Staunton State Park is so new that it’s not even finished. Opened to the public only since May 2013, Colorado’s newest state park is six miles west of Conifer and an hour south of Boulder.

Sharon discovered the park by searching the Internet and suggested that we hike there this week. We chose a cloudless and still day, but the temperature was below freezing when we got to the trailhead at 8,200 feet just after the park opened at 8 a.m.

I had no great expectations, particularly because we knew that the dams for the ponds at the end of the 2.2 mile Davis Ponds Trail were still being built. Nevertheless, this trail seemed to each of us to be the best place for us to begin to explore the new park. However, we wanted a somewhat longer hike, so later we made another loop of about 2 miles around the Staunton Ranch and Mason Creek trails.

When we got out on the trails, we were most pleasantly surprised. The mature ponderosa pine forest we found there is less dense and more attractive than many other pine forests in the state. The trail itself could not have been more to my liking: Not only does it have a smooth gravel surface without rocks or roots so I didn’t have to watch it constantly, but it is also wide enough for two to walk abreast and climbs just enough to give us moderate exercise.

Sharon Pauses on the Davis Ponds Trail

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I also didn’t expect to see much wildlife or many birds up this high in the mountains. But one of the first animals we saw were Abert’s Squirrels, which are confined to the Colorado Plateau and the southern Rocky Mountains and we have rarely seen before.

Abert's Are the Only Squirrels That Have Prominent Ear Tufts

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​I was also surprised to see and hear several large flocks of birds, including this little bird that is less than 4 inches long.

A Pygmy Nuthatch Prepared to Land on a Pine Cone

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The Pygmy Nuthatch Rests on the Pine Cone

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​The other bird that particularly attracted my attention at Staunton State Park was a woodpecker.

A Female Downy Woodpeckers Rests from its Labor

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​Male Downy Woodpeckers are about 6 inches long and like all male woodpeckers are red on some part of their bodies. This is the smaller female Downy Woodpecker. While males have a stronger bill, females pry under the bark with their shorter bills, so that a pair can share the resources of the forest within competing with each other.

We plan to return to Staunton State Park next year. I’m hoping to see birds on the Davis Ponds then.