Top 5 places to see the leaves change in Colorado. Colorado if full of shimmering colors in the fall. These are the top 5 places that will point you in the direction of gleaming yellows, oranges and reds this September.     Photo by: Colorado.com 1. Trail Ridge Road Trail Ridge Road is an amazing elevation point for leaf peepers and fall lovers. With more than eight miles above 11,000 feet and a maximum elevation of 12,183 feet. Fun fact: It is the highest paved road in North America! Photo by: Thomas Morse  2. The San Juan Skyway The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gaug ..read more

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, we’re releasing one of 5 amazing drawings (for FREE!) from Above the Alpine Art‘s Coloring Book! Starting on Earth Day (April 22nd) you can download the artwork and take a week or so to color it. By May 1st, submit your photo in the Facebook event in the “discussion” tab here. That day, we’ll create a gallery of all the art submissions and let our fans vote for their favorite! The top three will win stickers from UpaDowna and the 1st place winner also gets a sticker from Above the Alpine Art! Click here for a jpg photo: yeti coloring pag ..read more

Hey folks! My name is Delina “Dee” Auciello! I am not only new to the staff here at UpaDowna but also to Colorado Springs! I moved to Colorado Springs about two and a half months ago and have been overwhelmed by the beauty of living in the mountains and by the sense of community I have been so lucky to experience having been here for such a short amount of time. I am originally from Long Island, New York but from a young age I knew the fast-paced New York city life was not for me. I liked having the ocean close by but always found myself wanting to be in the woods, hoping I would discover a mo ..read more

I only recently moved to Colorado from the East Coast, and my first attempt to find some local beer left me dumbstruck; Colorado Springs alone has 25 breweries. 25! And the total number of craft beer concocted in this state is truly overwhelming. However, I have decided to steadily work my way through this vast ledger of lagers, this array of ales, this selection of sours, in order to find the perfect post-hike beer. The beer you cannot wait to crack open after finally finishing setting up camp for the night. The beer that is in fact worth carrying it up a mountain, just to down it. The journe ..read more

Check out UpaDowna’s sweet Advent-ure Calendar! This Advent, every day is an opportunity for a new adventure! Remember: an adventure a day, keeps the doctor away! Download your own copy of the advent-ure calendar here!   The post UpaDowna’s Advent-ure Calendar first appeared on UpaDowna ..read more

Last week UpaDowna was lucky enough to have some extra help around the office. As most of you know, last month UpaDowna made the move back to our original stomping grounds in Manitou Springs. Moving, while still maintaining our programming and preparing for our Indy Give campaign can be a bit overwhelming, luckily senior students from Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind (CSDB) swooped in to save the day, not once but twice, helping us to get organized! We are so thankful for their help. The students who came to help us were members of the Senior on the Job Training Program at CSDB. As a par ..read more

MATERIAL: mesh "NO SEE UM" Screen WEIGHT:12oz MSRP: $54.95 Simple and effective is all I think I need to say about this product. There is nothing more aggravating when car camping than having to choose between being devoured alive by no see ums, gnats, mosquitoes, and biting flys or having to suffer in stagnate air in your vehicle. My family and I have spent countless hours and dollars building our perfect escape pod that will take us away from them masses and deep into the backcountry only to be thwarted by the sanity pushing, almost silent humming and the quickly forming welts left all ..read more

Here are a lot of ways to use a bandana, plus instructions on how to make a cooling bandana for those hot summer hikes! Download your own PDF with the links below! 180 Uses for a Bandana How to make Cool Ties Step-by-step visual on how to make a cooling bandana REBECCA M. FULLERTON The post Brilliant Bandanas first appeared on UpaDowna ..read more

We are looking for a few young adults who reside in the Southeast area of Colorado Springs to help us this summer during our Generation Wild Paddleboarding Program! Check out the job description and to apply, send a resume and one letter of recommendation to us at randi@upadowna.org! Applications close May 15th. upadowna gen wild job description The post Generation Wild Job first appeared on UpaDowna ..read more

If you didn’t know, UpaDowna is a tiny but MIGHTY nonprofit with one full-time Executive Director, a handful of hourly staff members, a kick-ass volunteer board of directors and a BUNCH of BADASSADORS who volunteer to help when needed! UpaDowna couldn’t offer our amazing programs to you without these amazing people, especially our NEW staff members! Please welcome them to our organization, and say HI to them at our upcoming events!! The post Say hello to our new staff members! first appeared on UpaDowna ..read more