Located at the west entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park is the quaint town of Grand Lake, Colorado. This charming town is more than a gateway to the national park, it is also boasts the largest and deepest natural lake in the state of Colorado, and if you are lucky, you'll spot a moose or two, which live in the area. This is a great place to take out a canoe or kayak. Bring your own or rent one in town.

There are several places to drop in. One is them is the Gene Stover Lakefront Park, at the corner of Hancock Street and Lake Avenue, right in the hubbub of Grand Lake. There is a public parking lot across the street as well as a restroom to change clothing. After you paddle, you can put your boats back on your car and stroll around town for several more hours. The park also has a swimming area.

This is an extremely peaceful paddle. You can make a loop around the lake, staying close to shore, or go straight out into the middle. Power boats share the water, but in general, paddlers and power boaters barely notice each other.

Staying to shore and looping around the entire lake takes a couple hours, and it is fun to look at all the lakeside houses, from cozy, historic cabins to larger, modern homes.

When you drive into town you will see Shadow Mountain Reservoir and may want to drop in there. If you choose to do so, there is a connecting channel between Grand Lake and Shadow Mountain Reservoir. A sign warns about strong currents, but the channel itself is more calm than Grand Lake as it protected by land and it is a no wake zone. The waters do get choppier on Shadow Mountain. There is an island in its natural state on the other side of the channel after coming from Grand Lake which acts as a barrier between the strong waters and the canal.

The area by the bridge on the canal is a popular spot for fly fishing, so be careful not to get tangled in a line.

The island just outside the channel protects the waters when entering Shadow Mountain Reservoir. However, the calm waters soon turn to white caps on the other side.

This portion of the Shadow Mountain Reservoir shoreline is a marshland. There is an island, but it is not that inviting to explore.

If the water is choppy, you will most likely go back to Grand Lake and continue the loop to your drop-in site.

Once you have finished exploring Grand Lake by water, you can play tourist on land by walking the wooden boardwalks of Grand Lake. There are sweet shops, all types of stores, and a variety of restaurants and bars.

Many of the buildings from the town's founding in the late 1800s and early 1900s still exist, and the town has done a great job of maintaining the turn of the century charm.

The town not only boasts the natural beauty of the Rocky Mountains, but almost every shop and store has a flower box or basket with colorful flowers bursting out more color. It truly is a beautiful place to visit. A weekend during the fall is a good time to go, when school is back in session and the aspens have begun to turn to gold and red.

Whether you are on a cross country road trip or a Denverite looking for a weekend get away, making Grand Lake a destination for a day or two is definitely worth doing.

It’s hard to find an activity that’s more idyllic than paddle boarding on Evergreen Lake in Evergreen, Colorado. Encircled by the Colorado foothills, it is the place to go if you are looking to spend a peaceful and serene afternoon.

Located in the heart of Evergreen, about 45 minutes west from downtown Denver, the lake is home to an upscale log cabin lake house, which sits tranquilly on the edge of the lake.

However, nothing is as charming as the rustic boathouse with its sod roof which looks at its modern counterpart across the lake waters. This is where boaters may rent kayaks, canoes, sailboats, and paddle boats. (The Evergreen Parks and Recreation Department rents the paddle boards in a building adjacent to the boathouse.)

Paddle boards are available to rent from the beginning of May to almost the end of September. The cost to rent a paddle board is $25 an hour, which includes a $10 deposit if the board is brought back within the hour. It is something beginners can catch on to within a couple minutes once they get their bearings. The lake waters are calm as power boats are not allowed on the lake which makes it an ideal location for beginners to try out the sport. After one gets the hang of standing on the board, a natural inclination to start doing yoga kicks in, even for those who never do yoga. Be warned, however, those who get more daring with their yoga moves will end up in the water.

Another popular activity at the lake is to walk the Evergreen Lake Trail, which circles the lake. An easy stroll, walkers can veer off the path and visit downtown Evergreen or the gardens at one end or watch elk, and occasionally moose, play in the water at the nature preserve on the other. After boating or walking, there is a large grassy area with tables on the other side of the lake house to enjoy a picnic.

Adjacent to the lake and Evergreen Lake Trail is a public golf course, where the elk often rest and take no notice of the golfers playing around them.

How many other paddle boarding spots in the world can boarders share the water with a herd of elk? Most likely not many. If you live in Colorado or are vacationing in the state, this is a must do activity in the summer months.

If you are visiting Steamboat Springs, Colorado, during the summer, a must-do activity is tubing the Yampa River.  For those who have their own tubes and a volunteer to pick them up at the end, it is also a free activity. If you are doing it the free route, drop your tube in at the beginning of town off Highway 40 and float to a predetermined spot with your driver. This is an easy, relaxing float. The only item besides your tube (and sunscreen) you'll need are river shoes.
For those who do not have a tube with them, renting is easy. We went with Backdoor Sports, located at 9th and Yampa. They rent tubes for $18 and river shoes for $3. You'll drop in at their store, and the route takes a little over an hour, ending around the James Brown Bridge. A shuttle driver will be waiting you to take you back to the store. This is an activity the entire family will enjoy.

On a road trip last summer, my family and I stumbled upon Flaming Gorge. Tucked up in northeastern Utah, it was an area I had heard little about and soon realized it was a hidden jewel with very few visitors. Not as popular as its counterpart in southern Utah, Lake Powell, I wanted to return this summer to kayak the area. My 15-year-old son was up for it, so off we went.

Flaming Gorge is a reservoir surrounded by flaming red rocks in southwestern Wyoming and northeastern Utah with around 360 miles of shoreline. For our kayaking trip, we stayed within Utah. We parked our car at Sheep Creek Bay outside Manila on Highway 44. The price to park is $5 a day or $15 for a week payable by envelope at the parking lot. The closest location to buy supplies was in Manila, seven miles down the road. Our route was to paddle around Kingfisher Island, then head down past Hideout Canyon and on to Red Canyon for a two-night kayaking trip.

Packing all our supplies into two kayaks, the first night we paddled out three miles to near the designated campground on Kingfisher Island. This rustic campground has a dock and picnic tables, but no toilet facilities. However, if we were to do it again, we would have camped on the other side of the water under the red rock cliffs, as we saw other boaters do after we had set up camp. Our plan was to set up for one night and then camp at another location the next. If we were to return, we would establish a base camp. The reason being is that once a kayaker enters into Red Canyon there are no places to pitch a tent as the rock cliffs slope down to the water. As this was an adventure, we did find one spot in the canyon but would not recommend this approach to others. There are many spots to set up a camp before entering Red Canyon. If your goal is to paddle further down the reservoir, spend the night outside the canyon and then set your sights for a campground on the other side. (Be careful when picking a designated campground that it is at water level and not at the top of the cliffs as it is difficult to discern on one-dimensional maps.)

We arrived the Sunday following the Fourth of July, which had been on a Friday. It was not crowded. By Tuesday, we almost had the place to ourselves. We were the only kayakers, and most of the recreational boaters had returned to their jobs. During the first three hours of paddling on our last day we did not see another person. We did see, however, many osprey nests perched high on the rocks.

The night temperature in July was comfortable, and we slept well in 40-degree bags. We brought a 5-gallon collapsible water carrier and did not use all the water while paddling three days. However, it is always best to be on the safe side and have excess water rather than not enough. For food we brought protein bars, fruit cups, and freeze-dried meals among other treats. As we were eating a $10 freeze-dried pasta dish, my son thought it would have been smarter to have packed a pre-made noodle side dish, such as the kind Knorr sells for considerably less, as it tasted the same. I agreed. As there was not room in our kayaks for firewood, we brought along a small, portable camp stove heated by fuel packets that worked very well (see slideshow). 

In addition to paddling, there is great swimming and rock cliff jumping, similar to Lake Powell but without the crowds. The scenery is spectacular, and every turn seemed to have brought us to another geological period as the rock formations changed. I enjoyed bonding with my son and would recommend the experience to others.

After your trip be sure to stop at the Red Canyon Visitor Center to see the view of the canyon from above. After we stopped at the center, we treated ourselves to a meal at the Red Canyon Lodge, which was on the road back to the highway.