The Best Hikes of Colorado is the definitive trailside reference to the most spectacular hikes in Colorado, from Rocky Mountain National Park and the Front Range, through the Aspen and Vail areas to Steamboat Springs, the San Juans and the Sangre de Cristos.

This Modern Trail Guide begins at Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site on the Santa Fe Trail, La Junta, Colorado and ends 390 frozen miles later at The Plaza in Taos, New Mexico. A lot happened during those sad and tragic eighty-seven days form November 15, 1848 to February12, 1849. In that cold and bitter winter John Charles Fremont, age 35 "The Pathfinder", led his fourth of five expeditions into the Rocky Mountains. Forty-nine campsites, mainly...

The story of the monumental find of high-elevation Ice Age fossils during excavation for a reservoir and how the Denver Museum of Nature & Science headed-up the expedited excavation to retrieve as many fossils as possible before the reservoir's completion.

Waterman takes an unprecedented journey down the Colorado River, paddling in his kayak and hiking on foot, all 1,450 miles from the Rocky Mountains to its Mexican delta.

"Clara Brown was born a slave in Virginia around 1800.She endured separation and loss as her husband and children were sold away. In 1856, the slave owner died and Clara was granted freedom papers. In 1859, Clara earned her passage west to Colorado by cooking and doing laundry for the wagon train. She worked first as a cook in Denver and then started a successful laundry business in Central City. As she gained financial security, Clara began to search...

Information provided for each hike includes topographic map with GPS waypoints and elevation profile; difficulty and class rating tailored to Colorado's terrain; optional routes for further exploration; and trivia and history.

When the bloodiest labor dispute in U.S. history burst forth in 1913-14 in the coal fields of Southern Colorado, the miners knew whom to praise, and the owners knew whom to blame. Mary Harris Jones, known from New York to Colorado as Mother Jones, could incite a riot or calm a crowd with her amazing oratory gifts. She dedicated her life to helping miners organize to negotiate, even demand, better wages and working conditions.