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Lon Abbott

Articles By Lon Abbott

RMNP

Colorado by Nature: Rocky Mountain National Park’s Lumpy Ridge

The unique geological makeup of Estes Park’s dramatic, peaky backdrop—which boasts hundreds of climbing routes—has been more than a billion years in the making.

Colorado National Monument

Colorado by Nature: Colorado National Monument

Discover the geological history that made Colorado National Monument one of the state’s most iconic landscapes.

Colorado By Nature: The Great Diamond Hoax

In 1872, a false claim that an area in northern Colorado contained diamonds nearly brought our young nation’s economy to its knees. But a century later, Mother Nature had the last laugh.

Colorado By Nature: Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument

Discover petrified redwood trees, a cuckoo bird, and other ancient fossils at one of the Centennial State’s least known—but most amazing—natural wonders.

Colorado by Nature: Skiing the Colorado Mineral Belt

Thanks to a geologic quirk of fate, as well as plentiful powder, Aspen, Breckenridge, and Telluride have all struck it rich twice during their long, boom-and-bust histories.

Colorado by Nature: Paint Mines Interpretive Park

Colorful badlands on Colorado’s Great Plains record an unprecedented heat wave that swept the globe 55 million years ago.

Colorado by Nature: West Bijou Site

America’s newest National Natural Landmark reveals tantalizing clues about the day the dinosaurs died.

Colorado by Nature: North and South Table Mountains

Golden’s iconic landmarks are the remnants of an ancient landscape flipped upside down.

Colorado by Nature: How the Royal Gorge Was Formed

Why did the Arkansas River carve a spectacular gorge through a dome of hard rocks when an easier path lies nearby?

Colorado by Nature: The Longs Peak Diamond

Glaciers, granite, and (geological) joints all played a role in carving Colorado’s most spectacular mountain face.

Colorado by Nature: The Story of Mesa Verde

How the giant alcoves protecting Colorado’s world-famous ruins were formed. 

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