06/17/2022
Lathrop State Park has always been a favorite park of my family with it's beautiful scenery and diverse ecosystems. Designated as a state park in 1962, Lathrop opened as Colorado's first official State Park. It was named after the first director of state parks, Harold Lathrop. Lathrop is located in Huerfano County north of the Spanish Peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. If you are interested in looking for wildlife, you can find a huge array of diversity between the two lakes and the semi arid environment surrounding the area.
During our five day visit during the middle of June we were able to spot mule deer, jackrabbits, and signs of other large mammal wildlife such as the the scraping of bear claws on trees to the s**t and mud tracks of coyote and raccoons.
As a naturalist, I love seeing the diversity of both flora and fauna. Birds like the Magpies, Brewer's blackbird, Spotted towhee, American robin and Turkey vultures are common sights throughout the park. We even had several sightings of Yellow-breasted chats, Osprey, Killdeer and Wild turkeys.
Some of my favorite plants, reptiles and bug life can be found in Lathrop. Of those, multiple species of bees, cicadas and butterflies were abundant during our trip. Within the junipers and pinyon pines you can find Juniper hairstreaks nectaring from native milkweeds, fleabanes and scarlet gaura. Meanwhile lizards and bull snakes can be found amongst the sandstone rocks of the Hogback trail directly behind the campgrounds.
