Going to Colorado

I'll be visiting Colorado in the last week of June 09 for a week with a group of friends. We'll be renting a house a little north west of Fort Collins, close to Poudre Park.

Anybody know good places to take pictures in this area?

I would like to make a list of places to go see while I'm there.

or if some of you live around there, maybe we could meet for a day.

I'd be down for a meet. I don't live very far from Ft. Collins.

Rocky Mountain National Park is not far at all, and there are lots of places to hike to. I know a few hikes to some nice lakes.

The Poudre canyon is a nice drive and definitely some photo ops there. Devils backbone is interesting (it's in Loveland), you've got Horsetooth in Fort Collins. Lory State Park may have some wildflowers.

Longer drives are Garden of the Gods and Great Sand Dunes parks. The I-70 corridor has a lot of stuff nearby - Maroon Bells, Sneffels range....

There's just tons of stuff and it depends on how far you want to drive.

I'd recommend a morning hike to Dream Lake for sunrise. Then up to Emerald Lake or back down to Nymph Lake which should have lilly pads floating on it at that time of year...maybe in bloom.

Mills Lake and Long Lake are good spots. The road to Long Lake trailhead can be closed well into the year depending on snow levels. And it's in the Indian Peak Wilderness which is an awesome area.

I'll subscribe to this thread - I know there are a few other CO area people around the forums.

ill subscribe too, being fairly new to CO im curious of the great places to take pics too

thanks Andrew, those are very useful information. I googled earth those places and looked at some of the pictures and it look awesome. I can't wait to get there...

Andrew, is there a place around there to rent some ATVs for a couple of days?

There are plenty I am sure. I would have to do some looking if you like. Usually the places to rent are closer to some of the trails - otherwise you'd have to have a trailer to haul them on. It's a pretty popular activity here so I don't think you'd have any trouble - but best to find where you want to go, find a place that rents, and see if you can reserve for a specific day.

Also - if you are interested I am part of a 4x4 group here and if there's interest by both sides you could ride along on a trail somewhere if you like.

Here's one I did this summer:

http://www.ranetworks.​net/images/twincone.jp​g

Hand-held HDR so not the best shot but it wasn't taken to be a technical shot more a snapshot of the trip. The guys I go with aren't photographers so I sometimes have to bug them if I find a cool spot because they don't stop a lot :P

I'd be down to meet up. I am in the Denver Metro area, but a run up to Ft. Collins is no problem.

You won't have any shortage of places to take pictures while you're out here visiting Colorado.