrine. It offers fantastic views of the entire city.

The nearby town of Manitou Springs is also a good stop. You can take the cog railway all the way up to the top of Pikes Peak. The cog railway wasn't running at the time of our visit, but I have been up to the top of the famous mountain years ago. There is also a replica of a cliffside dwelling. Spend some time at the arcade and drink some of the mineral water you can get at the fountains throughout the town.

Big Cypress National Preserve

Visited: Feb 2019

Nearby cities: Miami, FL; Naples, FL

Directly adjacent to Everglades National Park, you will find Big Cypress National Preserve. This large preserve consists of 720,000 acres, and protects the transitional ecosystem of cypress forests with the wet freshwater marl prairies of the Everglades.

To learn more about the history and ecosystem of this region of South Florida, here is a link to our post about the Everglades National Park: 

https://paulnationalparks.blogspot.com/2019/10/everglades-national-park.html

Big Cypress, along with Big Thicket in Texas, were the first two NPS units designated as National Preserves, both established on October 11, 1974. A preserve is a designation that protects resources similar to a National Park, but, unlike a National Park, a Preserve does allow limited extraction of certain natural resources, such as hunting and mining. Today, there are now 21 units designated as preserves in the National Park System.  

In the 1960s, locals were able to successfully prevent planned relocation of Miami International Airport to land that is now inside the boundaries of the Preserve. When the park was established in 1974, local tribes (Seminole and Miccosukee) were provided with permanent rights to occupy the land and use it in traditional ways. They were also given first-right to develop commercial enterprises related to the Preserve, including guided tours. 

Big Cypress is a very diverse and vibrant ecosystem. You will find groves of cypress trees, mangroves, and orchids. There is also lots of wildlife: alligators, herons, rattlesnakes, deer, river otter, and Florida Panthers.

We made a quick stop at the Oasis Visitor Center. There is a small boardwalk trail and we saw lots of alligators sunning themselves just below the boardwalk. We also saw a great heron and some other birds.

 

As we drove through the Preserve along US Highway 41 (the Tamiami Trail), Tara and I decided to play a game. We decided to count the alligators we saw along the road. I was driving so I had to focus primarily on that, but Tara would diligently watch from the passenger window and alert me everytime she saw an alligator. 😀 ...after about thirty minutes, I told Tara to stop counting, and she was at around thirty or so...it was kind of freaking me out. 😳😀 There were SO many alligators out there.

This is a good place to stop to pair up on your trip to the Everglades. 

For more info: https://www.nps.gov/bicy/index.htm