With so much beauty around the Centennial State, it’s no surprise families want to get outside and enjoy Colorado.

Now, a recently released book can help parents and kids do just that.

Written by education consultant Wendy Gorton and Colorado-based Kristin Tillack, “50 Hikes with Kids: Colorado” provides a list of kid-friendly outdoor activities across the state. The book is part of a series featuring kid-friendly hikes in each state around the country.

“They came to me as the Colorado expert,” Tillack said. “We have this beautiful book and structure that works really well for families, and they wanted to have the ability to have that accessible to all of the states eventually.”

Tillack, who is a teacher and mother of two children, works hard to get outside and explore Colorado with her family. Tillack, whose kids are now 8 and 9, has been taking them on adventuring since they were babies — her daughter’s first camping trip was at 2 months old.

“We are very big on getting our kids outside and spending as much time together as a family outside as possible,” Tillack said. “Whether that be hiking, camping, we like to do that, skiing and mountain biking — just anything we can do to have less time in front of a screen and more time outside.”

As the title states, the book lists 50 easy to moderate hikes in Colorado that are kid friendly. How were those determined? Each hike featured is under 5 miles with an elevation gain of 900 feet or less. Some are also accessible by stroller.

“I think that a lot of families have determined that they want to spend time outside as a family, and that there are so many benefits with that, but they don’t know where to start,” Tillack said. “So the idea with ‘50 Hikes with Kids’ is that we’re giving you at least 50 that you can start with here in Colorado and they’re all across the state.”

The book welcomes families who may be new to hiking, starting off with basic outdoor principles like Leave No Trace. The book’s index lists the hikes by area, season and type of adventure, Tillack said.

“My kids, they’re big hikers, but they still need to be convinced sometimes to go on a hike. So it’s really helpful when you can look at it and get them involved in the planning and say, ‘Do you want to go to a lake today and throw rocks or should we go explore a waterfall? Do we want to go find some caves?’” Tillack said.

The book is also interactive for kids, with geological, historical and natural scavenger hunt items for each hike.

“I love the book so much as a mom,” Tillack said. “I think as a parent, when you’re going on a hike with your kids, you want them to have questions and have curiosity on the hike. But we don’t always have the answers to those questions, and so this is really helpful for us as parents to have fun facts.”

Tillack’s favorite Colorado hike to take her kids on: Crater Lake, northeast of the Maroon Bells.

“It’s a pleaser for parents and for kids because we have the beauty and the views and that aspect, but it’s also challenging — just challenging enough — for the kids,” she said. “There’s a lot of rocks on the trail. There’s a steady incline and then you get rewarded with the lake at the end. And so that’s always been a real crowd pleaser for my family.”