The Best Front Range Bird Hikes

Two of the more popular hobbies in Colorado and throughout the United States are hiking and birding. There is much written about these two activities, but Norm Lewis has combined both into one guidebook, The Best Front Range Bird Hikes. Hiking and birding can easily be done together, and Lewis has some helpful tips, such as how to adjust the diopter on your binoculars and how to equip. For each hike in his book, Lewis gives distance and elevation along with the difficulty rating and the best season for go out. He also gives the “Featured Birds,” his “Comment” about the areas, easy-to-follow directions to the hike in “Getting There,” and notes about “The Route.” This is a great book for anyone wanting to start biding and hiking, and for those looking for new routes.

As someone from Colorado who enjoys both hiking and birding, some of my favorite birding hikes are included in this book. Lewis’s list of featured birds aligns with the birds I saw. For example, Barr Lake is a great location for spring and fall migratory ducks and songbirds as well as for its winter bald eagle population. The Urban South Platte River is also an excellent hike to see wintering duck, including Barrow’s goldeneyes.