where to view meteors in colorado

August 4, 2009 11:34 AM

question on viewing the persiad meteor shower on the front range in colorado.

I am very interested in seeing the persiad meteor shower in the next week or two with my wife for our 3rd anniversary. We currently live in Colorado Springs and I am trying to plan an overnight camping trip. My question is where would the best place to go be? We are both avid outdoors people and would like to get away from the crowds in a beautiful alpine setting.

I was originally thinking up in indian peaks outside of nederland, but after being there over the weekend a couple of weeks ago, decided it was way too crowded, unless we went up to diamond lake.

Would love great views, maybe a good hike where we can possibly take our dogs and a very scenic spot for photography. Of course, it should be away from city lights and wide open for best comet viewing.

posted by TheBones to sports, hobbies, & recreation (5 comments total)

It's "Perseid", not "Persiad". That won't help you find information about where you should go, but if you're looking for information about what you should be looking for it might help.
posted by madcaptenor at 12:09 PM on August 4

Thank you, my spelling sucks, but you are right, that doesn't help me at all.
posted by TheBones at 1:05 PM on August 4

How far are you willing to drive? And, do you want to have views FROM the camping spot, or will you be doing some hiking at night to get to a better spot?
posted by boulder20something at 2:02 PM on August 4

I used to go up to a small site, probably private, above Gold Hill. I don't know how to tell you to find it, apart from "go to gold hill, and then take the steep road up and out of town; site is on your left near the top of the hill." I think technically it was on private property, but the residents of Gold Hill had used it for years -- every time we went up there, there would be some kids over at a nearby-ish (half a mile away) firepit or something. A few times, someone from down in town came up to make sure we weren't going to burn the place down, but no one ever bothered us.

Anyway, that place was exactly what you want. It had ridiculous views of the front range and the sky, with minimal light pollution and few people around you. But it's been a few years since I was there.

I also watched a meteor shower once from some place near the top of Magnolia road (where it hits into 119/72), which was also pretty great. I don't know if you can camp there, though.

Alternatively, you could go out to Arapaho Pass and camp down at Caribou lake, which is dark and beautiful and not too crowded. Maybe 6ish miles from the trailhead to the lake?
posted by chalkbored at 2:02 PM on August 4

This is a bit difficult without knowing how far you are willing to drive; Slate Canyon near Crested Butte meets your requirements. I was just there two weeks ago (I am also in CS), and it is absolutely stunning, a wide, deep valley (with the Slate River running through the bottom), and uninterrupted views of the sky. It is a 4.5- to 5 hour drive though, which may be more than you want to take. Slate River offers car camping sites (no facilities), starting about 3 miles up Slate River Road from Crested Butte. There are various bits of private land you have to be careful of along the road, but on public land, camping sites are easily found.

Somewhat closer to home are the Pike and San Isabel National Forests, both of which offer a wide variety of camping areas to choose between.

HTH.
posted by faineant at 12:23 AM on August 5