It's About the (RV) Journey....: Lariat Loop Scenic Byway................

One of our last days in Golden, we opted to drive the Lariat Loop, a national scenic byway, through such towns as Golden and Evergreen, since it was too hot for hiking. The drive itself is about 40 miles, but there are many different sights along the way. Museums, parks, nature centers, etc. For more information, click here.

Our first stop was at Dinosaur Ridge, located just across the street from Red Rocks! There is a small visitor center and museum, and a shuttle bus is available for a tour. Since it was still sort of early and a little cloudy, we decided to walk the mile and a half or so to view Dinosaur Ridge.

There are various displays along the way. We were most enthralled with the dinosaur footprints!

Red Rocks is across the street

the actual footprint (blackened with charcoal so they are more easily seen)

This ridge, shored up so it doesn't collapse, has examples of dinosaur footprints that are a bit different. As the dinosaur walked in mud and sank a little, the depressions were captured. So cool! Hard to see in my photos. They are depressions of footsteps....not imprints.

the ledge was shored up but you could see the foot imprints-amazing

imagine.....as the foot sunk in the mud....there is the imprint

another

There were also many geological points of interest along this ridge. The "mystery", the large ball-shaped indention in the ridge, really is a mystery! Geologists don't know what to make of it.

the "mystery" over Tom's right shoulder

what is that????

As we reached the top of the hill, we had a view of the Denver Basin. Too bad its so hazy. Not too far after that, we started on the downhill to view wave ripples embedded in the ridge. Its interesting to note these things were all discovered as the road was being built! It amazes us that not only are these kinds of things found, but people actually know that it is something to call the experts in for.

smogged-in Denver

how cool is that

the ripples are so clear

tons of fossils embedded in this rock area

looks like a nest of some sort

oh no....a tour van!

Our favorite ....the wall of dinosaur tracks. Amazing! Really! Unfortunately, some of the tracks were jack-hammered out and taken as souvenirs by previous visitors. It is still an unforgettable sight though.

dino tracks everywhere

so big

interesting to see how they walked

too bad people took footprints!

amazing

check that out!

area where the foot prints were taken

As we neared the bottom of the hill, the sun came out in full force (ugh). The slimy beach exhibit held my interest. The mention of microbial mats....and fossilized....caught my attention. Just incredible.

microbial mats

interesting to me

Well, it was time to head back UPHILL in the full sun. Ugh. The view of the footprints from farther back was again impressive. I had to take a few more pictures!

from the road...a different view!

how cool is that?

wow!

beauty along the road

Once at the top of the hill, we were happy to have the "easy" downhill ahead of us. We had "saved" the dinosaur bones for last, since there was a tour mini-bus there when we first walked by. This was amazing too....the fossilized bone in the rock. They are the darker color. There were a lot of bones in that area!

yeah...we made it to the top of the hill....downhill in the sun will be much more pleasant

bone is dark reddish

more bone

large bone

pretty

After our exploration on Dinosaur Ridge, we headed back out towards Evergreen. It was a beautiful drive through the canyons, and the scenery was just great! The road travels along Bear Creek for much of the ride into Evergreen, where our next stop was. Hiwan Homestead Museum.

heading along the Lariat Loop National Scenic Byway

driving through town-blink-its gone

heading through the canyon

beautiful

After a quick lunch in the picnic area, we went on a guided tour of the Homestead. It was very interesting to learn about the (wealthy) couple that bought the land. The house started out as a two-room home, but eventually there were many additions, and it is now a 25 room building. There are outbuildings as well, and a big stone building that was the playhouse for the kids. For more information, click here.

yum...lunch!

there's our stagecoach behind me!

gorgeous grounds

early homesteaders

nice

waiting for the tour

The house was beautiful (to us!), with seven staircases and seven fireplaces. The views were pretty nice too. Everything was original, not re-constructed, with the exception of some of the kitchen and bedroom extras. The home was used by two different families before becoming a museum.

beautiful details...staircases and fireplaces

don't really care for the wall hangings!

nice work on this textile piece

original dining room table

hello??

kitchen galley

cool looking oven and stove

herb drying in the back room

classic!

the woman that lived here was one of the first doctor's in Colorado-Dr. Jo

the tiles in this fireplace go for $1000 each now

See that camera with the flash cubes? Anyone else remember those? Flash cubes? That was my first camera, and its in a museum! Arg! Another woman on the tour was laughing about the hairdryer, which she immediately recognized from her youth.

remember flash cubes?

antiques! (from my age group...yikes!)

great staircases and so solidly built

baby room

one of my old places of employment (loved that job!)

Tom remembers the blocks (mine were more of a cube)

Someone spotted the deer in the woods as we left the main house heading towards Housekeepers cabin and the children's playhouse. They were snacking away, and didn't seem too bothered by us!

snacking on the greens

view of the main house

inside the housekeepers cabin

playhouse!

the owners were wealthy....did I mention that?

still snacking, but where's junior?

hiding!

a nice little homestead here

interesting tour

the main house from the front

We drove through the center of Evergreen, a happening place, and by-passed the store that said "Quilts". I think Tom was afraid I'd buy one of those wooden bears for our RV! Hahahah!

downtown Evergreen

quilts and bears!! (like our old house)

can't fit in the RV!

There were several beautiful parks along our route, and we'd definitely be visiting them if we were in the area a little longer. Instead, we headed back, taking a side trip along the Lookout Road. Woah! Actually, it was one of those roads that looked worse from below than it is. We spotted the road when we were waiting in line a few days ago for the Coors Brewery Tour. Tom recalled I said "there was no way I was going on THAT road". Hahahha. Anyway, it was a beauty and the views were terrific.