Kids Adventure Vacation in Chaffee County!

Photo by Mary Lee Bensman

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The unpretentious Upper Arkansas River Valley is a great place for families to unplug, run nowhere in particular, skip down a trail, splash in the river – reconnect with life’s simple pleasures. A wide selection of affordable, family-run restaurants makes it an added pleasure to dine out with the whole family. Local parents offered these helpful suggestions to visiting families.

Tyke trek. The hike to Agnes Vaille Falls can take as little as 20 minutes. Dawdling along the trail allows time to check out interpretive signs or take a break on a trailside bench before reaching the 60-foot waterfall. A couple miles past Mount Princeton Hot Springs look on the right for the obvious, signed trailhead parking area. Along the way, keep an eye out for mountain goats and bighorn sheep on the rocky hillsides especially on the north side of the canyon.

Small fry. Tours of state fish hatcheries are great places to take the kids to see, and even feed, thousands of trout, from newborn fingerlings to those ready to be set free to roam the lakes and streams in the region. Fish hatcheries are also great places for bird watching since they provide or enhance riparian areas that attract birds. In this area, they include sparrows to warblers, woodpeckers, herons and the occasional trumpeter swan not to mention hawks, eagles and owls. Orientation video and tour guides are available at the Mt. Shavano Trout Rearing Unit visitor center daily June through August; next to Frantz Lake in Salida. Self-guided tours are available at the Chalk Cliffs Rearing Unit at the mouth of Chalk Creek Canyon west of Nathrop.