A Hike in the Meadow - Prairie Vista loop at Flatirons Vista

We stopped at a great local bookstore while in Estes Park the previous weekend and picked up a little guidebook called Best Easy Day Hikes Boulder. And although my main obsession is birds, and our wonderful friends, the Alexanders, had already equipped me with a Colorado Birding book, I picked up a pocket guidebook on Rocky Mountain wildflowers.

With the plethora of trail choices in and around Boulder, we were completely overwhelmed with what trails to explore first, and which ones would be short & easy enough for a four year old, but still interesting for the grown ups. We figured we would just work our way through this book and it would give us a good introduction to a wide variety of trails in the Boulder area.

The first one we decided to try was south of town at a trailhead called Flatirons Vista. We hadn't registered our car in Boulder yet, so we had to pay the fee at the trailhead. If your car is not registered in Boulder County, there are several trailheads that you must pay to use. You can get an annual pass as well. More info on fees here.

Now, we are not the family to go hiking with if you are going hiking for a cardio workout, or to cover a lot of ground. Obviously, we have a four year old, who, coupled with short legs, happens to be right at eye level with all sorts of interesting things to investigate. We also have a moseying Mama (me!) who must stop and identify a new wildflower, scan the horizon for any birds resting on the tops of grasses or hiding in a tree, or have a discussion about how dragonflies existed in the time of the dinosaurs with Lucia. Needless to say, we spent quite a bit of time on that boardwalk through the meadow. It was a wonderful introduction to the unique-ness of the Front Range!

Chicory flower - I guess it is considered a weed and not a wildflower, but I still think it's beautiful!

Wildflower book in action. It's spiral bound with big pictures, great for kids and adults!

Flowering cacti - I think Prickly Pear,  now that's something you won't see in Maryland.

The trail takes you through this beautiful expanse of meadow, bursting with flowers, dragonflies and birdsong.

When you get to the junction near the pond the trail transitions from the boardwalk to a dirt trail (and note that mountain bikers are allowed to share these trails). We did see someone using a stroller though since it is relatively flat.

Magnifying glasses are a great thing to bring along to help with getting a close up look at bugs and flowers. This one just stays in our hiking backpack, and Lucia will be on the trail, see something interesting, and come running over, "Mommy! I need my magnifying glass!"

So many interesting textures, colors, sizes, shapes when it comes to plants!

Mountain Harebell/Bellflower, commonly seen in foothill meadows & dry open areas June-Sept.

Not sure what this one is.

I think this is an Aspen Sunflower, but don't quote me on that.

Again, ID TBD

We made it around the smaller Prairie Vista loop (about 2 miles) before the thunderclouds started closing in on us. There is the larger Flatirons Vista loop which could turn into about 3.5 miles for you. And Flatirons Vista North connects with the Dowdy Draw trails, which is where it looked like most of the mountain bikers were coming from.

Click map to take you to the details page on Flatirons Vista.

Overall this was a beautiful hike with lots of interesting things for the kiddo, especially with the wildflowers in bloom. Not much in terms of elevation, so its an easy hike as well.

Other wildflowers observed but not photographed:

Trailing Daisy
Yarrow
Tall Coneflower
Butter & Eggs (Lucia's favorite)

Birds
Western Meadowlark
Barn Swallows
Chipping Sparrow
Blue Grosbeak (Male & Female)