From hiking and river rafting to mountain biking, ziplining, camping, skiing, tubing, snowshoeing, fishing and beyond, Colorado is an all-seasons playground for outdoor adventures. And, when it comes to family fun in the Centennial State, freelance travel writer Heather Mundt wrote the book on kid-friendly activities — literally.
Mundt’s new book, “Colorado Family Outdoor Adventure: An All-Ages Guide to Hiking, Camping and Getting Outside,” is scheduled for a June 1, 2022 release, and provides plenty of inspiration for those looking to find the best family adventures in Colorado.
A native of the state and a mom of two boys, Mundt (a TravelAge West contributing writer) crafted the guide not just to help families experience Colorado’s natural wonders, but also to encourage the younger generations to develop a relationship with the land and a passion for protecting it.
Mundt’s book is scheduled for a June 1 release.
Credit: 2022 Heather MundtHere, she shares a bit about the personal experiences that led her to write the book, and a few of her favorite discoveries along the way.
Why did you decide to write a book on family adventures in Colorado?
I was lucky to be approached in the summer of 2019 by the Southwest Adventure Series editor, Ashley Biggers, who’d discovered my Colorado stories for Outdoor Families Magazine (OFM) and thought I might be interested in submitting a proposal for the series on family travel in my state. Ironically, I began working for OFM in 2014 after a several-year break from writing while my two boys were little, and the magazine was a small startup that couldn’t pay me much money. But I made great friendships and connections through OFM, and it’s precisely what led me to writing this book. It’s a good lesson that sometimes you should say “yes” to a good opportunity, even if it doesn’t involve money.
I hope [this book] makes planning a Colorado trip easier for families to any region of the state. It’s easy as parents to become overwhelmed just thinking about getting in the car for a road trip. I’ve already done the research for them, so they don’t need to be overwhelmed. Just jump in the car and go.
It’s easy as parents to become overwhelmed just thinking about getting in the car for a road trip. I’ve already done the research for them, so they don’t need to be overwhelmed. Just jump in the car and go.
What makes Colorado such a special place for you?
I’m proud to say that I’m a third-generation Coloradan. Even though I grew up here, though, there’s still so much I hadn’t seen before writing the book, and yet more to see now that I have. And that’s not only in our stunning Rocky Mountains, but also throughout Colorado’s expansive Eastern Plains and southeastern canyons. It will take me years to experience everything I wrote about in the book.
What experiences have inspired your love of outdoor activities throughout your life?
My parents were farm kids from Northeast Colorado (near Sterling), so they grew up exploring the outdoors, a love that they passed down to me. We weren’t an extreme-backcountry family, but we were always encouraged to be outside as children, riding our bikes, catching crawdads, camping in summers and sledding in winters. So, once I was older, I started hiking and mountain biking with friends or my husband, Michael. Basically, my parents’ love of the outdoors provided enough of a foundation to expand my interest as I became an adult.
What role did the outdoors play once you had kids? What was it like exploring and adventuring as a family?
It was even more important for me to be outside with my kids because it was such a salve for the stress and boredom of being a stay-at-home mom. Don’t get me wrong: I love having kids. But going outside was like a reset for me and the boys when they were too little to do much else, whether it was picking up rocks, collecting sticks, looking for bugs or just walking around the block to get rid of that endless little boy energy.
Then, as they got older, the outdoor experiences got bigger and more fun. [We did things like] hiking, rafting, mountain biking, ziplining and more. I feel lucky to have had these little adventure buddies alongside me as I’ve traveled throughout Colorado and beyond.
Why do you think it’s important for kids to get outside and have the types of family adventures you wrote about?
This book is as much about inspiring families to help preserve what’s so special about Colorado as it is learning about the Centennial State. And that’s why getting kids outside has always been a core mission for me as a writer: If children know how amazing these public lands are because they’ve experienced them firsthand, they’ll be more likely to help conserve them for future generations.
That’s why getting kids outside has always been a core mission for me as a writer: If children know how amazing these public lands are because they’ve experienced them firsthand, they’ll be more likely to help conserve them for future generations.
Do you have a favorite Colorado activity recommendation from the book that you could share?
I have to say I was most surprised by the historic highlights in the eastern part of my state, from the Japanese internment camp in Granada, known as Camp Amache, to the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site around Eads, and Bent’s Old Fort near La Junta, which is one of the best properties in the National Park System that I’ve ever visited. Colorado is most known for mountain destinations, but don’t discount the history and experiences of its Eastern Plains.
“Colorado Family Outdoor Adventure: An All-Ages Guide to Hiking, Camping and Getting Outside” can be purchased on Amazon or directly from the publisher.
