You ought to go see the Great Sand Dunes—the tallest in North America—but after you’ve seen that beautiful sight, go and check out the lesser-known Zapata Falls, and cool off in its mist and spray. The waterfall is fairly narrow, and drops 30 feet, giving it a slender, regal look. During the wintertime, the falls freeze, converting it into a really neat ice climbing site.
To get to the falls, you’ll follow highway 150 south until you come to a road on the left, leading to the Zapata Falls Campground. Take that until you come to the loop, off of which there will be the hiking path to get to the falls. The parking lot itself is worth the trip, as it gives you a pristine view of the Great Sand Dunes, with an especially spectacular display of color at sunrise and sunset.
To see the falls you’ll have to hike about a half mile, ford the creek, and climb up some rocks, and into a rock crevasse, where the falls are located. It’s not the sort of thing you do in your Sunday Best, but this is Adventure, so you need none of that! There’s a possibility that you could slip on wet rocks or something, but overall it’s really not too dangerous at all—otherwise the park wouldn’t allow access.
Another thing you might chance upon when you visit the falls is the Black Swift, a bird that nests near the falls. This is one of the only places in Colorado that you’ll see many of these birds.
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