The King Family's Adventure

The King Family was the first to complete their passport. They began the program on July 10 and visited every Colorado State Park by August 17!

"One thing that surprised me the most was how the rangers and volunteers took us in as one of their own when they saw our passport books," Nancy King said. "They made us feel like part of the State Parks family."

"We were surprised at how many State Parks there are, and how clean, beautiful, and family friendly all of them are."

"We found out about the Passport to Parks program in July, when we stopped at San Luis Lakes on our way to Mesa Verde," said Nancy King.

"The park host gave each of our kids a passport book and a poster of the park. We thought it would be fun and educational to visit as many state parks as we could while we were on our trip. By the time we got home, we had visited 11 parks, most of which we had never seen before. That's when we realized we were hooked, and had to visit the rest."

The Kings' favorite park was Golden Gate Canyon State Park.

"It has been our favorite park for about 20 years," Nancy said. "It is nice to take people there from out of town to see Panorama Point's awesome views. Plus you can take them for nice hikes and if the attitude gets them, you can be home in 30 minutes."

"When our kids were younger and still now they loved the fishing and the visitors center."

To other visitors who are striving to complete the Passport to Parks Program, the King family offers some advice:

"There are clusters of parks where several are within an hours’ drive. If you camp at one, you can get stamps of all the others in a single day. But keep notes of every park you visit, because you will forget some places you want to see again by the time you are done."