Directions: East of the Boulder city limits on the west side of 75th Street, 0.6 mile north of Valmont Road.

The Trail: This is a really fabulous trail. A real bird watchers paradise! There are tons of birds to see and many trail connections to explore here. This is a great place to fish in the summer and pop cattails in the fall. We have a favorite spot that begins at the Walden ponds entrance. Park in the Walden Ponds parking lot and take the bird-viewing boardwalk through the cattails and wild grasses. If you come in the right season (best is late fall) you will get to pop the cattails and watch the seeds fly like snow. One four-year-old boy described the dancing white seeds as “a silent prayer”. Breathtaking!
At the end of the boardwalk veer right and then left towards the ponds. Go down this trail and look out for a small trail that leads to a shoreline.
There is also a lovely bird watching hut (aka the witches hut!) a little further down the path (most easily accessible from the Sawmill Ponds side.
There are endless ways to circumnavigate the ponds.

Nature Sprites: Connecting Children With the Magic of Nature
through inspiring nature programs and camps.
http://www.naturesprites.org
http://www.facebook.com/naturesprites

On the north side of Arapahoe Road between 75th and 95th Streets.
This is a wonderful place to go in the Fall or Winter as it is pretty exposed to the sun. At the beginning of the trail you can see horses and cows eating hay and taking it easy. As you go further on the trail you may run into cowpies, which the kids think are capital A Amazing. After much discussion and poking at cowpies you can move onward up the trail till you get to a bridge. This is a fabulous place to play Billy Goats and Trolls and run around in the ditch.
On the way back (or on the way there) there is a great lake to play beside (Teller Lake) with logs to climb on and water to throw stones into. Magical!

Nature Sprites: Connecting Children With the Magic of Nature
through inspiring nature programs and camps.
http://www.naturesprites.org
http://www.facebook.com/naturesprites

Directions: Just before Cherryvale on Baseline
This is a favorite, easy trail for everyone of all ages. We have two favorite spots.
1.Park at the main trailhead (Cherryvale and Baseline) and take the trail South for about 10 minutes. You will go over a bridge and shortly after the bridge there is a place to turn Right. Here you will see a concrete dam and down to the Left there is a fantastic beach to play on. In the spring there are minnows to catch!
Careful: We tend not to come here May-Aug due to a HUGE mosquito population.
2.Park at the East Boulder Recreation Center at the end of 55th street. Go across the crosswalk on 55th on the east side of the parking lot. Enter the trail and go to the big bridge, don’t cross the bridge but go down on the little trail on the S side (to the right) and head down this small, unpopulated trail. Go about 15 min and you will get to several lovely places to play near water and trees on the Left. Our favorite spot here is before a small concrete bridge/dam. Listen for the peacocks calling as there is a man who owns a large amount of them just beyond this magical spot.

I find the very best times to go to the Bobolink Trail are Autumn (the colors are amazing!!!!!), Winter, and Spring.
Late May to August the mosquitoes can come out in full force.

Nature Sprites: Connecting Children With the Magic of Nature
through inspiring nature programs and camps.
http://www.facebook.com/naturesprites

Hey All!
Some date/time changes for October! There will be two meetups for the Nature Sprites Discovery Club this month.

#1
Apples to Apples: Sunday October 14th at the Bobolink trail at 11 am-1pm.

We will go apple hunting, learn about several fall plants on the trail, have a short puppet show (thanks to the apple fairy), and make apple crafts! There is a $15 fee for this Discovery club event. Please pack a warm layer, a bagged lunch for our picnic, and a hat. As always let me know if you need a sliding scale.

#2
October 21st 11-1 at Red Wagon Farm
My favorite part of October is the pumpkin picking! I was going to keep this low key this year but I got really excited!! So…we are joining my two groups together for one morning at my favorite pumpkin farm in Boulder. Join us for a fun fulled time at one of my favorite farms for hay rides, animals, and pumpkins galore! We will meet at the hay maze and from there gather to hop on a great hayride around the fields. In the field everyone can pick a pumpkin and a gourd! We’ll also feed the animals, play in the hay maze, and if you like we can have a small picnic lunch under some lovely Cottonwood trees. I am so happy to share this with you and hope you can make it!!!

If you, (the parent) cannot make it but you would love you child to go to the Nature Sprites event please let me know. I can take 3 kiddos with me and I think one other mom can take one more. The first three to respond to this will secure a spot with me in the car LOL:-) Space is limited for this event.

The farm fee is $5 a child (includes 1 pumpkin, 1 gourd, hayride, maze, animals) and there is a meetup due of $1. They also have a stand with all kinds of goodies. There is no Discovery Club fee for this fun filled morning!

-if you need to cancel please so at least 24 hours in advance

-please include your kiddos in your rsvp, you can plus one them or add a comment with how many:-)

-if you have trouble finding us the day of you can call my cell 720-238-3411, b4 that day any questions can be asked and answered in the comment section 🙂
Can’t wait to see you there!

http://www.redwagonorganicfarm.com/PumpkinPatch.htm

RED WAGON PUMPKIN PATCH
Pumpkins, winter squash, apples, and more produce!

See the alpacas and goats!

Straw Bale Maze!
Pick your own pumpkins or chose from the ones that we have already picked for you.

OPENING MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 26TH, 2011

10am to 6pm daily through Halloween

N 63rd Street & Oxford Rd

2 miles north of IBM

Brought to you by Red Wagon Farms and

Nature Sprites: Connecting Children With the Magic of Nature through inspiring in-home childcare and nature camps. http://www.naturesprites.org
http://www.facebook.com/naturesprites

Chautauqua (Ski Jump Trail)
Chautauqua Park (Grant and Baseline Streets, Boulder)
The Trail:
The Ski jump trail is located a couple of hundred up the main trailhead, take the right fork in the trail.
The “ski jump” portion of the trail has little traffic and offers the dazzling views of Chautauqua and Boulder below.
The Ski Jump trail gently climbs into a deep pine tree forest and offers a wonderful dead and down “rocket ship” tree to play on. You can continue on this trail to loop back to the main trail and follow it back down or you can keep going up and connect with several longer trails.
Careful:
Careful of slippery gravel,
Great in fall esp., very sunny, wide trail for first half. Watch out for poison ivy on the ski jump trail turn off.

Thanks to the kiddos who joined us for our first gathering of the Nature Sprites Discovery Club!!
We had a wonderful time together. Our topic was Lunch With a Bear…we learned about how our neighbors the Black Bears are omnivores and eat many of the same foods we do. We also talked about what to do if you ever do see a bear, hunted for, found, and discussed bear scat, created a lunch plate for a bear for art, and played on the rocks. We also read Bear-ly There and Autumn Comes the Bear, both fantastic books about bears.

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Directions:
Take Baseline to Gregory Canyon Parking area, drive around the loop in the parking area and back towards the road, the trail is where the two roads meet on the west side.

As you head up this trail you will get to the first larger tree on the Left, across from this there is a small trail that leads to a cave. Can be dusty but pretty cool!

You can take this to the cave and meet up with a trail that cuts back to the main trail or you can go straight. If you continue on this trail for about 10 or 15 more minutes you will be rewarded with an AMAZING section of rock formations that are perfect for climbing and relaxing on.

There is also a fantastic view of Boulder. (For those that wish to go further this meets up with the vista point trail or continues up Flagstaff Mt.
Careful: Parts of the trail can be steep…but oh so rewarding…

Nature Sprites, Boulder, CO: Connecting Children With the Magic of Nature
through inspiring in-home childcare and nature camps.

Come one, come all to the Nature Sprites Discovery Club!!!

We are happy to announce special new club for children with a love for the the outdoors and learning!

One Sunday a month we will hit the trail with questions, games, songs, and FUN!! Each month will have a seasonal theme to help us explore animals, habitats, and plant life here in our beautiful Boulder parks. We are very excited to have you!!!!

Here are details-

What: Nature Sprites Discovery Club (ages 4-8)
Why: To connect kids deeply with the natural world and make learning connections though nature and natural curiosity
When: The third Sunday of each month 1-3 pm. (there may be a few extra option Saturdays too in the future)
Where: First Meeting-Chautauqua Green, close to playground
How much: $15-20 sliding scale (contact me if that is a hardship, we would like this to work for everyone)
Calendar:
All Sundays
Sept 16th
Oct 21st
Nov 18th
Dec 16th
Jan 20th

2013 Schedule to come out in Oct. If the weather is inclement that day we will meet at my house/school at 1631 Grove St (Downtown).
Contact: 720-238-3411, naturespritesschool@gmail.com