Boulder parents looking for the perfect place to take their kids outside don’t have to go farther than the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) on the southwest edge of the city. That’s according to Littleton-based author and journalist Jamie Siebrase, a trained community naturalist, mother of three and expert on exploring nature with her family.
Siebrase doesn’t consider her family — which also includes her husband and a labradoodle — “super adventurous,” but they like to hike and mountain bike and climb “easy” routes.
Siebrase says the NCAR area checks all the boxes for a great family-friendly location because it has ample hiking trails of varying difficulty. And if the little hikers don’t feel like continuing, the family can change course and head inside the center for plenty of activities and interactive displays to keep everyone entertained.
Having a flexible mindset is key to enjoyable outings for parents trying to enjoy the outdoors with their children, according to Siebrase.
“When I’m hiking, especially with young kids, I can’t be concerned with finishing,” she says. “I try not to have too much of a plan, because if everyone’s miserable we’re just going to turn around and do something else.”
Siebrase loves NCAR so much for parents that she has an entire chapter dedicated to it in the guidebook she’s working on. She’s written two others: Hiking with Kids Colorado: 52 Great Hikes for Families and Mythbusting the Great Outdoors: What’s True and What’s Not? She freelances for local publications including the Denver Post and Westword as well.
Around the Boulder area, she also recommends taking kids to the Mount Sanitas area. You can do a short, flat loop or go to the summit if the family is ready for that. She enjoys the Eldorado Canyon and Flatiron Vista areas, too.
“I like to find places where I can find wildlife and a good view,” she says. “I also like loops better than out-and-back because they entertain the kids the whole time.”
Colorado animal families
Siebrase’s most recent project is children’s book Tonight!: A Bedtime Book, published in 2023 by Muddy Boots, an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield. Featuring animals from the Rocky Mountain region, the book is about a little boy who imagines himself as a different critter each night as his mother attempts to put him to bed.
As the boy evokes the world of mountain lions, bighorn sheep, moose and more, his mother teaches him about these animals and their habitats.
“I wanted the book to have a national audience,” Siebrase says. “But also, I live in Colorado, and I love Colorado. I wanted to honor where I am geographically.”
The book is illustrated by Eric Parrish, an Erie-based artist. The drawings are tender, adorable portraits of the animals in their natural environments along with poignant bedroom scenes.
Siebrase says she started working on the book when her now 11-year-old son was about 2 years old and needed a story every night to get to sleep. Siebrase was stressed and tired all the time but couldn’t sleep.
“I was just a mom at home with two boys,” she says. “I had really bad postpartum depression after my second son was born. I would be putting my younger son to bed, and all I wanted was to be in my own bed and be alone, and he would be doing these goofy things to keep me up. That’s where the book came from: my love for my son and also just sheer exhaustion.”
As her children got older and she had to homeschool during the COVID-19 pandemic, Siebrase taught them more about the outdoors and wildlife.
“The pandemic was what really opened me up to understanding that I don’t have to be a full-time homeschool mom to be teaching my kids stuff every day about the things I’m interested in,” she says.
Siebrase is also quick to point out that this book isn’t exclusive to mothers and sons. She says the themes apply to fathers and daughters, or any other parenting dynamic.
Siebrase will speak about and sign her book Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 5:30 p.m. at Boulder Book Store. She’ll be bringing snacks and crafts for kids to make it a little more engaging than a typical reading.
“I have had so much more fun promoting this book than any of my other ones,” she says. “Kids are just so fun to be around.”
Leave no trace
At the back of the book, Siebrase includes wildlife viewing tips for first-timers, including how to be a “backyard explorer” and find animals close to home.
“Even big cities provide habitat for wildlife,” she writes, “and some creatures develop incredible adaptations for thriving in urban areas.”
Siebrase also provides advice on how to increase the odds of catching animals being active, like paying attention to trail intersections, investigating at dawn or dusk and exploring wildlife sanctuaries or animal refuges. Joining groups such as the Audubon Society or visiting local nature centers are also good strategies for families looking to spot wildlife.
Siebrase pitched a sequel to Tonight! to her editor that she’s hoping to get accepted. She also has a few other children’s book manuscripts she’s working on, as well as a novel.
Her next goal is to get certified by Leave No Trace, an organization that teaches people how to minimize their impacts on the outdoors. Siebrase would like to incorporate that training into her writing.
“It’s so important to enjoy the outdoors responsibly,” she says.
ON THE PAGE: Tonight!: A Bedtime Book reading with Jamie Siebrase. 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23, Boulder Book Store, 1107 Pearl St., Boulder. Free