I had 7 unseasonably wonderful days to work with! I managed to get out to the parks for 3 of my 7 days! I stayed close to the Denver area, not driving more than 45 minutes for any of these parks. I also stayed out of our beautiful, but snowy and icy mountains - it was easier with my tiny car.
Day 1: I went to Roxborough State Park and savored a morning stroll there, taking in the wild beauty of the place. Then I went to Roxborough Library and enjoyed wandering around in that adorable little gem of a library. While I was there I stopped by the Safeway right next to the library and picked up some picnic supplies at random and headed north just a few minutes to Chatfield State Park and enjoyed a lovely picnic up on a viewing platform near one of the larger picnic spots.
Day 2: Bolstered by my impulse picnic success of the day before, I had another picnic brunch locally at Cherry Creek State Park. After that, I headed south past the amazing Parker Library I love so much to Castlewood Canyon State Park. This park is incredible, and I will be returning many more times! I want to see it in every season!
Day 3: I headed north early to Barr Lake State Park. This little park boasts a wonderful boardwalk, and a chance to see Bald Eagles! I went early because the eagles are most active between dawn and mid-morning. I got to see many eagles and a ton of other birds! On my way home, I stopped at the delightful Anythink Wright Farms library and got a coffee at their cute little cafe. While there I chit-chatted with a librarian about the fact that the Anythink library offers Rosetta Stone as one of the tools in the online learning area of their website! How Cool!

The Check Out State Parks backpack is amazing!

I checked it out to take to Castlewood Canyon but you get it for seven days and can visit all the state parks you can cram in during that time! You don't have to limit it to just one place.

The backpack comes with a pass to get your vehicle and its occupants into the park for free, a set of binoculars for exploration and education, wildflower and fauna guides, and helpful tips for enjoying your time in the parks.
In addition, the backpack is big enough for water bottles, lunch, first aid kits, sweaters, etc. My only complaint is that our backpack had shoulderstraps that were beginning to detach from the pack, itself.

I highly recommend this to everyone from the avid outdoorsperson to the Sunday driver, single person to large family.