Literary Travel: Colorado Alpaca Farm

I’m excited to take another look through my literary travel lens. What books can I read before I visit a place to learn before I go? What books can I read that will transport me through the pages when I can’t actually visit a place? Today’s literary travel adventure is a visit to a Colorado Alpaca Farm.

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Colorado Alpaca Farm: Background Info

No visit to Western Colorado would be complete without a drive through the Fruit & Wine Byway of Palisade, CO. This agritourism route has stops at various peach and lavender farms…and even an alpaca farm! A stop at the Suncrest Orchard Alpacas is an opportunity to take an alpaca out for an afternoon stroll through the peach orchards. But the visit doesn’t end there! You can also tour the mill and see the process from alpaca to hats and sweaters. And then you can buy your very own alpaca souvenir!

Often confused with their camelid relative, the llama, alpacas are distinguishable as they are considerably smaller than llamas. Descended from vicuñas, alpacas are not bred to be work animals but instead are bred for their soft wool. While alpacas are native to Peru, there are about 50,000 alpacas in the United States. Alpacas primarily communicate through body language, most commonly using spitting to show dominance or when they are fearful.

Bonus Fun Fact: Some alpacas can be house trained!

Read Before You Go

Whether you are planning a trip to visit a Colorado alpaca farm and want to read before you go or you’re hoping to meet the alpacas through the pages of the book, these books will transport you to the farm.

Although this book isn’t specifically set on a Colorado farm, Jonathan Stutzman’s Llama Unleashes the Alpacalypse is all about alpacas. (Grab your copy from Amazon or Bookshop) An entertaining story that is sure to get the youngest members of your family excited about meeting alpacas.

The whole family can explore the topography of Colorado with Louise Doak Whitney’s C Is for Centennial: A Colorado Alphabet (grab your copy from Amazon or Bookshop). Walk through the alphabet with gorgeous illustrations of the Rockies, Blue Spruces and the varied landscape of Colorado.

Take a step back in time and explore Colorado in the 1920’s with Avi’s The Secret School (grab your copy from Amazon or Bookshop). Ida secretly takes over as the teacher when the one-room schoolhouse in her remote Colorado area closes unexpectedly. Anyone who had childhood dreams of being in charge will enjoy this trip back in time to schools nearly 100 years ago.