DENVER — A 78-year-old Lakewood man visited all of Colorado's 41 state parks in just over a year, mostly by completing lengthy day trips, according to a release from Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW).
Robert Aaronson became just the sixth person to complete Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s State Parks Passport Program.
It wasn't something he set out to do, it happened almost by accident after he visited Cherry Creek State Park on August 14, 2018 and was handed a state park passport.
Aaronson had recently moved to Colorado from southern New Jersey and wanted to explore the state by car. He didn’t think much about the program at first, but when he visited some of his local state parks - Cherry Creek, Chatfield, and Staunton - he figured he would get his passport stamped.
“My intention never was to do the whole thing,” he said. “But as I got more and more it became a challenge.”
Soon, he had covered the northeastern quadrant of the state and kept going. He made it to all 41 state parks in just one year and two weeks. It's pretty impressive when you consider he avoided the winter months and completed many of his visits in lengthy day trips, according to CPW.
His trip to and from Mancos, Lone Mesa, and Navajo state parks took him about 14 hours. He completed his quest, as he called it, with around 21,000 additional miles on his car.
“I don’t know whether to throw rocks at you people or to thank you,” he said, about CPW staff.
On August 30, 2019, Aaronson came back to Cherry Creek State Park with all 41 parks stamped in his passport. CPW awarded him an All-Star Patch and the Friends of Colorado State Parks gave him a backpack to congratulate him on his accomplishment.
“The program’s given me an opportunity to travel around and see the state,” he said.
He said he enjoyed driving around the parks, exploring their visitor centers, and collecting their t-shirts.
“It was interesting how different all these places were. They’re quite diverse,” he said.
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While he’s had his fill of lengthy day-trips, Aaronson said he still plans on driving to new places around Colorado.
“I think my best memories of the state parks I visited are of the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff,” he said. “They put up with all of my nonsense.”
You can begin your own quest by picking up your passport at a state park or hatchery near you. As you travel to each site, collect unique stamps. Once you’ve collected them all get a park representative to certify the back page of your passport to collect a prize.
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