Snuggle-Up! and Blog

Monument, CO - Ten Great Things to Do In and Around Monument, CO, Part 9

American Numismatic Association Museum
818 North Cascade Avenue
Colorado Springs, CO 80903-3279

One of the American Numismatic Association Museum is located in downtown Colorado Springs. Downtown Colorado Springs is approximately 16 miles south of Monument, CO. It's an easy ride on Interstate 25. They are open 9:00 to 5:00 most days, and closed on Monday.

They house over 250,000 money related objects. Some are very old coins from the Roman period, many from other countries, and most interestingly are the coin mistakes. They have a collection of coins that were misprinted. Both coins and paper money. These mistakes are very pricey now. And oh so fun to see. Other valuable collections include a 1804 silver dollar, a 1913 Libery nickel, and an 1866 no motto series coin.

The museum isn't very big, it'll take about 2 hours to go thru. But, kids love it as much as adults.

Monument, CO - Ten Great Things to do in and Around Monument, Part 8

Castlewood Canyon

One of Colorado's State Parks is Castlewood Canyon. It's located just south of Franktown on Highway 83. And approximately 30 miles north of Monument, CO. Highway 83 out of Monument is a pleasant trip thru high plains pastures and rock formations with great Colorado scenery all the way.

The park has some many walking trails. It also offers, hiking, rock climbing, horseback riding, wildlife viewing and tons of places to take that perfect photograph.

The park is open everyday of the week, from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Daily park pass is $6.00.

Oh, and don't forget the picnic basket!

Monument, CO - 10 Great Things to Do, Part 7 of 10

The Florissant Fossil Beds

15807 County Road 1
Florissant, CO 80816
(719) 748-3253

Florissant is a little community up in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, just due west of Colorado Springs and Monument, CO. The ride up there, on Colorado Highway 24, goes thru beautiful Ute pass, from Manitou Springs to Woodland Park. (Woodland Park is a post all on it's own!) It will probably take you about an hour to get there from Monument.

But, Florissant is a little bit farther on Highway 24. The town is very small and has no signal and no stop signs on the highway. To get to the fossil beds, you'll need to turn off the highway onto Teller County Route 1. It's paved nicely, not a typical county road. It's about 2 miles after that.

Florissant Fossil Beds National Park specializes in fossils caught in volcanic ash, both insect and plant material. The insect are fascinating!  This photo is of a Damselfly. They also have Tse Tse Fly, Mayfly, Grasshopper, Cockroach, Termite, and more.

There are also petrified redwood trees! Redwood trees don't grow in Colorado. They need tons of moisture and now mostly grow in the Pacific Northwest. However, centuries ago, the climate here was like the Pacific Northwest, which allowed the trees to flourish. That is until the volcanic erruption occurred and stopped their growth.

Besides all this education on fossils, they have beautiful walking trails. Some of the trails will take you by the petrified trees. But even the trails that don't are a great outting in nature's beauty.

Take the time to see our local National Park. The whole family will enjoy itself.