Now put yourself in my shoes. You're sitting at Cafe 13 in beautiful Golden, Colorado. You're…read moreenjoying a delightful chorizo breakfast burrito and an iced vanilla latte. You start thinking of where you want to camp for the night so you open up Google maps on your phone and start looking around. There's Meridian campground and Deer Creek campground and hold on- what's that? Guided Goat Hikes?? Your heart races as you hope it's exactly what it sounds like. You fill out the brief online inquiry form hoping- no- PRAYING that there is last minute availability for the evening hike. Owner and founder, Tara calls you within a matter of minutes and is trying her best to accommodate your last minute request. She says she'll get back to you within a couple hours to confirm. Twenty minutes later, she texts to confirm. Your spirits soar. You show up at the predetermined location with your traveling companion and Tara shows up with a couple of goats. Juno and Buttercup are seasoned professionals and they know what they're doing. As you begin to hike, the goats set the pace at a comfortable conversational jaunt that allows your weak sea level lungs to function at 8000'. Tara is a true professional and speaks of her journey into guided goat hiking that is nothing short of inspirational. As the hike nears its end and the sunlight begins to fade, you know your memories of this experience never will. Now that you've been on this epic journey in my shoes, I hope you will take it upon yourself to have your own adventure with Tara and one of her many wonderful goats.

I had recently lost my parents and brother, and moved to Colorado from California to heal I was…read morelooking for things to do outdoors, friendly, and local. Something that I would want to do over and over. This wknd I found it!!! The owner Tara, was so extremely friendly, so very kind and patient through text and emails to sign up and learn the locations. Once I got to the location, and saw the goats I knew that it was for me!!! I had the best day, laughing, being around all the goats, a lovely group of people, and listening to Tara chatting and leading the group and informing us with amazing information about the Goats. She answered so many questions. I felt happy, safe and learned so much!! I'm truly looking forward to another hike and feeding the goats and the baby goat yoga It's so family friendly Her Instagram and Facebook show children on the trail . Looking forward to doing it in the summer as well If you're looking for something fun to do outdoors, or just get out of your head..... go walk with a friendly goat

We arrived at the upper trailhead parking lot and immediately saw four fire engines and a rescue…read morevehicle. Someone had gotten lost but, fortunately, they were found. I don't normally believe in omens but I do now. This is a beautiful trail. We saw deer and moose. Unfortunately, the falls were non-existent because of the drought. Yes, you can get lost here. You can get lost if you venture off the trails. And you can get lost if you stay on the trails. You think you can't get lost on a loop, right? Well, now. The signage on the trails sucks. Period. We exited the forest at the wrong trailhead. Getting back to the correct trailhead parking lot was a separate adventure. Beautiful trail. Moose and deer. Falls...sometimes. And better luck to everyone following the signs.

It's a fine trail…read more I've been here a couple times in the summer and it hasn't been much to write home about. The falls have been minimal and parking is scarce but it's a fine trail to take in the nature. I havent been here on the wknd due to the reviews I've seen with crowds but due to the lack of parking, it's ideal during the week if you're looking to get away from people.

Nice park for a hike or run! Good elevation gain if heading up the Old Ski Run Trail. Kid friendly…read moreas well for the smaller loops. It tends to be more shaded. Currently there is some snow, ice, and mud on the trail - as well as a few downed trees - so be careful! Otherwise a nice quiet forest hike.

Closer to the city, yet far enough away to feel like you're getting a break from it all. Sledding…read morehills for the super snowy times, a variety of trails for all others (hiking or snow shoeing), and decent bathrooms for the non-winter months. Parking can be muddy, and even a bit off a challenge on really nice days, but it's a good option for a quick hike.

Flying J Ranch Park is close enough to my house to be easy, but mentally it feels worlds away…read more That's the whole trick. You don't have to make a big Colorado production out of it. Drive to Conifer, get out of the car, and let the city brain loosen its grip. It's also not overrun. Parking is limited, and honestly, that may be part of the charm. It keeps Flying J from turning into one of those Front Range hiking scenes where the parking lot feels like a Subaru convention sponsored by REI. The bathrooms deserve their own mention. They are the cleanest park bathrooms I have experienced. Bring a wipe for your hands and you're good to go. The main walk is Shadow Pine Loop, which is about three miles and easy enough for anyone who wants a real walk without signing up for punishment or humiliation. Go left to right, clockwise, east to west, or whatever directional language works for you. I give directions like a city kid, you'll figure it out. The trail draws a mix of people: parents with young kids burning off energy, older folks, meaning older than me, on group walks, and lots of doggies. Please keep your dog on leash. I know, I know, your dog is friendly. So is everyone's dog... The only subculture to watch for is the occasional bike bro who treats right of way like a personal trail system. Most people are great. A few roll through with a festival-bro confidence level that feels wildly unnecessary on the peaceful trails. The park has changed in recent years. Prescribed burns, thinning, and fallen trees have opened up parts of the forest, so there is more sun than there used to be. Some spots look a little rough. Then you notice the new seedlings coming in, and suddenly you're thinking about forest cycles, renewal, mortality, and why you came here without coffee. Wait. Where were we? Come back. Flying J is not flashy. That's the point. It's easy, close, calm, dog-friendly, and natural enough to help change your headspace. Not every hike needs to conquer something. Sometimes it just needs to hand your brain back in better condition.

Beautiful park in Evergreen with a easy trail. Right now it's great for spikes or snowshoes. The…read moresnow was packed and more slushy and icy so we used spikes instead of the snowshoes and they worked great. The views are pretty and not too crowded at all. There was a ranger at the parking lot and it seems to be checked up on quite a bit. The parking lot isn't too small and there's good space. Highly recommend in the winter because it makes the trail more interesting.

The team at Liquid Descent was great!! We had a group of 36 and from the booking over the phone,…read moreemail communication, and actual trip, everything went perfectly! Our group had a great time. Next trip, I will book with Liquid Descent!! 10 for 10 recommend.

Angie was an amazing guide. Very knowledgeable and personable. Made everyone feel at ease to enjoy…read morethe day on the river. Recommend anyone wanting to raft near Denver to choose Liquid Descent and request Angie for their guide.

We went to CO to visit family and experience the beautiful outdoors, and a Geological Hike, the…read moreVolcanic Gems Geology Hike, with Dr. Rox was our first excursion on the weekend. Dr. Rox was fantastic. Both my wife and I are teachers, and so we loved how academic the hike was as Dr. Rox would pause and explain the rock cycle, tectonic movement, or the birth of the Rocky Mountains. We were also delighted that our two teenage sons asked a bunch of questions and were obviously engaged in, not only the Geology lesson, but also the local flora and fauna. Dr. Rox answered every question, and, when she didn't know the name of a plant, she pulled out a trusty book and looked it up. She kept things light, but we definitely learned a lot as well. When we reached the end of the hike where the zeolite crystals had grown in the geodes, we climbed all over the rocks finding crystal after crystal. It was certainly an impressive site. We really loved both the scenery and our guide, and I would recommend this hike to anyone with any interested in geology. A big thanks to Dr. Rox for making our hike so fun and educational!

The overview summary of Trail Gems encapsulates it for me: "guiding you through the incredible…read morebeauty of Colorado's wilderness." I live in Colorado, but I do not appreciate its beauty enough. I also never knew the story behind the beautiful rock formations and natural landscapes I pass by everyday. Rox provides context and explanation for a natural history of the beautiful sights of Colorado. Rox is also very organized and thoughtful, making sure we had water, snacks, and umbrellas. We got to look, touch, break, and collect all different kinds of rocks in a variety of gorgeous locations. It was fun to explore and engage in a tactile activity. In our modern world where so much of our lives are spent behind screens, this was a truly relaxing yet exciting activity and exploration tour in the outdoors. It was creative and fun. I felt like a kid again!

My wife and I love to explore the best fisheries in North America, and one of our bucket list…read morewishes was to experience the thrill of trophy fishing for lake trout in The Rockies of Colorado. I researched the guide networks extensively before finding Will Dykstra at Tightline Outdoors, and last week we spent two days with Will on Spinney Mountain Reservoir. We picked a couple of days with challenging fishing weather, as there was a high pressure system over the The Rockies, and the skies were sunny and the water dead-flat. Challenging conditions for most fishing guides, but not for Will. His extensive knowledge of this fishing habitat had my wife and I landing monster rainbow trout within ten minutes on the water. I am not talking about the sedate 12-14" variety we catch in our Northern New Mexico backyard. These monsters that Will put us onto were 18"-25" fighters that literally took our breath away. Will is an extraordinary guide, and he knows his fisheries so well that we learned an incredible amount about high elevation fishing from him. His 21' Lund Explorer is extremely comfortable, and has all of the best marine electronics and fishing equipment. We had a fabulous two days with Will, and I could not recommend him more highly as not only a world-class fishing guide, but as a really class human being. We hope to make a pilgrimage to Colorado every year for a high-country fishing experience, and Will is the only person that we will call to help us explore its beautiful mountain fishing habitats. Doug & Joani Griffith

what an amazing group of people. Over the last couple years I've had the opportunity to participate…read morein some of tightlines fishing tournaments and now with a guided trip. Nate even held a "garage sale" of sorts a couple years back where he unloaded a bunch of fishing gear that he legit could have made a fortune off of, but instead chose to sell it for pennies on the dollar because he honestly cares about the fishing community and wants people out on the water. ANYWAYS I contacted tight line about a guided ice fishing trip and Dustin responded. He asked me what I had in mind. I told him I was trying to figure out walleye on a certain body of water. He said that wouldnt be a problem. He contacted me the day before the trip to let me know he was out scouting, Time I wasn't paying him for mind you. He said he marked several fish and didn't even fish them so as not to pressure them. Talk about discipline. When we arrived he was ready to go and we embarked on our quest to catch some walleye. Dustin put us right on the fish and explained that we had to be very specific in our presentation to entice a bite. Took me awhile but after his coaching I was pulling them them up. If they weren't biting Dustin was quick to hand you another rod with another setup to see if that would do the trick. He was especially patient and helpful to my girlfriend who is very very new to ice fishing. He answered my 2 million questions without hesitation and offered up more intel. Bottom line dude was the cats pajamas. Professional, knowledgeable, relatable, Walleye guru. Would recommend this company 1000 times over. Can't wait to get out with them again.

Today we had the great opportunity to spend the day fishing with Rick of "Colorado Trout Guide"…read more Rick does guided fishing trips in the Colorado Rockies. We had a wonderful day with him on Turquoise Lake in Leadvilled, CO. The four of us caught over 35 fish and took home 10 cleaned fish (Rainbow Trout, Cuthroat Trout and CutBow Trout). Rick took us to the lake in his 1956 turquoise blue Chevy trailing his 1966 tri-hull power boat. We fished for hours while Rick taught my two boys how to cast, catch, detach and identify the fish. We have memories to last a lifetime of a fantastic day on the lake catching fish after fish! I highly recommend a trip with Rick if your a beginner or experienced fisher. Rick has tons of experience and provides a great trip. We'll definitely fish with Rick again!

From the owner: We offer fishing trips in our boat to some of Colorados most beautiful mountain lakes. We supply…read moreall that is needed for a fun filled day of fishing and I am here to teach you my secrets. In fact I guarantee you will catch fish with me or your charter is free.

Obviously everyone's trip experience is going to be in different. But ours was fantastic. We are a…read morefamily of 4, a 10yo Bo with lots of energy and a 12 yo girl with not so much. It's definitely a large operation. Check in for us involved a 100 people or so. But they've got it down. Don't plan to bring much/anything with you honestly. You can choose wet suits, dry jackets etc... It was 75 degrees in July here so our family split between wet suits and dry jackets. The latter was the better choice. You take a 30 minute school bus ride and some quick safety instructions (thanks Erico!) And then get assigned to your boat. Ours included 8 of us and a guide. Honestly that was too much but okay. Our guide was Tristan who was fantastic. Funny and engaging with fun facts along the way. But more importantly you could tell he was taking safety seriously. We did the browns canyon ride and it was a good mix of slightly challenging for the kids and fun for the adults. All in all it was a great way to spend half a day!

Guides: Tim & Colleen *We went in August*…read more - W H A T T O E X P E C T - We booked ahead of time, online, for the "Cliffside Zipline Half Day" in Idaho Springs. They have multiple locations and have similar and different activities that you can do at each location. When we arrived we walked in through the building on the right (it looks like a store), and checked in. After checking in, we had to wait for a bit until our guides were ready. Once they were, we went into the building to the left and received our gear. For the ziplining portion, our equipment was a harness and a helmet. *Each of the helmets has cute and/or funny names, definitely spend the time and look through the names. For example: They have an adult one that says: Potato and a child one that says: Little Tater Once we were all put on our equipment, our guides, Tim & Colleen, double-checked to make sure we each had our equipment on correctly and securely. Snug, but not too snug. After checking our equipment, Tim started to read a disclaimer and some rules to follow while we were up on the zipline. Heads up: - NOTHING IN YOUR POCKETS IS SAFE - If you have any glasses or hats, leave them in your car. Wear contacts if you have to, or put the little ropes that can be connected to your glasses to catch them in case they fall off your face. - There is a wooden board with hooks to hang your car keys. They assured us that hanging the keys there are safe. There is only one road, and anyone that tries to steal a vehicle won't get very far down the one road before a police officer stops them. :) You are ziplining on the cliffside of the mountain. If you do not have pockets that zip/button closed, don't put anything in them. If anything falls down the cliff, no one is going to go and get it. It's too dangerous. Personally, I had prepared and worn my contacts - but I will probably wear glasses with the ropes next time. We went in August, and it was still chilly in the mountains. Some of the ziplines go pretty fast, so my eyes would water. I had a jacket with zipper pockets, so I was the designated picture taker in my group. I was able to keep my phone safe by putting it in my zipper pocket. After going through safety and the disclaimer, we jumped onto the bed of a truck, clipped ourselves in, and road all the way up to the mountain. After you get off the truck, there is a narrow trail you have to take to get to the first platform. It is a dirt trail, and it's on the side of the mountain. Important... don't be stupid. :) I'm personally terrified of falling from tall heights, so I had to take my time and not look down to my right. It was fine, it wasn't dangerous. It's just one of my greatest fears. (Hence facing them by ziplining!) - E X P E R I E N C E - If you can request two guides... Request Tim & Colleen! It is very apparent how much they love their job. Tim was the main guide, he has been doing this job for a very long time. They both made the whole experience so much fun. Their excitement, personalities, and overall energy made this a very unique and memorable experience. They were silly and fun, while still making sure we all were and felt safe. We are hoping to come back and be able to ask for both of them again. :) - P A R K I N G - They have plenty of parking spaces in their lot, the parking is a bit rough though - so be careful when driving in and out of the parking lot. - O V E R A L L - We all had a great experience, Colleen & Tim We had 5 people in our group, two of us had ziplined before, and three of us were doing it for the first time. It was an absolutely amazing time and I can't wait to do it again.

The zip lines at AVA were super fun and the people are really nice. We had Megan and Blake as our…read moreinstructors, they were so funny and helped us have lots of fun on the zip lines. We rode on top of a truck up a mountain to the first line. AVA is so funny and I would definitely recommend doing it if you have time!

My group and I had a disappointing and confusing experience with a zip-line instructor. We had…read morebarely left the first tutorial line when one of our instructors began acting rude and short with us. We only made it halfway through our group before one of us got stuck on the second line. It took a few minutes to get them unstuck and over to the other side. After that, with no warning, the instructor told us to follow him and said we were going to hike back to the rest of the group. When I asked if something was wrong, he gave me no response. Once we rejoined the other half of our group, our other guide explained that our trip was being cancelled and that we'd need to hike back down. This was shocking and disappointing to all of us--especially the children in our party, who had travelled from out of state and specifically picked this zip-line as the thing they most wanted to do in Colorado. It wasn't worth the long drive just to get up there and have the plug pulled on us with no explanation. I will say the front desk was very kind and helpful. After hearing our account of what happened, they issued us a full refund. Overall, it was a disappointing trip that left all of us confused about what went wrong.