FYI 2015

2015-16

Your guide to

Northern Colorado

BACK TO NATURE | FESTIVALS, MUSIC, ART | GRAPES & GRAINS WORKING THE LAND HIGHER LEARNING | BUSINESS IS GOOD | A DAY IN THE LIFE

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C

a

FRONT RANGE VILLAGE presents

Enjoy the outdoors with live music, great shopping, amazing restaurants and family and friends!

Our FREE summer concert series features live entertainment that is always family-friendly.

SATURDAYS, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

On the lawn next to Mary’s Mountain Cookies JUlY 11 • Steve Manshel / Melodic Acoustic Rock JUlY 18 • The Blues DoGs / Blues JUlY 25 • Archie Funker / Funk, Soul, Jump-Swing & Disco AUgUST 1 • Johnny and the Po’Boys / R&B AUgUST 8 • Mark Sloniker / Jazz AUgUST 15 • The Big Motif / Classic Rock AUgUST 22 • ThreeShots / Rock Infused Roadhouse R&B AUgUST 29 • The Wendy Woo Band / Pop Rock

Visit www.shopfrontrangevillage.com for more details Find us on Facebook

On The cORneR OF hARmOnY & ZiegleR

CONTENTS

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BACK TO NATURE

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WORKING THE LAND

HIGHER LEARNING

FESTIVALS, MUSIC, ART

BUSINESS IS GOOD

GRAPES & GRAINS

A DAY IN THE LIFE FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado « 15

President & Publisher Kathy Jack-Romero kathyjackromero@coloradoan.com FYI Executive Editor Kristin Deily kdeily@coloradoan.com Advertising Director Tyler Kidd tylerkidd@coloradoan.com Art Director Erika Moore erikamoore@coloradoan.com Territory Sales Manager

Ryan Young ryanyoung@coloradoan.com

Key Accounts Manager

Joe Harmon joeharmon@coloradoan.com

Marketing Manager

Sarah Armstrong saraharmstrong@coloradoan.com

Ad Services Manager

Matt Varns Matt Varns@coloradoan.com

Cover Photo

Erin Hull ehull@coloradoan.com

Did we miss something?

If you feel we’ve overlooked something in this year’s magazine please e-mail the information to lhemmecass@ftcollin.gannett.com with FYI in the subject line for inclusion in next year’s edition.

M E DI A

G ROUP

Connecting customers. Delivering results.

1300 Riverside Ave., Fort Collins, CO 80524 Call (970) 416-3991 | Fax (970) 224-7726 ©2014 Coloradoan Media Group. All rights reserved.

While every effort is made to ensure that the content of this magazine is accurate at press time, Coloradoan Media Group, its parent company and its affiliates do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.

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Birthdays

Wall to Wall Tramps - Foam Pits - Dodge Ball - Basketball - Kiddie Area - Private Parties MONDAY: FAMILY NIGHT $35.00/hour for a family of 6 Each additional child: $5.00 (not valid on holidays) TUESDAY TWOSIES 2 can jump for the price of 1!

Or jump for 2 hours for the price of 1!

WEDNESDAY STUNT DAY Earn free passes for the best tricks!

THURSDAY: STUDENT NIGHT $8 after 7:00PM with Student ID (regular $6 per hour thereafter)

218 Smokey Street • Fort Collins, CO 80525 • Phone: (970) 305-5300 www.flyhightrampolinepark.com 18 » FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado

BACK TO NATURE “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”

Photo: V. Richard Haro

–Albert Einstein

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Back to Nature

ONCE IN A LIFETIME CELEBRATION AT ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK On January 26, 2015, Rocky Mountain National Park turned 100 years old, a wonderful, once in a lifetime milestone! The park was created to preserve the high elevation landscapes and wilderness character of the southern Rocky Mountains for the benefit and enjoyment of this and future generations. In 2014, 3.4 million visitors to Rocky Mountain National Park spent $217 million. That spending supported 3,382 jobs and had a cumulative benefit to the state economy of $329 million.

The park has many reasons to celebrate the past 100 years and to anticipate what the next 100 at Rocky Mountain National Park will bring.

Photo: V. Richard Haro

Wilderness Designation Just as the park was created from the grassroots efforts of Coloradans years ago, so too was the effort to finally go from recommended to designated wilderness in 2009. This change was spurred primarily by our neighboring communities, counties and the Colorado Congressional delegation. The park now

has a greater level of protection than it had when it was created, helping to preserve its next 100 years.

Public Support Rocky enjoys strong support from our neighbors, Coloradans, and people from throughout the country and the world.

Since 1996, our visitors have contributed over $60 million in entrance and camping fees. These fees go right back into the park for improvements including new restroom facilities in campgrounds, picnic areas, and along Trail Ridge Road, as well

Vaughn Baker Superintendent, Rocky Mountain National Park

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Back to Nature

as reconstructing many sections of trails, and removing beetle-killed hazard trees from high visitor-use areas.

The Rocky Mountain Conservancy, our park partner and advocate for eighty-four years, has raised over $20 million since the mid-1980s to support a variety of projects including educational programs, trail work, and land acquisition.

Biodiversity A park like Rocky can’t rest on its laurels or management actions internal to the park if it is to be here for future generations. We need to continue to actively engage with our neighbors, the State of Colorado, the US Forest Service, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and many others if we are to maintain this special place and its biodiversity.

We continue to discover new diversity in the park, and will need your support to protect biodiversity in the face of climate change. Migratory species connect our landscapes. Corridors connect our communities for people and wildlife.

We all have a hand in the outcome of conservation.

Volunteers

To learn more about all of the exciting centennial events please visit our website at www.nps.gov/romo and look for the centennial logo.

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Top Photo: Courtesy of Dawn Wilson, Bottom Left Photo: V. Richard Haro, Bottom Right Photo: Erin Hull

We often say that we couldn’t operate the park without our volunteers and it’s true! Many volunteers come from Northern Colorado to donate their time.

Last year, 1,860 people donated over 108,000 hours.

The reasons people visit now are the same as 100 years ago – to experience nature, to seek solitude, to enjoy scenic grandeur, to watch wildlife, and to partake in outstanding recreational activities.

We face many challenges and opportunities as we move into the next century - these include a warming climate, crowding in popular areas on summer and fall days, and the need to engage the next generations of Americans in support of their national parks. With your continued support, Americans will be able to gather 100 years from now to celebrate Rocky’s 200th birthday.

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100 YEARS OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

BY BARB BOYER BUCK

When Woodrow Wilson put his signature on the legislation that created Rocky Mountain National Park on January 26, 1915, 350 square miles in the foothills of Northern Colorado became the country’s 11th national park.

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Enos Mills, the “Father of Rocky Mountain National Park” The push to create the park started with a handful of Estes Park pioneers, most notably Enos Abijah Mills. Mills first arrived in the area in 1884 at age 14, having left his home in Kansas to seek better health. Although it was undiagnosed, he probably suffered from a wheat allergy exacerbated by living and working on his family’s farm. His health improved after arriving at his uncle Elkanah Lamb’s settlement located in the Tahosa Valley, just south of Estes Park.

Tourism had already proved to be the most lucrative occupation in the area, and the Lambs were no different from others; they converted their homestead into a guest ranch to take in visitors. As a young man, Mills worked summers in the Estes Valley, but winters were spent working at the Anaconda Copper Mine in Butte, Montana. Between his summer and winter employment, and when he could afford

Photo: Morgan Spiehs

While visiting RMNP today (which has since grown to 415 square miles), the tendency is to marvel at the mountain wilderness many assume was preserved by that action. In Moraine Park, named after the geological process that creates narrow swaths of land surrounded by ridges of glacial deposits, you might be tempted to think you are looking at land untouched for tens of thousands of years.

Perhaps you’ve decided to hike up past Cub Lake and came across the tiny jewel that is Fern Lake, surrounded by alpine forest and towering peaks. A thrill of discovery overcomes you as you gaze upon the area, which today looks much like it did when humans first laid eyes on it.

But RMNP is not an example of preservation; today, the park experience is a reflection of 100 years of concerted efforts to reverse the impact of human activity on the area through evolving management strategies and grassroot efforts by local conservationists.

Back to Nature forts of the league. The bill that passed included just a little more than 1/3 of the original plan.

Inholdings slowly acquired and buildings removed Within a couple of decades of the park’s formation, the National Park Service (which acquired management of RMNP upon its formation in 1916) began buying up the privately held land within the park’s boundaries and razing the buildings.

One of the most striking differences between Moraine Park then and now was the small settlement that existed in that area in the 1920s. Several lodges, ranches, a golf course, a community building, and even a post office served the area, which had a summertime population of approximately 400 people. The last property to sell was once owned by Sprague and encompassed 600 acres of ranch buildings, lodging, a farm house, and cattle-grazing fields. It was acquired in the mid-1960s and all of the buildings were removed.

A handful of buildings remain in Moraine Park: the museum building (which was once a community gathering place for the area) and the William Allen White cabin.

During World War II, funding for many federal programs (including NPS) was cut to accommodate the war effort, so the process of acquiring inholdings was very slow until a new initiative was adopted in the mid-1950s.

Mission 66 After World War II, the American public entered into a new age of prosperity. More people than ever had the money and time to take vacations. The call was to “see

Photo: V. Richard Haro

it, he traveled. At age 18, he met a man in California who would solidify and shape Mills’ conservationist ideals: John Muir.

Mills purchased his uncle’s property in 1909 and renamed it Longs Peak Inn. His goal was to engender in his guests an appreciation for the health-giving properties of spending time in the wilderness.

He was actively campaigning for the creation of a national park by that time, supported by his colleagues who served with him on the Estes Park Protective and Improvement Association including FO Stanley and Abner Sprague.

Other actions of the association included the reintroduction of elk, which had been hunted to extinction in the area in the late 1870s; the creation of a fish hatchery to repopulate the once-numerous native trout; and the impetus to create Fall River Road, which traversed the Continental Divide, creating a connection between Estes Park and Grand Lake.

Mills toured the country as a naturalist public speaker and wrote many books about his experiences and insights in the Colorado mountains. These actions quickly brought the Estes Valley to the attention of the entire nation.

But at the same time, Mills was facing serious opposition at home from his neighbors in the Tahosa Valley who formed the Front Range Settlers League.

As homesteaders, they felt the government would unduly restrict their use of the land and a protracted battle ensued over the park effort.

The first bill that was introduced proposing the formation of the park included 1,000 square miles, with Estes Park in the middle of it. However, in a succession of bills the park boundary was steadily reduced due in no small part to the ef-

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Back to Nature

“Here Nature will care for you as a mother for a child. In the mellow-lighted forest aisles, beneath the beautiful airy arches of limbs and leaves, with the lichen-tinted columns of gray and brown, with the tongueless eloquence of the bearded, veteran trees, amid the silence of centuries, you will come into your own.”

America first”; sea voyages to Europe and Asia traditionally taken by the wealthy in the 1930s and ‘40s evolved into automobile touring of the United States by the middle class by the mid-1950s. Cars flooded American highways, and visiting national parks was the favorite thing to do.

To accommodate this new kind of visitor and to help prioritize funding, NPS adopted Mission 66 -- a management policy designed to make the parks easier and safer to visit for the automobile tourist. The goal was to complete the improvements by 1966, the 50th anniversary of the NPS. Throughout the park system nationwide, there was a push for new or improved roads, roadside interpretive exhibits, and pull-offs. RMNP was no exception, and lodging establishments within the park’s boundaries were replaced with campgrounds and parking lots. Many of the park’s remaining buildings, such as the lodges at Bear and Fern lakes, were removed under this program.

RMNP master plan

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Commercial fly-over ban As RMNP continued to shed its human heritage in favor of returning the land back to its original state, even the airspace over the park’s boundaries became restricted.

Helicopter and small-plane tours over RMNP would at times drown out the natural sounds of the park; by the mid-1990s, a small group in Estes Park decided to change that.

Commercial air tours over RMNP were permanently banned in 1998 after several years of campaigning for that effort by the Estes Park League of Women Voters. It is the only national park with this distinction.

Wilderness designation The Organic Act that created the National Park Service was passed in 1916, with the purpose of conserving “the scenery and the natural and historic objects

Photo: Erin Hull

In 1976, RMNP officials issued a master plan for the park, which included recommendations for further facility improvements or removal of those not in line with the park’s conservation philosophy.

Ultimately falling victim to this plan was the ski resort at Hidden Valley, which began its service as a concession in the mid-1950s. This attraction was popular with locals and visitors alike, drawing year-round business to the area. Increasing restrictions on land use caused the eventual closure of the only Northern Front Range ski resort in the early 1990s.

Back to Nature

and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” (Organic Act, 1916) The Wilderness Act, however, dealt specifically with areas of federal land and where “the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”

(Wilderness Act, 1968) Eligible for such designation are lands that show no evidence of human impact and had at least 5,000 acres of land.

The management policies embraced by RMNP made much of the land enclosed in the park’s boundaries eligible for such a designation. Wilderness advocates introduced the first bill to designate more than 200,000 acres of the park as wilderness in 1974, which did not pass.

The park’s land had not always been untouched by man. There were still issues with private land ownership, water rights, and boundary adjustments. In 1980, 2,917 acres of existing wilderness were transferred from the Indian Peak Wilderness to Rocky Mountain National Park.

It wasn’t until 2009 that an additional 250,000 acres of RMNP -- almost all of the land included within its boundaries

-- were designated wilderness under the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act.

Wilderness, Wildlife, Wonder RMNP officials adopted the slogan “Wilderness, Wildlife, Wonder” to celebrate the park’s 100th birthday in 2015.

It is an homage to a century of efforts of conserving, restoring, and preserving a portion of the natural environment in the Colorado Rocky Mountains as a national treasure. A visit to RMNP today is destined to be what Enos Mills had found for himself and wanted to preserve for others.

“Go into the Parks and get their encouragement,” Mills wrote. “Among the serene and steadfast scenes you will find the paths of peace and a repose that is sweeter than sleep. If you are dulled and dazed with the fever and the fret, or weary and worn - tottering under burdens too heavy to bear - go back to the old outdoor home.

“Here Nature will care for you as a mother for a child. In the mellow-lighted forest aisles, beneath the beautiful airy arches of limbs and leaves, with the lichentinted columns of gray and brown, with the tongueless eloquence of the bearded, veteran trees, amid the silence of centuries, you will come into your own.”

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THE PERKS OF THE PARKS The Natural Areas Department Provides the Outdoor Entertainment

BY KYLE EUSTICE

To most residents, the most enticing elements of Larimer County are the vast open spaces, seemingly endless trails, incredible views and wide

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Photo: V. Richard Haro

variety of wildlife.

Top photo: Erin Hooley, Bottom Photo: Erin Hull

Back to Nature

The city of Fort Collins Natural Areas Department manages 44 natural areas, 40 of which are open to the public, offering more than 36,000 acres of natural landscape. There are 114 miles of trail on natural areas, including 9.3 miles of paved trails, managed by the city’s Parks Department. For those who love the outdoors, Northern Colorado is the ideal playground.

Zoe Shark, community relations manager of the city of Fort Collins Natural Areas Department, has been with the department for 14 years and recognizes the endless values of having these types of spaces for public use. “Natural areas provide a respite from the urban environment,” Shark says. “They are a place to hike, bike, walk your dog, ride your horse, bird watch, fish, create art, write, or just enjoy some quiet time outdoors.

Natural areas are also an outdoor classroom for students of every age and are used by scientists to collect data. Economically, natural areas make Fort Collins an attractive place to do business and culturally. Natural areas protect traces of our past.”

Bobcat Ridge, Gateway, and Soapstone natural areas are open from dawn to dusk while the remaining 37 public spaces are open daily from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.

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“The opportunity to hear a creek babbling, see a bird soaring, watch the sun reflect off a dewy spider web, smell a wildflower; these are all experiences to treasure.”

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Photo: V. Richard Haro

In addition, conserved working farms and ranches support local food production, help minimize urban sprawl, and provide a community connection to rural culture. The ecological, recreational, educational, scientific, economic, cultural, and spiritual significance of natural areas is a part of the fabric of the region.

“Natural areas provide flood protection, filter water, sequester carbon, and provide many other ecological services,” she says. “The opportunity to hear a creek babbling, see a bird soaring, watch the sun reflect off a dewy spider web, smell a wildflower; these are all experiences to treasure.”

Local residents treasure these experiences so much that they allot some of their tax money to support parks and open spaces. Citizen-initiated city and county sales taxes fund the Natural Areas Department in its entirety, including land conservation, trails, and educational programs. Funds from these taxes, by law, are dedicated to the Natural Areas Department and may not be used for other parts of city government. It benefits the community on numerous levels, making it a simple decision to continually offer support to keep natural areas maintained and thriving. The Natural Areas Department is actively buying and conserving natural areas from willing sellers to establish more of these spaces.

As natural areas continue to multiply in Larimer County, Shark is looking forward to the many upcoming changes, which include bison being reintroduced to Soapstone Prairie Natural Area in fall 2015. The bison pasture will be visible from Soapstone’s entrance road and the re-routed Cheyenne Rim trail. A specially constructed fence will allow wildlife passage and contain the initial herd of about 12 animals to roam safely.

“I grew up in Colorado exploring the outdoors with my parents,” Shark says. “That experience, plus a summer camp that included backpacking and whitewater rafting, convinced me that I wanted to spend my life and career enjoying and caring for the outdoors.”

Luckily for Northern Colorado, Shark and others have been successful, and everyone calling the region home benefits.

Back to Nature

LICENSED TO FISH (AND HUNT AND BOAT...)

BY STEPHEN MEYERS This story was originally published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan on March 11, 2015.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife fishing and small game hunting licenses, permits and registrations are on sale now for the 2015-16 season at license agents, CPW offices and online.

Big game

Where to buy

Big game applications for limited licenses are due before midnight April 7.

Over-the-counter licenses are available in mid-July, and leftover limited licenses are available in early August.

Visit cpw.state.co.us/learn/Pages/ PlanYourHunt.aspx for more information.

Buy your permits and licenses in person at the following Fort Collins locations: » Colorado Parks and Wildlife office, 317 W. Prospect Road » Kmart, 2535 S. College Ave. » Active Arms, 5740-A, S. College Ave. » JAX Outdoor Gear, 1200 N. College Ave. » Sports Authority, 425 S. College Ave. » Wal-Mart, 1250 E. Magnolia St. » Stout Market, 4025 W. CR 38E

Photo: Morgan Spiehs

Fishing Anglers must purchase a 2015-16 fishing license in order to fish on or after April 1.

A resident annual fishing license costs $26. Youth 15 and younger are not required to purchase an annual license, however, if they plan to fish with a second line, they must buy a second-rod stamp for $5.

Resident senior (64 and older) annual licenses cost $1.

A resident combination fishing and small game license is $41.

A resident small game license costs $21; $1.75 for hunters younger than 18.

Visit bit.ly/coloradofishing for more information.

Habitat Stamp License buyers between the ages of 1864 also must buy a $10 Colorado Habitat Stamp. Money collected from stamp purchases is used to preserve and protect wildlife habitat throughout the state.

Information: cpw.state.co.us/ buyapply/Pages/HabitatStamp.aspx.

Turkey Turkey season begins April 13. A resident license is $21 and $11 for hunters younger than 18. Over-the-counter

licenses are on sale.

Information: bit.ly/coloradoturkey.

Mountain lion Mountain lion hunters now have an extra month — through April — for hunting, but they must buy a new license for the season, starting April 1. That license will be valid for all mountain lion seasons through March 31, 2016.

Information: cpw.state.co.us/ thingstodo/Pages/MountainLion.aspx.

Off-highway vehicle and boat registration The annual registration fee is $25.

Registrations are valid from April 1 through March 31 each year.

Information: cpw.state.co.us/ buyapply/Pages/RegistrationsOHV.aspx.

Any boat with a motor or that is sail operated must be registered with CPW. CPW also conducts mandatory boat inspections and decontaminations at 27 state parks and 58 other locations around the state.

Information: cpw.state.co.us/ thingstodo/Pages/boat.aspx.

Parks Pass A Colorado State Parks pass, good for entry at 42 state parks, costs $70 and is good for a year from the date of purchase.

Buy one at a Parks and Wildlife office, or a state park (Lory or Boyd Lake) or online at parksstore.state.co.us.

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POUDRE CANYON

BY STACEY MCKENNA

Just outside Fort Collins’ vibrant cityscape, The Cache la Poudre River Canyon offers locals, tourists and adventurers a taste of the classic Colorado outdoors.

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getaway can hike to Seaman Reservoir for an afternoon of fishing, beach lounging and cliff jumping. Alternately, hikers on the unmarked, abandoned Wintersteen Trail can hone their trail-finding skills while scouting for the Brinkhoff mine and cabin ruins.

Poudre River

The 73,868-acre Rawah Wilderness area was designated in 1964 and has since become a haven for outdoor explorers looking to get off the beaten path. Traversing over 75-miles of trails, backpackers, hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders enjoy glacier-carved valleys, peaks, forested slopes and 26 lakes.

The Cache la Poudre River flows eastward from the mountains, passing through Roosevelt National Forest and emerging from the foothills north of Fort Collins.

Designated Colorado’s only “Scenic and Wild” River, it teems with opportunities for fishing, kayaking and class III-IV whitewater rafting.

Grey Rock Standing 7,613 feet and a mere 20-minute drive from downtown Fort Collins, Grey Rock makes a fun day trip for hikers and rock-climbers. In addition to the area’s primary 3-mile hike are several technical climbing routes, 13 established campgrounds and 9 day-use picnic areas.

The Mish The Mishawaka Ampitheatre (commonly referred to as “The Mish”) overlooks the Cache la Poudre River. Folks craving a post-hike burger and brew can oggle grazing big horn sheep from the deck.

For night-owls and music aficionados, the full-service restaurant and bar also hosts outdoor concerts throughout the summer.

Gateway Natural Area Only 5 miles into the canyon, Gateway Natural Area entices city-dwellers, sportsfolk and explorers. The main park is accessible by car, boasting an abundance of daytime recreation resources and historical buildings dating from the early 20th century. Those seeking more of a

Rawah Wilderness

Cameron Pass Cameron Pass, only 50 miles from Fort Collins, is a true winter sports playground. At 10,249 feet, opportunities abound for backcountry and cross-country skiing, snow-mobiling, snow-shoeing, and wildlife watching. During the warmer months, avid cyclists bike over the pass on their way from Fort Collins to Walden.

Climbing and bouldering Climbers will find established bouldering, sport and traditional climbing areas throughout the canyon. Some of the most popular sites include: Crystal Wall, The Palace, 420 boulders, Gandalf Boulders, Grey Rock, and The Narrows. Details can be found on The Mountain Project or Northern Colorado Climbers Coalition.

For those just passing through, a drive (or perhaps a bike ride) up the canyon is a voyeur’s dream. The road winds through towering, colorful granite cliffs and pine forests streaked with aspen groves before opening to the high country’s luxurious valleys and giant sky. Seasonal road trips brim with wildlife, changing flora, and light-dependent vistas. And it’s all right in our back yard.

Photo: Erin Hull

The road winds through towering, colorful granite cliffs and pine forests streaked with aspen groves before opening to the high country’s luxurious valleys and giant sky.

Following its namesake river from the northern peaks of Rocky Mountain National Park to the southern Laramie Foothills, the canyon descends from 9,000 to 5,000 feet. Across this diverse elevation and terrain, the rugged cliff faces, winding river, and scenic wilderness areas offer abundant nearby and remote recreation opportunities.

Back to Nature

WHICH FORT COLLINS HIKING TRAILS REQUIRE AN ENTRY FEE?

BY STEPHEN MEYERS This article was first published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan on March 26, 2015.

Fort Collins has many places for a free hike or bike ride, including the system of 42 natural areas. Hiking to the area’s most famous landmark costs $6, but Horsetooth Mountain Open Space offers much more than Horsetooth Rock if you’re an avid hiker, mountain biker or trail runner.

Read on to know where you need to pay and where you don’t, and what passes you should buy.

That’ll cost you

Photo: V. Richard Haro

Horsetooth Mountain Open Space Cost: $6 What you’ll find: 29 miles of hiking, biking, and horseback riding trails that connect to the Blue Sky Trail and Lory State Park. Horsetooth Rock is by far the most popular. At 2.5-miles one-way, the moderate trail rises to the top of the 7,255-foot oddly shaped rock. Enjoy the beautiful views of Horsetooth Reservoir, Fort Collins and Longs Peak. On a clear day, you can even see Pikes Peak. This spring, be sure to also visit Horsetooth Falls. Wildflowers line the trail to the 20-foot waterfall that crashes to a shallow pool below.

An alternative way to the Rock: Starting in Lory State Park, take the Mill Creek Trail to the Westridge Trail. You’ll wind through ponderosa pine forests, down gulches and around interesting rock outcroppings. It offers spectacular views east to Horsetooth Reservoir and west into Redstone Canyon.

Other Larimer County Parks areas that require an entry fee: Blue Sky Trailhead, Carter Lake ($7), Flatiron Reservoir ($7),

Hermit Park Open Space, Soderberg Open Space, Horsetooth Reservoir ($7), Pinewood Reservoir ($7), Ramsay-Shockey Open Space The pass you need: Larimer County Parks pass. $75 for Larimer County residents; $45 senior; $10 disabled; $150 combination of vehicle and boat. … Permit expires in the following year, at the end of the month purchased. … Available at entrance stations, at retail outlets like REI and Jax Outdoor Gear and online atlarimer.org/naturalresources/permits.

Lory State Park Cost: $7 What you’ll find: 26 miles of trails, great for mountain biking, trail running, hiking and horseback riding. The gentle, rolling hills of the East and West Valley trails are perfect for beginner mountain bikers. The 3.7-mile Timber Trail is a challenging ascent for more advanced riders. Also check out the bike park, with dirt jumps, a pump track and skills area.

Hikers, Arthur’s Rock is a popular, 1.7mile steep climb to 6,780 feet. Enjoy the views. Rock climbers, check out the areas near Arthur’s Rock. Well Gulch Nature Trail offers some of the best wildflower viewing in the area.

The pass you need: Colorado State Parks annual pass. $70, good for entry to all of Colorado’s 54 state parks; Aspen Leaf Pass $60 (for seniors, 64 and older). … Available at all state parks and wildlife offices, REI and online atcpw.state.co.us/ buyapply/Pages/ParksPassInfo.aspx.

Rocky Mountain National Park Cost: $20, pass valid for seven consecutive days What you’ll find: 355 miles of hiking trails, from flat strolls through meadows to high alpine lakes and the challenging,

14,259-foot Longs Peak. Wildlife viewing is superb throughout the year, with the elk rut in October the main event. The park has five campgrounds, and the backcountry camping is some of the best in Colorado. Drive Trail Ridge Road during the summer. Winter conditions still exist at the high elevation park, so bring your snowshoes or cross-country skis to Odessa Lake or Flattop Mountain.

The pass you need: Rocky Mountain National Park annual pass. $40, unlimited entry to the park for one year from the date of purchase. … Available at at all RMNP entrance stations, or online www. nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/fees.htm. …

For avid national park visitors, consider the America the Beautiful National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands annual pass for $80, good to all federal recreation sites, like national parks, Forest Service and BLM areas.

Keep your money Devil’s Backbone Open Space Fee: Free What you’ll find: Stunning rock formations, 12 miles of trails that connect to Rimrock Open Space and Blue Sky Trail and red-tailed hawks flying overhead.

May through mid-June and September through October are two prime times to visit the 2,200-acre county open space.

Find wildflowers and flowering shrubs along the trails during the spring. You’ll also find lots of people. The trailhead routinely hits capacity on the weekends, so arrive early, or in the evenings.

Alternatives: To get away from the crowds, check out Eagles Nest and Red Mountain open spaces north of Fort Collins. Eagles Nest, near Livermore, has 4.8 miles of trails — great for horseback riders — and access to the north fork of the FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado « 33

Working the Land

trail connectors, the rolling hills of Cathy Fromme Prairie and the expansive, 28 square miles of Soapstone Prairie. Here are two of our favorite: Pineridge: A popular foothills natural area near Hughes Stadium, Pineridge offers a reservoir for fishing, beautiful forest and 7 miles of soft surface trails for hiking, running and mountain biking. Pineridge is the southern end of the 9.6-mile Foothills Trail, which connects Pineridge, Maxwell and Reservoir Ridge natural areas. Try the 1.8-mile loop around Dixon Reservoir.

Reservoir Ridge: The northern end of the Foothills Trail, Reservoir Ridge features dramatic rock outcroppings, grasslands, mountain mahogany shrubs and close access to Horsetooth Reservoir-area trails. The Fort Collins Trail Runners group hosts a weekly run at Reservoir Ridge.

Find a natural area: www.fcgov.com/ naturalareas/finder

Canyon Lakes Ranger District

Poudre River. Red Mountain, on County Road 21, 25 miles north of Fort Collins, features 15,000 acres of crimson rocks, rolling grasslands, sandy washes and 15 miles of multi-use trails.

Information: www.co.larimer.co.us/ naturalresources/parkareas.htm.

City Natural Areas

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Photo: Erin Hooley

Fees: free What you’ll find: The City of Fort Collins features 42 natural areas, all free to visit, from neighborhood ponds, foothills

Fees: Free What you’ll find: West of Fort Collins in the Poudre Canyon, the Forest Service manages popular trails like Greyrock and Hewlett Gulch. The possibilities are endless for recreation along the Poudre, with fly fishing, kayaking, mountain and road biking, day hiking and backpacking. The area has more than a dozen campgrounds for paid overnight fun.

Greyrock: Nine miles up the Poudre canyon, Greyrock is a 3.1-mile, strenuous climb to 7,480 feet. The views atop are stunning.

Hewlett Gulch: Popular with mountain bikers, Hewlett Gulch offers an 8.3-mile round trip ride with stream crossings, elevation gain, steep descents and rock features.

Emmaline Lake: Accessed from Pingree Park Road 26 miles up the Poudre Canyon, Emmaline Lake is a moderately visited trail that rises to 11,000 feet to a beautiful mountain lake.

Information:www.fs.usda.gov/arp.

Higher Learning

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ADVERSTISEMENT

TRAVELING WITH YOUR PET 5 tips to ensure a successful trip

By Dr. Morgen Deramus, DVM cVMA

Colorado boasts amazing vacation destinations for all seasons, with no shortage of natural beauty and family-friendly activities.

When the whole family is involved, this sometimes means packing up Fluffy or Fido and bringing them along for the experience.

Whether you’re going just a couple hours in the car for a fishing or hiking trip, staying several nights in a cabin or campground, or leaving the state or country, traveling with your pet requires a whole new packing list. Thankfully, hotels and airlines have recognized this desire and there are many more of them that will accommodate this request. If you are thinking about traveling with your pet there are a few things that you should know.

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Medications and Supplements Some pets have motion sickness, extreme anxiety, or medical conditions that make travel a challenge. Talk to a veterinarian about behavioral modifications, or adjunctive therapies as needed.

Calming agents, pheromone sprays, or anti-anxiety medications may be needed as well.

Health Certificate It is legally required to have a veterinarian examine your pet and provide a health certificate for travel if you cross state or country borders.

The certificate must be valid from within 10 days of travel

Food, Water and Travel Bowls If you are traveling to a location where food is not available, be sure to bring enough for the whole trip.

For hiking or one-day trips, bring a collapsible or foldable water bowl and enough water for yourself and your pet

Leash and Collar with Tags If your pet does not have a microchip, you they must have their leash, collar, and any tags that provide identification in case they get lost. Microchips are ideal, as they are affordable and can provide proper records and identification.

Immunization Records

If you are staying in the United States, the government requires your pet is vaccinated at least for rabies and have some form of identification. A microchip is ideal, but a rabies tag is also acceptable.

Well Gulch Nature Trail, Fort Collins Easy, 1.2-mile loop. $7 for a day pass. Dog must be on leash.

Horsetooth Falls, Fort Collins Easy, 1.2 miles one way. $6 for a day pass. Dogs must be on leash.

Lily Mountain Trail, Estes Park Moderate, 2.0 miles one way. Dogs may be off leash.

Coulson Gulch Trail, Lyons Moderate, 2.8 miles one way. Dogs may be off leash.

Grey Rock Trail, Fort Collins Moderate, 7.1-mile loop.

Dogs must be on leash.

Boarding and Care When taking your beloved pet with you just isn’t an option, temporary boarding might be the best option to keep them cared for and healthy while you are away.

Advanced Animal Care of Colorado has short and long term boarding for both dogs and cats at the Dog Tales Activity Center. Dogs will be fed and cared for by a professional staff, and get to socialize during the day with other dogs during Doggie Daycare with the option of splash time at the indoor pool!

Advanced Animal Care and Dog Tales —

Your pet’s home away from home

While boarding with Advanced Animal Care and DOGTALES Activity Center, spoil your pet with one of our many services:

»»Full service wellness care

»»Cat friendly services & care »»Spire Veterinary Surgery

»»Dental care including root canal therapy

»»Puppy & kitten care

»»Rehabilitation and pain management »»Acupuncture

»»Doggy daycare

»»Behavioral consulting & training classes »»Indoor swimming pool »»Luxury lodging

»»Professional grooming

1530 Riverside Avenue | Fort Collins, Colorado 80524 (On the north side of Riverside, between Lemay and Prospect) Phone: (970) 493-3333 | www.advancedanimalcareofcolorado.com

FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado « 37

ADVERSTISEMENT

Dog-Day Destinations

Back to Nature

HIT THE ROAD FOR ONE OF THESE 5 FREE COLORADO DAY TRIPS STEPHEN MEYERS

Pawnee National Grasslands

This story was originally published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan on January 22, 2015.

You still haven’t been to Pawnee Buttes? It’s time to go. Try something different and make the winter trip to these barren buttes an hour east of Fort Collins. Rarely visited, the buttes are a stunning sight on the Pawnee National Grasslands. If you’re looking to shoot guns, check out the Baker Draw Designated Shooting Area. The free facility near the intersections of Weld County Roads 96 and 63 has dirt berms providing 25-, 50- and 100-yard shooting opportunities.

Directions: Take Colorado Highway 14 east of Fort Collins for 35 miles to reach the beginning of this 193,000-acre grassland. The buttes are north and east of Keota, a little more than an hour’s drive from Fort Collins.

Information: 970-295-6600 or www.fs.usda.gov/arp

Colorado is a big state in the middle of a wide open region, but living in Northern Colorado means there are many treasures to be explored, and many of them are within driving distance.

It’s time for a fun day trip.

A fun, free, Colorado day trip.

All you have to do is pay for gas to visit one of these free destinations.

Red Rocks Amphitheater If you’ve only ever been to the famed amphitheater for a concert, go again during the day to explore the beautiful red rock formations at 6,400 feet. Hit the 1.4-mile Trading Post Trail, or the Red Rocks Trail on the north side of the park. The multi-use trail for hiking, horseback riding and mountain biking splits north to Jefferson County’s Matthews-Winters park and the other segment goes east to Dakota Ridge Trail. Continue to Matthews-Winters for a stunning 6-mile loop. With its 69 rows of benches, Red Rocks is also a killer workout if you’re so inclined. For shoppers and music history buffs, check out the Trading Post and Visitor Center to see music memorabilia and the Performers Hall of Fame.

Where: 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison Hours: The Visitor Center is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; the park and amphitheater are open one hour before sunrise until one hour after sunset Information: 720-865-2494 or redrocksonline.com.

Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge This wildlife refuge 8 miles from downtown Denver is home to a herd of about 60 bison, which were introduced to the Arsenal in 2007.

You’ll be able to see the large bison roam across a 2,600-acre fenced prairie area, with the skyline of Denver in the background. The refuge

Photo:Miles Blumhardt

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Back to Nature

features 15,000 acres of prairie, wetland and woodland habitat — home to deer, coyotes, prairie dogs and many species of birds, including bald eagles. Take the 9-mile Wildlife Drive to see the animals, or hike the more than 10 miles of easy to moderate trails.

Where: 6550 Gateway Road, Commerce City Hours: Sunrise to sunset; visitor center hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays Information: 303-289-0930 or www.fws. gov/refuge/rocky_mountain_arsenal.

Free museum and zoo days

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Celestial Seasonings tours This free, 45-minute tour shows you the ins and outs of Boulder’s large specialty tea factory, from the raw ingredients to the finished products. The highlight of the tour is the visit to the “Mint Room.” How long can you take the powerful aroma of peppermint and spearmint? You’ll get more than free smells; tea samples are available. Also make sure to check out the art gallery, which features artwork on the tea boxes.

Grab breakfast or lunch at the Celestial Cafe, and find gifts at the Tea Shop.

Where: 4600 Sleepytime Drive, Boulder Hours: Tours start hourly from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Information: 303-581-1202 or www.celestialseasonings.com/tours

Photo: David Zalubowski/AP Photo

Denver’s museums offer several free days throughout 2015. Here at home, the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery offers “Free Zone” areas of the museum that don’t require an admission ticket. These include the Archive’s collection of Fort Collins artifacts; the Natural Areas visitor center; Griffin piano lounge; The Cache, which is the museum’s store, and the museum observation deck.

Here are the free days at some of Denver’s museums and the Denver Zoo: Denver Museum of Nature & Science: Sunday ; March 2; April 12; April 25; May 31; June 29; July 26; Aug. 17; Sept. 27; Oct. 19 and Nov. 9. Free days don’t apply

to fees for IMAX films, Planetarium shows and temporary exhibitions.

Denver Art Museum: Free general admission on the first Saturday of each month.

Feb. 7; March 7; April 4; May 2, June 6; July 11 (the museum will be closed July 4); Aug. 1; Sept. 5, Oct. 3, Nov. 7 and Dec. 5.

Denver Zoo: Feb. 6-7; Feb. 19; Nov. 2; Nov. 13 and Nov. 19.

Denver Botanic Gardens: Feb. 16; March 22; April 22; July 21; Aug. 31; Sept. 9; Nov. 14.

FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado ÂŤ 41

Back to Nature

FORT COLLINS RESIDENTS MUST, AND WILL, TRAVEL TO SKI

BY STEPHEN MEYERS

One of Colorado’s main draws for both tourists and residents are our amazing ski areas. Northern Colorado, however, is 66 miles northeast of the nearest ski resort. So what gives? Why doesn’t this area have its own resort yet? The droves of devotees who make the weekend treks all winter long to those mountain ski towns make a strong argument that a resort would do well in the region, so why hasn’t some enterprising businessperson capitalized on this recreational gap?

Coloradoan reporter and all-thingsoutdoors expert Stephen Meyers tackled this very question at the outset of 2015.

The city that annually makes “best of” lists for its expansive outdoor recreation opportunities isn’t a ski destination. Never has been. Never will be, some say.

Colorado’s 25 ski resorts hosted a record 12.6 million skier visits in 2013-14.

The massive ski and snowboard industry produces an annual $3 billion economic impact for the state.

Denver, Colorado Springs and Boulder are directly impacted by Colorado’s ski tourism, said Jim Clark, CEO of the Steamboat Springs Chamber Resort Association and former president of Visit Fort Collins.

“Skiing doesn’t have an impact on Fort Collins. There’s no connection,” said Clark, who left Fort Collins in August. “It’s an issue of geography.”

The “ski fight”

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been at least three attempts to build a ski resort there.’’ said Ewy, 62, who lives in Gould. “When this last one came around, let’s just say this, I think this place is the last best place you’ll find. I’ve lived here since 1972. It’s reasonably secluded. I didn’t want to see major development here.

“I felt that the way it was being handled, it would have been a disaster.

Our county is a very small county, and I didn’t think the county could handle that type of development.”

By mid-November 1993, the land board had received more than 2,200 comments, fewer than 900 supporting The Resort at Seven Utes. Governor Roy Romer publicly opposed the project.

Sauer not only faced a steep climb to gain the public’s approval, but also he had many obstacles to overcome just to acquire the land. The sale of state trust land is prohibited, so Sauer’s plan would have required a complicated land exchange approved by the state’s legislature. The resort also would have bordered Routt National Forest and Rocky Mountain National Park, further complicating land permits.

The Resort at Seven Utes would have been the only major ski resort in Colorado built on state-owned land, as opposed to federal land. Sauer also needed a clean water permit from the Army Corps of Engineers.

And though his plan called for two five-year building phases, it’s unlikely the resort would have been built in that timeline, ski marketers said. The state’s newest major ski resort, Beaver Creek, opened in 1980 after 15 years of planning. The development of Catamount Ski Area, a proposed second ski resort near Steamboat Springs, fell through in the mid-1990s after 20 years of planning when a principal investor dropped out.

The most recent talk of a new Colorado

Photo: V. Richard Haro

Geographically, Cameron Pass and the Hidden Valley area or Twin Sisters Peaks, near Estes Park, offer the most potential for Northern Colorado ski resorts.

With an average snowfall of 250 inches,

a ski season spanning November to April and similar powder to Steamboat, Seven Utes Mountain was praised in the 1970s by backcountry skiers and the Forest Service alike for its potential as a ski resort.

In 1993, California developer Fred Sauer unveiled his plan to build a new ski resort — The Resort at Seven Utes — on the north face of Seven Utes Mountain in Jackson County near Gould, then with a population of 50. Sauer’s development for the year-round resort proposed building a 1,300-acre ski area, two hotels with 300 rooms each, 200 homes, 1,250 condominiums, a golf course, ice-skating rink and an equestrian center.

The Colorado State Land Board owns the 4,200 acres in the Colorado State Forest, and Sauer planned to lease 3,000 acres from the state and trade land elsewhere for the other 1,200 acres. The development would have been built in two five-year phases, with the resort opening for the 1998-99 ski season.

People were skeptical of Sauer’s plan and its potential to boost the rural county.

More than 20 years later, locals still call the vocal and at times hostile opposition to Sauer’s plan the “ski fight.”

Led by Don Ewy, a self-employed logger, Gould and Walden residents overwhelmingly opposed the development, saying The Resort at Seven Utes would turn the area into “Six Flags over Cameron Pass.” Community activists, environmentalists, ranchers, loggers and the Poudre Canyon Group of the Sierra Club opposed the development, citing the ski resort’s massive size and $60 million price tag.

There were concerns an influx of people visiting the state-owned land would drastically disturb area wildlife, which includes moose, elk and mountain lions.

“It was an interesting time. There have

FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado ÂŤ 43

Back to Nature

ski area has been the proposed private ski resort on Battle Mountain near Minturn in the Vail Valley. But following a change in ownership and the economic slump, no building has begun on Battle Mountain.

If Battle Mountain did happen, the ski resort built on private land could possibly be the last built in Colorado because of the state’s lack of private mountain real estate suitable for a ski resort, the U.S. Forest Service’s reluctance to lease more federal tracts, and the fact that Colorado’s ski business is a mature industry.

The Resort at Seven Utes proposal was rejected by the land board in December 1993. No serious plans for a ski resort near Cameron Pass have surfaced since. Though Ewy said he wouldn’t be surprised if those conversations started stirring again.

“And we’ll be ready,” said Ewy, who owns a logging and construction company, Focused on the Forest.

Today, the Cameron Pass area attracts thousands of backcountry skiers and boarders every winter. Pick a weekend and the parking lot atop Cameron is packed, Ewy said.

Randy Morgan, longtime owner of ski and outdoor gear shop, Outpost Sunsport, said he would have opened a rental shop at The Resorts at Seven Utes had it been built.

“I wish we had a ski area within 30 miles of Fort Collins. That’s just not going to happen, unfortunately,” Morgan said.

Even if The Resort at Seven Utes had come to fruition, Clark said the impact would have been minimal in Fort Collins.

“You’d have outdoor retailers and ski equipment stores that would benefit, but Fort Collins is still over an hour away.

Skiers wouldn’t be staying in Fort Collins,” Clark said. “To make Fort Collins a ski town, I don’t know if that would ever be a thing. ... I know in Boulder, they’re trying to play that space (Boulder as a ski town) a little bit. They have Eldora right there.”

With Eldora right at its doorstep, Boulder has several hotels and resorts that offer special lodging deals for its “Boulder Ski Escape” package. Residents can also catch the Ski-n-Ride RTD bus service to Eldora daily. Boulder is also a major hub for outdoor recreation-related business like Crescent Moon, Kelty, SmartWool, Spyder Active Sports, Title Nine and the Outdoor Industry Association.

Where Fort Collins goes to ski Closer to home, Morgan and many other Northern Colorado skiers spent the 1980s skiing Rocky Mountain

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National Park’s Hidden Valley. But with a shifting focus toward offering recreation opportunities on undeveloped land rather than expanding and developing facilities, the National Park Service shut down Hidden Valley in 1991.

Today, Fort Collins skiers opt for the backcountry at Rocky Mountain National Park or Cameron Pass, or the long trek to the resorts.

Demographic research by the National Ski Areas Association and Boulder-based RRC Associates sheds light on where Fort Collins residents ski.

Using end-of-season surveys and on mountain interviews, research shows over the past five seasons that Fort Collins residents generate an average of 167,000 skier visits per season. Of those visits, the three most popular areas are Winter Park (19 percent), Copper (18 percent) and Keystone (12 percent).

For many local skiers, the long drives and early-morning wake-up calls are worth the hassle if you can make turns in the quiet of the backcountry. Morgan said he has an employee who leaves Fort Collins at 5 a.m., skis Cameron Pass and returns for his noon shift at Outpost Sunsport.

Rodney Ley, a longtime Cameron Pass backcountry skier, calls that “dawn patrol.”

“I really admire that phrase. You’ve probably seen Black Diamond begin to use that,” said Ley who has lived in Fort Collins since 1969. “There are some very hardcore folks who live here. If you love to ski, you’ll ski.”

What Fort Collins lacks in skiing, many say it makes up for with its yearround recreation.

“Fort Collins is such an incredible place to live with our weather that allows us to mountain bike and run for, like 11 months of the year,” Morgan said. “In the ski towns, you tend to be higher and closer to the mountains, so obviously you have the skiing, but you don’t have that other recreation throughout the year like we do.

There’s tradeoffs.”

Making the trek Here are distances from Fort Collins to the nearest ski areas. Click here to explore the ski areas on a map. » Eldora: 66 miles » Snowy Range (Wyo): 100 miles » Loveland Ski Area: 117 miles » Arapahoe Basin: 124 miles » Winter Park: 126 miles » Keystone: 129 miles » Copper Mountain: 138 miles » Breckenridge: 142 miles » Steamboat: 157 miles » Vail: 157 miles

Back to Nature

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FESTIVALS MUSIC ART

“Live interaction with a crowd is a cathartic, spiritual kind of exchange, and it’s intensified at a festival.”

Photo: Erin Hull

–Trent Reznor

FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado « 47

ROCKIN‘ THE FORT Northern Colorado attracts a vast array of musicians. From Rise Against to Elephant Revival, great bands have rocked the stages across our region. The mix of these artists from across the nation and the healthy community of local hotspot for genres of all kinds.

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Everyone knows about the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, but Northern Colorado has some musical gems of its own.

In Fort Collins, if a big name is coming into town, they are likely playing at the Aggie Theater. The Aggie has a large capacity, and when a popular band is in town, it makes for lively dance-filled concerts. While no one venue is limited in the types of music hosted, much of the Aggie’s calendar is booked by jam/funk bands and a wide selection of hip-hop artists.

Nearby is Hodi’s Halfnote. It’s a little smaller than the Aggie and an ideal setting for more intimate folk, indie, and electronic bands, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t enough room to get your groove on.

Driving up Colorado Highway 14 from Fort Collins and into the Poudre Canyon, visitors

Photo: Erin Hooley

music have turned this region into a

BY COREY PALENCIA

Festivals » Music » Fun

To the east is the Moxi Theater in Greeley. Built to establish a home for the local music scene, this venue supports many Denver-based bands. The Moxi is a staple for the downtown Greeley area and the student population of the University of Northern Colorado.

Back in Fort Collins, Surfside 7 is to the punk rock/hardcore scene what the Wildflower Pavilion in Lyons is to bluegrass. It is a nationally recognized stop on many punk rock tours. Longtime residents of College Avenue in Old Town Fort Collins, as of July 2015 Surfside moved to nearby Linden Street. It serves swell food and cheap beer, but the focus is always on the music. With the new location comes new food items, a new bar, and a bigger stage, but the tradition of great music remains the same.

Whether you are looking for bluegrass, hip-hop, punk rock, local or national music, Northern Colorado has great acts performing in great venues.

Coloradoan file photo

will run into the Mishawaka Amphitheatre in Bellvue. Nestled alongside the beautiful Poudre River, this open-air venue brings in the exciting and the intimate amid unforgettable scenery.

Bluegrass enthusiasts can find sanctuary in Lyons, home of Planet Bluegrass Ranch in the Wildflower Pavilion. This venue, washed away in the 2013 flood, is once again up and running to celebrate with events like the Rocky Grass Festival and the Folks Festival. Big and little names in the bluegrass world travel to play in the Wildflower Pavilion, Colorado’s “Cathedral of Bluegrass.” Indoor and outdoor stages, as well as a campground, provide fans a variety of ways to enjoy the music.

Foote Amphitheater in Loveland regularly holds a summer concert series to the delight of families throughout town.

Friends and families gather around Foote Lagoon, setting up picnics and chairs so they can watch and listen to bands as they play on a raised platform in the center of the lagoon. It is not available year-round but while the weather is fine, be sure to head over to enjoy some live music in the summer sun.

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FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado ÂŤ 53

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COLORADO IS FOR MUSIC LOVERS

BY ERIN UDELL This story was originally published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan on March 31, 2015.

Colorado is known for many things. One is love of the outdoors, and one is a love of festivals. As such, the warmer months of every year are packed full of outdoor festivals of every kind. Resident expert on all things awesome in Northern Colorado, the Fort Collins Coloradoan’s Erin Udell, has put together a guide to some of the region’s best festivals, along with a couple of appearances from festivals in other parts of the state.

Fort Collins Music eXperiment (FoCoMX) When: April 24-25, 2015 Where: Fort Collins Tickets: $20 for wristbands before April 10, $30 after April 10 Featured artists: The Patti Fiasco, Stelth Ulvang (of the Lumineers), Wire Faces, Musketeer Gripweed, The Widow’s Bane, Post Paradise, Yawpers, Arliss Nancy, The Holler!, Shatterproof, Danielle Ate the Sandwich, The Epilogues.

Website: www.focomx.focoma.org

Snowmass Mammoth Fest

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When: June 18-21, 2015 Where: Telluride Distance from Fort Collins: 390 miles (7-hour drive) Tickets: $70 (single-day passes) Featured lineup: Greensky Bluegrass, Trampled by Turtles, Yonder Mountain String Band Website: www.bluegrass.com/telluride

Loudwire Music Festival When: June 26-28, 2015 Where: Grand Junction Distance from Fort Collins: 303 miles (5-hour drive) Tickets: $79 Featured artists: A Day to Remember, Halestorm, Hinder, Linkin Park, Rob Zombie, Weezer Website: www.loudwiremusicfestival.com

Wanderlust Aspen-Snowmass When: July 2-5, 2015 Where: Snowmass Village Distance from Fort Collins: 256 miles (4.5-hour drive)

Photos: Chancey Bush

When: June 12-14, 2015 Where: Snowmass Village Distance from Fort Collins: 256 miles (4.5hour drive) Tickets: $70 (early bird two-day pass), $55 single-day pass Featured artists: Tedeschi Trucks Band, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Doyle Bramhall II, Greensky Bluegrass, Donavon Frankenreiter, The Lone Bellow Website: www.snowmassmammothfest.com

Telluride Bluegrass Festival

Festivals » Music » Fun Tickets: $85 to $145 (single day passes) Featured artists: Lee Fields & The Expressions, Nikki Lane, MC YOGI, DJ Drez, The SteelDrivers, Trevor Exter, beatgypsy, Vinnie Fallico, High & Mighty Brass Band!

Website: www.wanderlust.com/festivals/aspen-snowmass

The Ride Festival When: July 11-12, 2015 Where: Telluride Distance from Fort Collins: 390 miles (7-hour drive) Tickets: $175 (two-day pass) Featured artists: Widespread Panic, Gov’t Mule, Jonny Lang, Trigger Hippy, North Mississippi All Stars, The Temperance Movement Website: www.ridefestival.com

Global Dance Festival When: July 17-19, 2015 Where: Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison Distance from Fort Collins: 76 miles (1.5-hour drive) Tickets: $150 to $300 Featured artists: Tiësto, Kaskade, Flosstradamus Website: www.globaldancefestival.com

Country Jam When: June 18-21, 2015 Where: Grand Junction Distance from Fort Collins: 303 miles (5-hour drive) Tickets: $150 Featured artists: Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Toby Keith, The Band Perry, Billy Currington, Kacey Musgraves, Eli Young Band, Thompson Square Website: www.countryjam.com/colorado

the Magnetic Zeros, The Polish Ambassador, Emancipator Ensemble, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Trevor Hall Website: www.arisefestival.com/2015

Bohemian Nights at New West Fest When: Aug. 14-16, 2015 Where: Downtown Fort Collins Tickets: free Featured artists: 60+ Colorado bands, three national headliners to be announced in June Website: www.bohemiannights.org

Gentlemen Stopover Colorado 2015 When: Aug. 21-22, 2015 Where: Salida Distance from Fort Collins: 202 miles (3.5-hour drive) Tickets: $199 Featured artists: The Flaming Lips, Mumford & Sons, Jenny Lewis, Dawes, The Vaccines, Blake Mills, James Vincent McMorrow Website: www.gentlemenoftheroad. com/stopovers

Jazz Aspen Snowmass Labor Day Experience When: Sept. 4-6, 2015 Where: Snowmass Village Distance from Fort Collins: 256 miles (4.5-hour drive) Tickets: $184 (3-day pass) Featured artists: No Doubt, Hozier, Lenny Kravitz, The Fray Website: www.jazzaspensnowmass.org

Underground Music Showcase When: July 23-26, 2015 Where: Denver, along South Broadway Distance from Fort Collins: 68 miles (1-hour drive) Tickets: $35 via a Red Bull Sound Select discount Featured artists: STRFKR, DIIV, Mac McCaughan Website: www.theums.com

Telluride Jazz Festival When: Aug. 1-3, 2015 Where: Telluride Distance from Fort Collins: 390 miles (7-hour drive) Tickets: $105 Featured artists: Bill Frisell Trio, Ernie Watts, Euforquestra feat. Kim Dawson, Joey Defrancesco, Jonathan Scales Fourchestra, Maceo Parker, The M&Ms. Website: www.telluridejazz.org

Photo: Erin Hull

Arise Music Festival When: Aug. 7-9, 2015 Where: Sunrise Ranch, Loveland Distance from Fort Collins: 18 miles (30-minute drive) Tickets: $139 Featured artists: Edward Sharpe and FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado « 57

Festivals » Music » Fun

YOUR GUIDE TO FORT COLLINS SUMMER FESTIVALS

BY ERIN UDELL This story was originally published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan on April 27, 2015.

Brace yourselves, Fort Collins. Summer is coming.

And with great summer days, come great responsibility. Er, I mean, festivals.

The festival season kicks off with Taste of Fort Collins in June and continues through September with New Belgium Brewing’s Tour de Fat. So check out the lineups, order those festival passes (or not - some events are free) and start planning ahead for your summer of fun.

Taste of Fort Collins

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Colorado Brewers’ Festival When: June 26-28, 2015 Where: Downtown Fort Collins What: Beer will flow in Fort Collins yet again, as it gears up the 26th annual Colorado Brewers’ Festival. The event kicks off on July 26 during a smallerscale and ticketed opening event where people can sample beers and interact with brewers. The remaining two days will be the general festival in Civic Center Park and Washington Park, where there will be alcohol service, food vendors and live entertainment throughout.

Estimated attendance: 16,000 over three days Tickets: Free entry, but to sample beers you must purchase a tasting package with a beer glass and taster tickets ($25 online or $30 at the festival) Things to know: There will be more than 50 breweries, including 12 from Fort Collins, and more than 10 musical acts, with a lineup finalized in May. The city will be offering the MAX bus service on June 26, a Sunday, for the event.

Photo: Dawn Madura

When: June 12-14, 2015 Where: Civic Center Park and Washington Park What: Taste of Fort Collins will have 150 vendors, 50 food options and two stages for 22 bands, including national acts.

Estimated attendance: 60,000 Changes from last year: Taste of Fort Collins has added two more headliners from last year — Andy Grammar, who will be performing the Summer Kickoff Concert, and The Mowgli’s, who have a mid-day show on the Pedersen Scion Stage in Washington Park. Other headliners include Atlast Genius and Smash Mouth.

Tickets: $25 for a three-day pass, available online or at Wilbur’s Total Beverage, 2201 S. College Ave., starting in May Things to know: No pets allowed, only

service animals. The city will be offering the MAX bus service on June 14, a Sunday, for the event.

Website: www.tasteoffortcollins.com

Festivals » Music » Fun Tour de Fat

When: Aug. 14-16, 2015 Where: Downtown Fort Collins What: Bohemian Nights at NewWestFest showcases Colorado music over three days as a free community music festival. This year will feature more than 60 Colorado artists and three headliners. The main lineup will be announced in June, as well as two of the three headliners. The remaining headliner will be announced in July.

Estimated attendance: 100,000 over three days Tickets: Free Things to know: NewWestFest is familyfriendly, with things like the Kids’ Music Adventure, an interactive kids portion in the Library Park courtyard that allows children to interact with real instruments and see live performances.

A Bohemian Nights mobile app will be available again this year and include a festival lineup, festival information, a map, live cams, Colorado music and a lighter feature, which allows you to raise your “lighter” during shows.

The city will be offering the MAX bus service on August 16, a Sunday, for the event.

Website: www.bohemiannights.org

When: Sept. 5, 2015 Where: Civic Center Park, Fort Collins What: It’s become a celebration of “bikes, beer and bemusement” in cities across the US, but it started in our backyard. The annual bike parade is aimed at increasing awareness of, and participation in, cycling as a mode of transportation, but is also an excuse to throw together a costume, hop on your bike and be a part of a Fort Collins tradition.

Estimated attendance: 25,000 Tickets: Free, all proceeds from beer and merchandise go to local nonprofit organizations Things to know: The day starts at 9 a.m. with parade registration and ends that afternoon. The parade route starts on Meldrum Street and weaves through Old Town, along Mountain Avenue and Sherwood and Oak Streets.

Website: www.newbelgium.com/events/ tour-de-fat

Photo: Erin Hull/The Coloradoan

Bohemian Nights at NewWestFest

FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado « 59

ADVERSTISEMENT

Mud, Sweat and Tears for 20 Years Despite owning The Perennial Gardener for 20 years, Ted and Ellen Zibell feel they are more in the entertainment business than in the retail business. “When our customers come in and have a great time, the sales take care of themselves,” says Ellen. Patrons won’t find bags of fertilizers or trees at The Perennial Gardener.

Instead, the shop offers a wide array of nature inspired gifts and garden décor. From the weathered to the whimsical you’ll find grinning gargoyles, fountains, birdhouses, jewelry, and more.

The couple’s first entry into retail business, The Perennial Gardener, was joined by their second

effort, Sense of Place in 1999.

The shops, located next door to each other at 154 and 160 N. College Ave., feature a doorway cut out of the brick for customers to wander between the two locations. “From the outside, it is two stores, but once inside, it’s all one store,” Ellen said.

Sister store Sense of Place helps customers add personality to the interior of their homes with a host of unique lamps, beautifully framed art, and special décor touches. “I think that because we’re a specialty store, customers expect that our merchandise will be expensive, but it’s not,” says Ellen. “Our job is to get them

60 » FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado

“We create an experience that connects emotionally with our customers and offers an escape from their everyday happenings.”

engaged, to have them pick up an item, look at the price and think, ’Wow, that is such a great value.’ It’s exciting!”

Assembling the eclectic merchandise for both shops is a full time endeavor. “I’ve never been able to explain in one sentence what we do,” Ellen said of their “abundant” merchandising approach. “We create an experience that connects emotionally with our customers and offers an escape from their everyday happenings.”

The Zibells feel that their growth and success is tied to the growth and success of their local community. “We are so fortunate to be a part of Fort Collins and this historic downtown,” states Ted. “We can’t imagine doing this anywhere else!”

What’s in store for the next 20 years? “Who knows,” says Ellen.

“We will keep listening to our customers, they haven’t steered us wrong yet!”

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Festivals » Music » Fun

NORTHERN COLORADO’S ART SCENE IS IN FULL BLOOM

BY KYLE EUSTICE

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Hopkins says. “The city has been attracting artists since its first bronze foundry in the ’70s. Loveland is evolving, attracting emerging and established artists who are contributing to its economic development and community revitalization.”

Hopkins sees the art community exploding in the near future.

Fort Collins, Loveland, and the surrounding areas have created an opportunity for the arts to develop and stay locally informed.

“Loveland’s community-driven initiatives have helped shape the look and feel of the town,” she says. “It’s created a vibrant and energetic art scene.”

It’s clear Fort Collins embraces the art community, as well. Each first Friday of the month, The Group Inc. presents The Gallery Walk. Local art galleries such as Coco Artist Studio, Community Creative Center, Downtown Artery, and the Fort Collins Museum of Art open their doors to show off their new exhibits and provide the opportunity for a selfguided tour.

Photo: Erin Hull

On any given day, local artist Jason Hardung can be found at The Bean Cycle coffee shop on North College Avenue. Inside, his artwork lines the walls in hopes of finding a good home.

Hardung’s work is a small glimpse into the blossoming art scene in Fort Collins. From painting, music, and literature to poetry, writing, and photography, Fort Collins is bursting with creative endeavors.

“There is so much talent here,” Hardung says. “There is a thriving art scene and a lot of artists. It seems a lot of the galleries are Western-themed, which makes sense since we are in the West. There are lots of paintings of aspen trees, but there are many other styles of art in town, too.”

Angela Canada Hopkins, coordinator of studio operations at Artworks in Loveland, agrees. Founded in 2011, Artworks is a nonprofit that creates a supportive environment for talented contemporary visual artists and their art.

“Loveland’s arts and culture scene has been growing and transforming,”

Festivals » Music » Fun

Fort Collins does do more than most cities this size. Look at the electrical boxes around town or the pianos in Old Town.

Dawn Putney, the self-proclaimed “Curator of Happiness” at ToolBox Creative, is involved with Art Lab, a cooperative art, music, and performance initiative made for and by the artists and creatives in town.

It’s meant to empower the young and old through access to art, music, theater, and dance through diverse performance and gallery opportunities, workshops, and community activity.

“Art Lab is an experimental space for art,” Putney says. “It moves, changes shape, and pushes boundaries.

It’s a happy surprise for people who wander through the doors.”

Art also pops up in the most unexpected places. You might be walking down the alleys of Old Town and suddenly encounter one of the many beautifully painted electrical boxes that are scattered across the city. Or you might walk into Big Al’s Burgers and Dogs on Mountain Avenue looking for lunch and find the walls covered in art from local artists.

“Fort Collins does do more than most cities this size,” Hardung says.

“Look at the electrical boxes around town or the pianos in Old Town. To me, painting has been a way to relieve stress. It’s a way for me to focus on one thing instead of the million voices of worry I usually hear inside my head. I don’t want to make painting another one of my worries. When I’m painting, nothing else in the world matters.”

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Photo: Chancey Bush

GRAPES AND GRAINS

“Give a man a beer, waste an hour. Teach a man to brew, and waste a lifetime !”

–Bill Owen

FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado « 65

Photo: Erin Hull

Grapes & Grains

LIVING IN THE GOLDEN AGE OF CRAFT We have all heard Fort Collins referred to as the “Napa of Beer” or “Milwaukee of the Rockies”. Whenever I hear these names, I must restrain myself from making a nasty comment. The reason why these terms bother me so much is because I believe that they fall dazzlingly short in describing Northern Colorado’s craft culture.

From farmers markets and hyperlocal CSA’s, to craft beer, cider, wine, distilling, cheese and yogurt – all of these old technologies have been reinvented and seem to be flourishing. Craft foodstuffs push the limits of flavor, offer us better ingredients and nutrition for our tables, and the best examples give us a direct and tangible connection to the people who grow and produce these delights. The old saying, “what’s old is new”, describes this movement perfectly.

Craft beer has been being made locally worldwide for thousands of years, but only until fairly recently has our shrinking world given innovation-thirsty craft brewers, relatively easy access to the knowledge, processes and raw materials from these far flung places, sparking imaginative new products and the sharing of traditional regional favorites. Granted some craft regions across the nation are more highly developed than others, but the craft snowball is rolling down hill and the sky is the limit. The craft culture is alive and well in Fort Collins, and stands as one of the most unique brewing communities in the world.

We all know our breweries craft a world class beer, and offer up as diverse a line up as you will find anywhere in the word. But this fact alone is not what makes the FoCo beer scene so cool. I would argue that it’s the intangibles that our unique craft culture hold as values that makes it so grand. The local industry, its owners, employees and consumers are unceasingly working to advance the community and environment in which they live and work. The people of our craft scene are what make the “scene” so special.

They are always willing to lend support to a fellow brewer. They bolster and draw energy from thriving home brewing community here and throw their full weight behind countless charitable organizations.

Kirk Lombardi Brewer at Zwei Brewing

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Grapes & Grains

COLLABORATION, PASSION FLOURISH IN FORT COLLINS BREWING SCENE

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Wynne Odell, CEO and Co-Founder, Odell Brewing Company

This kind of brewer collaboration is a well-known characteristic of the craft beer industry in general, and perfectly characterizes the growing Fort Collins brewing community. Successful brewing requires an intense passion for the science and process of making beer, and sharing this interest with peers builds excitement for brewers and customers alike.

New hop varieties, recipes and processes are freely discussed among Fort Collins brewers, and these conversations have resulted in many delicious collaboration brews between local breweries. This spirit of sharing continues to draw new brewers to Fort Collins, with fourteen breweries now thriving in our vibrant beer scene.

Photo: Erin Hull

Fort Collins initially became a brewing hub for one simple reason – pure and plentiful water. As water comprises 95% of the volume of beer, securing a consistent and high quality source is essential.

Fort Collins is blessed in receiving much of its water directly from the Poudre River whose headwaters are less than 100 miles away. But fires and floods routinely threaten this pristine water source. To help ensure that our region’s water sources remain clean and abundant, thirteen Fort Collins brewers joined together to start BreWater, a collaborative water education and advocacy organization, in 2013. The group contributed $75,000 to its first community water improvement project, the 2014 deconstruction of the Josh Ames dam on the Poudre River.

Grapes & Grains

The proliferation of brewery tap rooms throughout the city has created the perfect setting for drinkers to connect directly with brewers.

We can look to all of these beer-friendly attributes for the reason breweries chose to locate in Fort Collins, but there’s more to beer-centric Fort Collins than just brewing the beer. The rise of the US craft beer industry has coincided with the rise of the local food movement and Fort Collins residents are heavily committed to supporting local food production and consumption. Beer consumers in Fort Collins want to know what’s in their beer and who makes it. The proliferation of brewery tap rooms throughout the city has created the perfect setting for drinkers to connect directly with brewers. The glorious coming together of great water, brewer passion and savvy, thirsty customers have combined to make Fort Collins a true beer lover’s paradise.

FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado « 69

ADVERSTISEMENT

HIGH HOPS BREWERY IS THE Twenty-six years in Windsor, five generations of Coloradoans, seven medals in the Las Vegas International Beer Competition (that’s this year alone), four medals from the Denver International Beer Competition, three states of distribution, and a shorter drive-time than what takes most people to get down College Ave. makes the High Hops family one to know.

In 1991, Amanda and Pat Weakland began a small, seasonal greenhouse called Plant-A-Scape – now The Windsor Gardener. The business grew in its Windsor roots and began to take new shape and direction as Pat and his son, Zach, began planting hops to battle a shortage in the area. Sunday brewing sessions soon followed.

The grass-roots evolution of the brewery continued: moving a garage pastime into the family’s gardencenter business was the clear next step.

Encouragement from friends and family and the belief that you can a build community by doing things the right way propelled it forward as High Hops became Windsor’s first microbrewery.

Awards and accolades continue to pour in, and in their first two years they have managed to take home medals in from almost every competition they go to.

FINDING YOUR BREW

“All types of beer for all types of people” is the slogan you’ll hear and see around High Hops. The slogan reads as fact for beer enthusiasts and is evident in the intentionally unintentional décor and atmosphere. Whether you subscribe to Greek mythology, connect to the Buddha, answer to the hop gods, or practice your own form of beer religion—the high hops family has the brew to satisfy.

ALL TYPES OF BEER FOR

16 Beers on tap Look for us at your liquor stores & bars!

6461 Hwy 392, Windsor CO • (970) 674-2841

ADVERSTISEMENT

NEW AMERICAN DREAM The brewery’s accessibility from I-25 and the Poudre River Trail, for biking and walking, make this eclectic shop and brewhouse a destination for locals and visitors alike.

COMMUNITY

The High Hops culture is one of dedication and commitment to their community. Not only did they develop a unique Red Ale to commemorate the town of Windsor’s 125-year anniversary, but the hops in every beer comes from a few feet off the patio. The energy used to brew that beer came, in part, from sustainable wind-energy sources.

When talking about the future of High Hops Pat will often allude to their goal for community engagement that, “their beer can connect communities, start conversations, cause people to talk to each other.” That starts by asking your bartender or liquor store owner if they’ve got his beer.

FINDING THE FUTURE

At two years old, High Hops Brewery is rapidly expanding. Recent expansions to their taproom and patio, the addition of a stage to host local music, and a continued dedication to making beer that their customers

will love has accelerated that growth.

Distribution continues to grow into areas like South Dakota and Nebraska as the team hits up the beer festival circuit. Growth continues, but this tightknit family, made up by relation or otherwise, continues to be involved in each step of the process.

You’ll find Pat and Amanda manning their festival booths, Zach pouring beer in the taphouse, and if you’re lucky, the newest edition of the family, baby goats, roaming the grounds.

Maybe it’s time to pay attention to the not-so-little brewhouse inside the flower shop.

ALL TYPES OF PEOPLE Find Our Live Music & Events at HighHopsBrewery.com

Facebook “f ” Logo

CMYK / .ai

Facebook “f ” Logo

CMYK / .ai

facebook.com/HighHopsBrewery

FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado « 71

FORT BREWIN‘

BY COREY PALENCIA

Fort Collins is synonymous with craft beer. Clean, fresh water coming from the Rocky Mountains coupled with ideal growing conditions for hops has earned Northern Colorado the title “the Napa Valley of Craft Beer.”

They work with bars and restaurants around town to make signature beers such as Town Pump’s Town Pump Pale Ale, brewed by Odell Brewing Co. And at any taproom or beer garden, patrons will see menu items and food trucks that are Colorado-owned, operated, and distributed.

Perhaps the most exciting part of the local brew culture is how differently each of the breweries, distilleries, and other producers have approached the market. Each has their own identity, creating space for a proliferation of a vast and varied array of different players: New Belgium Brewing Co. is the poster child of craft beer in Fort Collins. The company is intrinsically tied to the community, celebrating and growing with the people in town by way of events like Tour de Fat, a costumed bike ride that sweeps the city up in live music, local foods, and, of course, delicious beer.

Odell’s extended patio is a magnet for people looking to take in the summer sun. Odell is an English-style beer maker, and it lets its products speak for themselves. The brewery rolls out high-quality beers, including its flagship brew, 90 Shilling, and seasonal releases like St. Lupulin. Visitors to the taproom are invited to put all tips into the donation jar instead of on the bar, and Odell donates all of the proceeds from the jar to its charity of the month. It also donates all of its spent

Photo: Dawn Madura

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Currently there are 17 breweries and counting in Fort Collins, each one expressing their personality through lagers, ales, stouts, and sours. Add to this the growing number of distilleries, cideries, wineries, and other establishments catering to the alcoholic-beverage culture, and it is clear Northern Colorado is a willing home for this evolving craft industry.

The prosperity of beer and spirits in the Northern Colorado region stems not only from the ability to produce such high-quality products, but from strong relationships these companies have with the community. From lively patios to cozy taprooms, breweries have made patrons feel at home. They invite parents to bring kids and dogs, providing food, games, and live music for everyone to enjoy. This allinclusive, homelike atmosphere has created a strong relationship between local beer drinkers and beer makers, fostering a remarkable sense of ownership, investment, and community between provider and patron.

The web of breweries, bars, restaurants, and food trucks involved in the Northern Colorado brew culture has also created a symbiotic relationship among all of the moving parts, often resulting in partnerships and collaborations. Brewers in the area have been known to lend and borrow equipment, trade know-how, and work together to make collaboration brews.

Grapes & Grains

FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado ÂŤ 73

Meet Mat– Event Planner Extraordinaire

So much more than just a liquor store...

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grain to a local dairy farmer, reducing waste and creating another community tie. It has even created a favorite beer, Lugene Chocolate Milk Stout, named after this local legend dairy farmer.

The breweries go on with Old Town standbys like CooperSmith’s and specialists like Funkwerks, a saison-specific brewery.

Looking outside Fort Collins, hidden gems like Loveland Ale Works, Grimm Brothers Brewhouse, and High Hops Brewery can be found sprinkled throughout Northern Colorado.

Spring 44, a Northern Colorado distillery, resides in Loveland. In 1969, Don Lindauer bought a plot of land in Buckhorn Canyon that produces a particularly exceptional source of Rocky Mountain water.

Jeff Lindauer, Don’s son, initially planned on bottling this pristine mountain water for sale. Due to some logistical problems, that idea was scrapped and, luckily so, as he moved to the idea of using the water to make spirits.

High Hops Brewery in Windsor started as The Windsor Gardener, a seasonal greenhouse. Growing beyond a hobby for Zach Weakland and his parents, Pat and Amanda, homebrewing soon became a craft brewery due to rave reviews and big demand for their beer. Many breweries get their hops brought in from other sources, but Pat and Amanda’s expertise of growing in the Northern Colorado climates and soils allowed them to plant hops on-site, adding to the freshness of the beer. They now grow multiple varieties of hops around a taproom and gorgeous outdoor patio.

Loveland Ale Works keeps its small-batch brews linked with its friends and neighbors. It has an “Open Source Ale Project,” where patrons can provide input for the next seasonal ale. Beyond that, its “Crowd Sourced Ale” asks hop growers in the area to donate their hops to a specific one-of-a-kind brew.

Donors get a growler of the community-made beer.

Photo: Erin Hull

2201 South College (970) 226-8662 www.WilbursTotalBeverage.com Open M-Sat 9-10 • Sun 9-7

Perhaps the most exciting part of the local brew culture is how differently each of the breweries, distilleries, and other producers have approached the market.

Top photo: Coloradoan File Photo, Bootm Photo Chancey Bush

Meet Jeff– Your Wilbur’s Beer Guru

“Pints for the People,” a program Loveland Ale Works puts on every Wednesday, donates portions of its proceeds to select nonprofit organizations like Alternatives to Violence.

Wiley Roots, a brewery in Greeley, focuses on accruing its ingredients from neighboring farmers and agriculturists. It throws vinyl listening parties in its taproom every Wednesday where patrons can bring an album they love and enjoy it with a pint of their neighborhood brew.

City Star Brewery holds weekly trivia and live music, as well as monthly potlucks and homebrew meetings as a means of connecting with the guests and residents of Berthoud. It also hosts the Hops and Harley Festival each year and participates in the Front Range Rally.

Supporting and connecting with their communities can be as important as the products these breweries make and distribute. Each brewer and distiller has created their own unique way of building that relationship. Making their taprooms and celebrations fun for a wide range of guests and visitors fosters that bond. This web of connections and relationships throughout Northern Colorado is what has allowed this industry to grow, and it’s what will continue to facilitate this level of success in the future.

This web of connections and relationships throughout Northern Colorado is what has allowed this industry to grow, and it’s what will continue to facilitate this level of success in the future.

The largest selection of beer in northern Colorado

2201 South College (970) 226-8662 www.WilbursTotalBeverage.com Open M-Sat 9-10 • Sun 9-7 FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado « 75

Grapes & Grains

FORT COLLINS’ THIRST FOR CRAFT BEER REMAINS UNQUENCHED

BY JOSIE SEXTON This article was originally published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan on February 5, 2015.

Operating Fort Collins craft breweries

(by year opened)

1974: C.B. and Potts 1989: CooperSmith’s Pub & Brewery, Odell Brewing Co. 1991: New Belgium Brewing 2003: Fort Collins Brewery 2010: Equinox, Funkwerks 2011: Pateros Creek 2012: Black Bottle Brewery, Pitchers Sports Restaurant begins brewing own beer 2013: BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse 2014: 1933 Brewing Co., Horse & Dragon Brewing, Snowbank Brewing, Zwei Bruder Brewing Source: City of Fort Collins and Coloradoan archive

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In beer concentration, Fort Collins rivals Asheville, North Carolina, with its 14 breweries for 90,000 residents; Portland, Oregon, which has more than 50 breweries for 600,000 residents; and even Louisville, Colorado, home to three craft breweries and a population of 19,000.

Our city isn’t unique in its ability to sustain more and more craft breweries. But it is nearing maturity in what has nationally been the fastest growing alcoholic beverage trend this century.

A view from Fort Collins Tim Cochran and his wife Carol opened their craft brewery, Horse & Dragon, last year on the northeast side of Fort Collins. Before settling here, Tim spent most of his career exporting beer for MillerCoors in various international locations.

While switching to the craft beer industry, he noticed the way “mainstream” beer drinkers also switched to craft beer consumption.

“When you see that transition happening, they don’t just buy a 30-pack of Bud or Bud Light anymore, they also carry out a 6-pack of (a craft brand),” Cochran said of consumers’ buying behavior.

But here in Fort Collins, liquor store owners say the ratio is already skewed in craft’s favor.

At Bullfrog Wine & Spirits on North College Avenue, craft beers fill up a third of the cooler space and account for around half of all beer sales. Craft makes up 49 percent of beer sales at Pringle’s Fine Wine and Spirits on the west

Photo: V. Richard Haro

Budweiser announced in January that it is afraid of craft beer.

In one of its Super Bowl ad spots, the world’s largest beer maker struck a new and defiant tone with beer drinkers, putting the following message to a bass-heavy score and laying it over a cracking can of Bud: “Let them sip their pumpkin peach ale,” the ad said. “We’ll be brewing us some golden suds.”

Yet just a short time later, Anheuser-Busch InBev bought out Seattle craft brewer Elysian, its fourth craft brewery purchase in five years. Just a few months earlier, media outlets reported that the entire craft industry began outselling A-B’s flagship Budweiser for the first time in history.

All of this buying up and branding down makes you wonder: Just how formidable is the craft beer industry? And in Fort Collins, the Napa Valley of Beer, will consumers support more and more craft breweries?

When Freedom’s Edge Brewing Co. announced it would stop making beer late earlier in 2015 in its Fort Collins tap room, it became the first brewery to close in the city in more than a decade.

It was also one of five craft beer businesses to open here in 2014 — a record year in Fort Collins for starting breweries.

Explained as a strategic move for a business looking to focus on its distribution, the closing of Freedom’s Edge left 16 breweries still operating in Fort Collins, 15 of them craft, and four more in the planning stages.

Grapes & Grains side of the city. At Wilbur’s Total Beverage, near the center of town, craft beers outsell brands such as Budweiser, Miller and Coors six to one and are stocked accordingly.

That consumption is far from craft beer’s national market share of between 10 and 11 percent of the entire beer industry.

“We’re an anomaly,” said Wilbur’s general manager Mat Dinsmore of his store and of Fort Collins. “The fact that we bring beer drinkers from all over the world here is great.”

In addition to local beer fans, Dinsmore said Wilbur’s receives tour groups by the busload from places such as Omaha and Kansas City.

“When the bus shows up, they spend in the thousands,” he said of the beer tourists.

According to owners Colin and Shannon Westcott of Equinox Brewing, Fort Collins brews are one of the largest tourist draws to the city, and not just for a few high-quality makers.

“It takes a certain number of breweries,” Colin Westcott said of creating a tourist destination out of Fort Collins.

Growing but slowing When Equinox opened as a small, hyperlocal tap room in 2010, it was still on the front end of Fort Collins’ craft beer boom.

In the past five years, nine of Fort Collins’ 16 craft breweries opened, during a period that saw 19 percent annual revenue growth nationally toward the now $4.2 billion dollar U.S. craft beer industry, according to IBISWorld, a national market researcher.

Craft beer will continue to grow in the U.S. over the next five years but at a slower pace than years prior, IBISWorld reports. For an industry that grew nearly 500 percent from 2004 to 2014, IBIS projects 37 percent growth over the next five years, when the industry will reach $6 billion in revenue.

Talk to craft brewers and industry representatives, and they say it’s still a great time to be in the business of craft beer in Fort Collins.

New breweries in 2015

Top photo: V. Richard Haro, Bottom photo: Erin Hull

This year, Fort Collins could see four new breweries, with the addition of Jessup Farm Barrel House, Rally King Brewing and two others that the Coloradoan has learned are in planning stages. Stay tuned for more information on these businesses.

FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado « 77

Grapes & Grains

“We’re an anomaly.

The fact that we bring beer drinkers from all over the world here is great.”

Colorado has the fourth highest concentration of the country’s craft breweries, with a low relative population. And state liquor laws allow brewers to self-distribute their product and operate a tap room under one wholesaler’s license.

While a steady stream of brewers have set up shop in Fort Collins over the past 25 years, a handful have also closed in that time, though.

Before Freedom’s Edge closed this year to concentrate resources on the company’s first, Cheyenne, Wyoming brewery, the last closures had taken place more than a decade ago and resulted from bankruptcy.

Bart Watson, staff economist for the Boulder-based Brewers’ Association, says periodic brewery closings are not indicative of a trend.

“As the market moves toward maturity, and certainly in a place like Fort Collins, you’d expect to have a certain number of openings and closings,” Watson said, adding, “Just because you have exits doesn’t mean it’s not a healthy market.”

Watson and the Brewers’ Association have bet on craft beer’s continuing success. They’ve set an aspirational goal for craft to reach 20 percent of beer market share by 2020.

“Five to ten years ago, the whole (craft beer) industry was somewhat of a greenfield site,” Watson said.

“It was basically impossible not to succeed. And that’s not the case now. You have to differentiate.”

Craft models

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Photo: V. Richard Haro

If you compare local breweries to their restaurant, bar and coffee shop counterparts, it would seem that Fort Collins could sustain more and more of them, with some weeding out in the process.

But unlike food, drink and even coffee, craft beer is a niche market with a more limited number of consumers.

The Westcotts aren’t worried about Equinox’s and other Fort Collins craft brewers’ potential success moving forward. They have chosen to focus sales on their own tap room, which they expanded last summer, and at bars within a six-block radius of their brewery. They say their small-scale model, with a constantly rotating beer selection, has proved viable.

For brewers who plan to distribute, though, the market can be tougher. Taking into account that beer is perishable, that it has to be distributed and packaged in glass bottles, and that “at a certain point, you just run out of (shelf) space,” Dinsmore of Wilbur’s said he worries about new breweries’ ability to compete with veterans.

“We’ve got 62 cooler doors and even we run out of space,” he said. “We have to turn down beers or we can only carry certain ones from a brewery, and we’ve got one of the biggest coolers in the country.”

For those new brewers looking to distribute their beer in cans or bottles, they say the path to distinction is in the beer’s quality.

When they first wrote the business plan for Horse & Dragon a decade ago, the Cochrans planned on brewing beer themselves. Tim has a strong background in beer, albeit mainly in sales and marketing.

But when they revisited the business idea in 2013 Fort Collins, they decided to hire a former Odell Brewing Co. brewer, Linsey Cornish, to run the operation.

And other 2014 Fort Collins brewery openings show a similar trend toward experience.

At the new Zwei Bruder brewery, brewers Kirk and Eric Lombardi brought to the table a combined four decades of professional brewing; 1933’s brewer Zach Wilson worked previously at Fort Collins Brewery; and Snowbank’s owner Dave Rosso combined his home-brewing and engineering knowledge with third-party quality testing at an external lab facility.

“Two years ago we finally reached the number of breweries we had in the U.S. before prohibition (more than 2,000),” said Westcott, of Equinox. “That’s great and all, but now we have something like three times the population.”

If brewers and industry workers are worried about anything in the current craft climate, it’s consolidation by strategic companies such as A-B InBev, a trend that IBISWorld predicts to increase over coming years, along with existing breweries’ cross-country and national expansion.

It scares me a little because if you consolidate too much, it thwarts innovation,” Dinsmore of Wilbur’s said. “I think there’s room for everybody to coexist, but right now the big brewers aren’t happy.”

Grapes & Grains

I write about the man who was ranching, the man who was mining, the man who was opening up the country.

Photo: Morgan Spiehs

–Louis L’Amour

WORKING FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado « 79

Working the Land

EARLY AGRICULTURE IN NORTHERN COLORADO In 1858, Antoine Janis led a group of trappers and their families from Fort Laramie, Wyoming, to the foothills of northern Colorado as they searched for the best place to build a town. They selected the river valley where young Janis and his father had cached gunpowder and other supplies during the winter of 1836. After establishing the settlement of Colona (part of present-day Laporte) they started irrigating farms with water from the Cache la Poudre River.

Cash crops produced by the early settlers in this area included hay for the horses essential to the cavalry and overland stage, as well as farm goods for hungry men in the Colorado mining camps. When the Fort Collins military post was decommissioned in 1866, local farmers looked for other sources of revenue. Rocky Mountain News correspondent W. R. Thomas rode through the Cache la Poudre valley in 1868 and described a dozen dairy farmers milking a total of almost 200 cows, with butter production averaging 100 pounds per cow during that season.

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Soon after the Colorado Agricultural College opened in 1879, faculty began research on the college experimental farm to determine which varieties of plants would be most productive in the Colorado soil. The 1887 Hatch Act provided funds to create the Colorado Agricultural Experiment Station, and researchers planted four varieties of sugar beet seed in the college garden the following spring.

The test results fueled interest in sugar beet production. Fort Collins farmers learned in 1890 that lambs thrived on a diet of beet tops and sugar by-products, and lamb feed-

Coloradoan file photo

Linda Meyer, Agricultural and Natural Resources Archive, Colorado State University Libraries

Working the Land

ing soon complemented sugar beets as a source of local income. By the turn of the century, sugar beet farms had become the area’s major employer of immigrant workers, including many German-Russians who arrived after the Great Western Sugar Company purchased the newly constructed Fort Collins sugar factory in 1904.

The first commercial apple orchard in the Fort Collins area was planted by James McClelland in 1876. This orchard gradually expanded to 100 acres, and at one point McClelland was growing 165 varieties of apples. Another early

labor shortage due to World War II kept growers from harvesting their crops. By the 1970s, most of the Fort Collins cherry orchards had disappeared.

In addition to those mentioned above, major crops for northern Colorado growers have included wheat, corn, oats, barley, sorghum, beans, potatoes, and alfalfa. With a steadily increasing interest in locally grown produce, numerous farmers now offer a wide variety of fruits and vegetables to appreciative consumers in Larimer County.

To commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Colorado statehood in 1926, the

With a steadily increasing interest in locally grown produce, numerous farmers now offer a wide variety of fruits and vegetables to appreciative consumers in Larimer County. orchardist, Charles Pennock of Bellvue, began his orchard and nursery in Bellvue in 1889, and soon was producing more than 100 varieties of apples and strawberries in addition to plums, grapes, and other small fruits.

Fort Collins growers started shipping tart cherries to pie bakeries in Kansas City and Chicago in the early 1920s. The flourishing cherry orchards provided employment for local fruit pickers during the Depression, but within two decades the

governing board of the state agricultural college commissioned Colorado Extension Service specialist Alvin T. Steinel to write a history of agriculture in Colorado. Much of the information in this article comes from Steinel’s History of Agriculture in Colorado and from the Papers of Daniel W. Working (data gathered

by Steinel’s associate D. W. Working), preserved in the Agricultural and Natural Resources Archive of the Colorado State University Libraries.

Coloradoan library

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Working the Land

BIG BUSINESS Ranches Still A Big Part of Colorado’s Economy

BY KYLE EUSTICE

Northern Colorado is built on the backbone of agriculture and ranching.

The past is replete with tales of historic farmers and ranchers creating the canvas for our modern-day cities, but where are these farms and ranches today?

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ing top-quality beef since 1978. Founded

by Dennis and Carla Craig, the Craig Angus Ranch raises top-of-the-line two-yearolds and yearling bulls, as well as custom butcher cuts of Colorado grass-fed beef.

Their family-owned company is based on the simple ideals of working hard and offering a quality product they can proudly stand behind.

“It’s very important to our economy,” Craig says“It’s our livelihood for my son, my daughter and myself. Without that,

Photo: Erin Hooley

Many are gone, but some live on in one form or another.

There’s more than just one type of ranch in Northern Colorado. Cattle ranches are the most recognized in the region, but pigs, sheep, goats and even llamas are also raised in the area. All of these ranches are a substantial part of the Colorado economy.

The Craig Angus Ranch, located on County Road 19 in Fort Collins, was established in 1974 and has been produc-

Working the Land

“We wouldn’t trade our lifestyle for anything in the world.”

Ranchers went out each spring with their hired hands to round up the cattle bearing their ranch’s distinctive brand and to drive their herd back to its home range. New calves also were branded during the spring roundup. A second roundup took place each fall to separate out the cattle that were ready for market.

The open-range phase of the cattle industry came to a sudden end in the late 1880s.

By then, the grasslands were dangerously overstocked with cattle. Then two disastrous winters, in 1886 and1888, wiped out many of the underfed herds. Consequently, ranchers fenced the grasslands they owned or could control and fed their cattle hay during the winter.

Horses, horse-drawn vehicles, and railroads provided most of the transportation needed by Colorado’s farmers and ranchers. They drove to town in farm wagons to pick up supplies, to sell hay or farm products, or for social events. Ranchers used chuck wagons to haul their cowboys’ food and bedding to roundups.

Both also were dependent on railroads to haul their products to faraway markets, especially cattle raisers. While the methods of ranching in 2015 may have changed, it’s still rooted in the same philosophy.

Brenda Vance, owner of Split Rock Ranch in Florissant, has raised llamas for

Photo: Morgan Spiehs

I don’t know what they’d be doing because that’s what they’ve done their whole lives (laughs).”

Ranching in Colorado has always had a rich and extensive history. Ranchers came into the San Juan Mountains in the mid- to late 1800s to supply miners and their families. As towns grew and the economy diversified, ranches spread out onto land once occupied by the Utes. Southwest Colorado was particularly well-suited to ranching and farming. There were vast amounts of land and not a lot of people. There was also plenty of grazing land for cattle. With the arrival of the railroad, long cattle drives were no longer necessary, and it was easier to get the beef to market.

Although ranching was often thought of as “man’s work,” it was work for the whole family. Ranchers started at a young age, and most did it their entire lives. Families were large and helped each other with branding and haying.

Ranch work was focused on the raising and marketing of cattle. From the beginning of Anglo settlement until the late 1880s, the cattle were left alone most of the year to graze on the grassland of the plains. During the winter, a cattleman’s herd might drift for miles on the open range, ending up mixed together with neighboring herds.

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Working the Land

”...most people love to get up close and personal with the animals found on a ranch.

Tourists really enjoy checking out ranches in Colorado and we love to have them.” more than two decades. Along with husband Jim, Vance has embraced the ranching way of life. Before buying their ranch, the Vances lived in Colorado Springs.They went to a llama show in September 1996 and it was love at first sight. They bought their first two llamas in November 1996 and moved to Split Rock Ranch in May 1997.

“Ranching is a 24/7/365 endeavor,” Vance says. “There are no days off, no holidays, no sick days, and no bad weather days. Whether it’s rain, snow, sleet, hail, blizzard, heat wave, or below-zero temps, we must ensure that our animals are wellcared for, fed properly, and healthy.”

“Working outdoors and spending time with the animals is very soothing and calming,” Vance adds. “After living here at our ranch, we cannot imagine moving back to the city ever again. We wouldn’t trade our lifestyle for anything in the world.”

Ranching is also attractive to tourists, which in turn helps the local economy.

Places like Rawah Ranch in Glendevey provide more of a “dude ranch” experience, including lavish accommodations,

five-star-restaurant-quality food, and seemingly endless horseback rides through the aspen groves and mountain passes.

The Sylvan Dale Ranch in Loveland offers a similar experience. Guests can enjoy tennis courts, swimming pools, and LCD projectors after a rugged day of horseback riding. Although it’s not a traditional ranch, it still offers a glimpse into the ranching lifestyle.

C-Lazy-U Ranch, on the other hand, offers tourists the chance to actually participate in a cattle drive and learn how to rope a steer. However, it’s still an all-inclusive “dude ranch.” It offers gourmet meals, luxury lodging, and plenty of activities and relaxation, plus nearby whitewater river rafting and canoe trips.

“Most ‘city folk’ have no idea what is involved in the day-to-day operations on a ranch,” Vance says. “They also have a ‘glorified’ idea of what ranching is all about, but most people love to get up close and personal with the animals found on a ranch. Tourists really enjoy checking out ranches in Colorado and we love to have them.”

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Working the Land

WHAT IS A CSA?

BY STACEY MCKENNA

Community Supported Agriculture is a locally driven approach to farming that supports small farmers and makes fresh, seasonal, often-organic eating accessible.

CSAs and organic farming in Northern Colorado As a sustainability-minded, locally oriented agricultural community, Northern Colorado has long been a leader in farming innovation. Wellington’s Grant Farms — perhaps the area’s largest CSA — played a key role in Colorado’s development of a statewide organic certification.

Founders Andy Grant and his father, Lew, committed to growing organic food in 1974, and Grant Farms soon became the state’s first to be certified organic.

That early passion project has since blossomed into a 2,000-acre-plus farm offering CSA memberships and bringing its food to markets throughout Colorado and Wyoming.

Fort Collins residents can choose from 29 CSA farms offering local pickup options. Sixteen of these are actually based in the city; the surrounding region holds dozens more. All sorts of selections abound for customers looking for the CSA to fit their specific food and shopping preferences.

Types of food Most of the region’s CSAs focus on growing vegetables, but several have branched out or partnered with local artisans, farmers and ranchers to support a complete diet. In addition to their standard veggie share options, the following represent a selection of Fort Collins’ farms offering additional foods: » Happy Heart Farms: bread, fruit, eggs, berries, and mushrooms » Grant Farms: cheese, fruit, canned goods, mushrooms, yoghurt, tofu, herbs, coffee, and tempeh » Monroe Organic Farm: beef, pork, eggs, honey, and fruit » Colorado State University’s CSA: fruit » Ole Dern Farm: meat

Photo: Erin Hull

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Early in the year (usually before planting), members purchase a “share,” which entitles them to a set proportion of food during the growing season. The farmers then use the pooled money to purchase what they need and build support as necessary. Come late spring, as farmers begin harvesting crops, members may begin to pick up their already-purchased food, usually on a weekly basis. In seasons of bounty, CSA members may find themselves with excess produce to share with friends or neighbors. During more difficult times, members receive less food, but farmers are able to weather the dearth and plant another year.

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Working the Land

The Pickup Options The weekly boxed share is a great introduction to seasonal eating. Farmers pack boxes according to the harvest and share size for members to pick up at designated pick-up locations. Most CSAs offer this type of share.

Market shares can be a fun change of pace for selective eaters or frequent travelers. Members simply use their prepaid credit to shop farm and market stands at a discounted rate, so they have more choice and flexibility. Some Fort Collins CSAs that offer market shares are: » Native Hill Farm » Sunray Natural » Green Dog Farm » Garden Sweet Farm

Payment, splitting, and working share options Buying into a CSA share can be daunting the first time, often requiring an up-front payment of several hundred dollars. But many farms are willing to work with prospective members, and some have even established programs that help cut costs.

Some farms offer payment options that allow members to break their investment into multiple installments. Others let multiple households “split” shares that would otherwise be too big. Perhaps the most popular option is the working share, in which members volunteer at the farm in exchange for slight discounts.

Top Photo: Morgan Spiehs, Bottom Photo: Chancey Bush

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Photo: Erin Hull

HIGHER LEARNING

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. –Nelson Mandela

Higher Learning

HIGHER EDUCATION DRIVING CULTURE, ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT IN NORTHERN COLORADO With its entrepreneurial spirit and industry focus on clean energy, health, and the biosciences, Northern Colorado is an outstanding home for a major university — like Colorado State — that is committed to innovation.

Tony Frank, Colorado State University System Chancellor and Colorado State University President

Campus, the first fully online public university in the country), as well as CSU’s non-credit Osher Program for adult learning.

Along with access to educational opportunities, a strong system of higher education helps us attract high-quality jobs to the region and sustain a diverse and talented workforce. It’s allowed a creative culture to grow up around bikes, bands, and breweries — along with a flourishing fine arts community.

And thanks to Colorado State and Front Range, our regional talent pool has a homegrown dynamic of people who have ties to the area and a deep understanding of the challenges Northern Colorado faces, and how lessons learned here can be applied to challenges worldwide. It is not just an improved, educated labor pool that community colleges and research universities bring to a local area, but also the ability to dynamically tackle community challenges.

We are seeing this with the new medical center being developed at Prospect and College as a partnership between the CSU Health Network,

Photo: Eliott Foust

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But of course, our region didn’t develop this innovative character by accident. For nearly 150 years, the community and Colorado State University have grown up together with a shared focus on advancing knowledge, research and discovery, fueled by the talents and passion of generations of students, faculty, alumni, and community partners. Today, all of us in Northern Colorado benefit from the vitality and strength of CSU and other regional higher education providers, who are not only the region’s largest employers but also a significant driver of our active, engaged quality of life.

There’s a good reason people want to live in college towns. And we are fortunate, in this region, to have a rich and diverse array of higher education resources to meet the lifelong learning needs of our population. People in our region have ready access to a top-ranked international research university (Colorado State), an excellent community college (Front Range), and groundbreaking online learning options (CSU’s OnLine Plus and CSU-Global

Higher Learning

The strong integration of education into our local life has allowed us to pursue dynamic solutions to complex challenges

to the leadership of City Councilmember Gino Campana, Fort Collins has now become the first city in the United States to adopt this campaign and become an “It’s On Us” community.

Community-campus collaborations -- whether aimed at improving health and safety, economic prosperity, or culture and the arts — have enriched and energized Northern Colorado and Fort Collins. The strong integration of education into our local life has allowed us to pursue dynamic solutions to complex challenges and build a truly special and inviting community.

In the end, it’s clear that education is great for Northern Colorado and Northern Colorado is great for education — it’s a wonderful partnership.

Photo: Erin Hooley

University of Colorado Health, Associates in Family Medicine, and Columbine Health Systems.

We see this in the collaboration that has fueled the Rocky Mountain Innosphere and its pioneering approach to growing businesses.

We see this in the strong collaboration between our Poudre River Public Library District and the libraries at CSU and Front Range — sharing resources, library access, facilities, and co-sponsoring lectures and events.

And most recently, the City and its higher-education institutions are joining forces around a campaign to combat sexual assault. This campaign, “It’s on Us,” began as a national program focused specifically on college campuses. Thanks

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Higher Learning

STUDENTS WANTED TO ABOLISH “A” AT HUGHES STADIUM

BY MATT L. STEPHENS This story was originally published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan on April 13, 2015.

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it than the environmentally-friendly substances CSU now uses. Then again, you have to think, it was 1970 — only 13 years removed from the mascot change and two since Hughes Stadium opened, a facility designed to usher in a new era of athletics (getting CSU into the Western Athletic Conference). For some, holding onto the “A” back then meant living in the past.

Today, the “A” and honoring Aggie heritage means as much to Fort Collins residents as having an opinion on whether to move the football team from Hughes to the main campus. It’s part of our identity. CSU officially honors its roots every September with Ag Day, when the Rams’ football team wears special pumpkin and alfalfa-colored uniforms instead of green and gold, and fans dress in orange.

The “A” has been a part of Fort Collins for more than 90 years, visible in the air from 60 miles away.

For it to not be there would feel wrong, but 45 years ago, that option was on the table.

Photo: V. Richard Haro

The most recognizable landmark in Fort Collins isn’t a part of Old Town.

It’s not a building, stadium or geographic feature; it’s not even a permanent structure.

The most recognizable Fort Collins landmark is a letter painted on the side of a mountain.

Since 1923, the “A” has rested squarely along the Rocky Mountain foothills on the west side of Fort Collins, with CSU students making the short hike every fall, carrying buckets of white paint and spray guns to spruce it up with another coat.

Any Fort Collins resident knows the “A” stands for Aggies, Colorado State University’s (formerly Colorado A&M) mascot until 1957. They’ve learned this, because they’re forced to explain why it’s an “A”— not an “R” for Rams — whenever a friend visits Fort Collins for the first time; it’s an inevitable conversation.

But the “A” wasn’t always a cherished part of Fort Collins history.

When doing research for my feature on the forgotten Moby Gym/BYU riot, I came across a unique letter to the editor in the March 30, 1970 issue of The Rocky Mountain Collegian. A group of students formed the “Minus A” committee that year with the aim of abolishing the “A” from behind Hughes Stadium. “’It’s tradition,’ you say? Well so were College Days, and our present administration saw fit to abolish that tradition without consulting the student body,” the editorial read. “That move left us with just one tradition — the ‘A.’ Is tradition sufficient reason for it to remain there?

“Colorado University has a ‘CU’ on their mountain, Colorado School of Mines has a ‘M’ on theirs, but Colorado State University has an ‘A’?”

Not much is known about Minus A aside from its efforts obviously failing. I reached out to former Fort Collins city councilman Bill Bertschy, who signed the letter as the group’s Organizational Chairman.

He chalked it up to youthful indiscretion and said it didn’t get much further than soliciting signatures for a petition at the CSU flea market April 6-10 with hopes of, at least, adjusting the shape to make an “R.” It’s silly to think anyone would be Gung-ho about removing a little piece of charm from our city’s landscape, even if the paint used then had more lead in

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Photo: Erin Hull

BUSINESS IS GOOD

Higher Learning

Sweat equity is the most valuable equity there is. Know your business and industry better than anyone else in the world. Love what you do or don't do it. –Mark Cuban FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado  97

Business is Good

RETAIL OPTIONS REFLECT VIBRANCY OF NORTHERN COLORADO ECONOMY Shopping in Northern Colorado is no doubt undergoing a someone that would rather be forced to go to the dentist than be dragged around the mall for a couple hours. The transformation of NOCO’s shopping scene is good news for all of us.

John Gaffney, Acting General Manager, Foothills Alberta Development Partners

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Strong retail growth not only means better local options for us as far as where we shop, it also means increased sales and property tax revenues, more jobs, and perhaps most importantly, it symbolizes that our Northern Colorado community is a vibrant and growing place that has a very bright future.

When you see a major redevelopment project like the Foothills Mall in Fort Collins, the Twin Peaks Mall revitalization in Longmont, and new to the market

retailers like Trader Joes, Nordstrom Rack, Sierra Trading Post and so many others coming to town, it’s not hard to connect the dots and see that these companies investing in opening stores in Northern Colorado signals good times are ahead.

But enough ECON 101…let’s take a quick look at some of the options our burgeoning Northern Colorado retail scene offers!

Since I moved here 16 years ago, I have always had the strong sense that

Top left photo: Erin Holley, Top right photo: V. Richard Haro, Bottom right photo: Erin Hooley

renaissance. That’s exciting news on many levels, even if you are

Top photo: Coloradoan file photo, Bottom photo: Erin Hull

Business is Good

Northern Colorado is a community that will bend over backwards to support its local businesses. Today one only need take a stroll through Old Town Fort Collins to see that this is true. Every day of the week, Old Town is bustling with people milling around the many local shops and boutiques that call Old Town home. You can find anything from vintage clothes to artwork to cupcakes, jewelry, artisan olive oil, or spices behind the unique storefronts of Old Town.

If you are looking for national brands and a place to catch a bite to eat or a movie, you’ll love what lies ahead at the reimagined Foothills Mall in Fort Collins. The rebirth of Foothills will provide a one-of-a-kind shopping and entertainment experience. The new facility will feature new outdoor community gathering spaces (including

a winter ice rink!), a new and expanded city recreation center, pedestrian and bike paths connecting Foothills to mass transit and the Mason Street corridor, and many other amenities. Although open during construction, the “new” mall is slated to open in late 2015.

Beyond Old Town and Foothills, places like Front Range Village in south Fort Collins, Centerra in Loveland, and Twin Peaks Mall in Longmont are all poised to offer Northern Colorado shoppers plenty of local and national options now and into the future.

It’s no doubt an exciting time to be a shopping enthusiast in Northern Colorado and things are only getting better. It’s not hard to see a day in the very near future where you won’t have to make that drive down south to Denver to find everything you need, and that’s good news for all of us.

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Business is Good

WELCOME TO STARTUP HAVEN! Fort Collins and its Northern Colorado counterparts Loveland, Greeley and Longmont to the south, are no longer the best kept secret in innovation ecosystems and the story of Colorado’s economic growth engine is no longer Boulder/ Denver centric!

ees from over 25 States and 11 countries on 5 continents attending the 2015 Fort Collins Startup Week (A 6-day festival that provided over 103 Free workshops, events, and networking sessions). The bottom line? Fort Collins Startup Scene is absolutely on fire as we head into 2016!

How do you get plugged in efficiently and become part of our story and contribute to this ecosystem? It is very simple.

First Google search “The Definitive Guide to Fort Collins Startup Scene” and read this FREE slideshare to gain a shortcut to the resources, events, people and organizations that can help you achieve your dreams sooner.

Second, visit www.launchno.co and join the entrepreneurial community of meetups and events calendar and start showing up and the community will plug you in to the people, places, and things you need for your type and stage of business.

Third, Do Something! Don’t wait for permission to be great! Don’t wait for permission to contribute something meaningful (in the way of free events, community building, or entrepreneurial meetups).

Don’t do it alone! Let us know at LaunchNoCo what you are planning and let’s get you in the Guide and the online calendar for co-promotion, sponsorship awareness, and content curation. Don’t forget to give before you get, and trust and know that when you authentically operate from this paradigm that you will be richly rewarded in Northern Colorado!

Welcome to #launchnoco!

Photo: Coloradoan file photo

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The Front Range of Colorado is the model for the world of how interdependent nodes can work to truly create rising tides that benefit all ships. Collaborative and Open relationship infrastructure is uniquely best-in-class and now Fort Collins and Northern Colorado is a major contributor and beneficiary of the “Give First Before You Get” ethos that is a primary DNA layer in the Colorado innovator’s make up.

Inc Magazine’s Editor in Chief Eric Chris and Brianne Snook Schurenberg not only ,Managing Partners of Launch Haus, came out to keynote Co-Founders of Fort Collins and spend all of openStartup Week and the ing day at Fort Collins Launch NoCo movement!

Startup Week on May 26th, but he also was so moved by the energy and innovation that he included his experience in the June 2015 issue of Inc Magazine’s Letter from the Editor.

Fort Collins has the triple helix in full swing with a local government that is focused on innovation and economic health, a toptier research university, a world class non-profit incubator, and the opening of a Galvanize and G-School campus in Old Town. More than 3500 attend-

Business is Good

FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado ÂŤ 101

ADVERSTISEMENT

Get the best of both worlds at Enchantment Ridge Northern Colorado real estate has been hot for months now, and it shows no sign of cooling off anytime soon. This is fantastic news for our communities, but means a lot of stress and difficulty for home buyers.

Buying for the first time is always an intimidating process, and even more so in a highly competitive market. Existing homes are often sold within 24 hours, and often the offers exceed asking price. In this seller’s market, buyers are facing many obstacles and are looking for an alternative to the existing-home challenge.

Brittany and David Alvillar met while attending school at CSU, and decided it was time to buy their first gome when they found out they would soon have their first child. The impending arrival meant it was time to move out of their mid-town apartment rental and find a house of their own for their young family to call home.

The Alvillar’s spent a lot of time researching houses on the internet, weeding out many of the possibilities that did not fit their needs. By the time they found a home they wanted to put an offer on, it was already sold. After

about a month of active searching, several disappointments, and the reality of their timeframe becoming clearer all the time, the Alvillar’s decided to take a different track.

The Alvillar’s came across Hartford Homes at Enchantment Ridge, and decided to consider the possibility of a new home.

“We didn’t even think about a new build at first, because we didn’t think there was any way it could be ready for us when we needed it. But when we decided to go look at some of the models at Enchantment Ridge, we were pleasantly surprised,” says Brittany.

They were initially concerned a new build wouldn’t meet their needs, but when they visited the Hartford Homes development they found that there were homes for sale in various stages of construction, from the expected empty lots to homes that were only a month or so away from move-in day. The Hartford

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Homes sales representative Alex McGregor escorted the Alvillar’s on a walk through what would become their new home in its almost-finished state. “It was like the best of both worlds. We didn’t have to compete with other buyers for the home we wanted, we got a short time frame before we could move in, we knew exactly what we were getting, plus we got to add some custom touches that come with a new build. It was fantastic,” Brittany explained.

The Alvillar’s were pleased with the ease of their entire process, as well as the exceptional knowledge of their sales rep, Alex. Brittany was impressed that, “Alex knew all of the questions we were going to ask, and he had all of the information ready for us. It was really comforting to have all of our concerns addressed so easily.”

The Alvillar’s were thrilled with their nearly seamless home buying process, only wishing they could have saved the stress of their initial hunt by visiting a Hartford Homes site sooner. “It was definitely the right choice for us, and we couldn’t be happier,” Brittany said of their decision. The couple is thrilled at the opportunity to keep their young family in Northern Colorado in a house they are excited to call home.

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Business is Good

FORT COLLINS 12TH AMONGST FASTEST GROWING METRO AREAS ADRIAN GARCIA This article was first published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan on March 27, 2015.

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Fort Collins and Greeley were among the fastestgrowing metros in the nation last year, according to data analyzed by the U.S. Census Bureau.

More than 14,000 people moved to Northern Colorado in a recent 12-month span, data shows.

That growth was partly spurred by area universities, oil and gas activity and strong economic development, Colorado Demographer Elizabeth Garner said Wednesday.

From July 2013 to July 2014, the Fort CollinsLoveland metro area added 7,628 residents — a yearover-year change of 2.4 percent. That growth rate makes Fort Collins-Loveland the 12th fastest-growing metro in the nation.

Greeley took the No. 8 spot. The Weld County city added 7,110 new residents — a year-over-year increase of 2.6 percent. For comparison, the fastest-growing metro in the U.S. was The Villages, Florida with a 5.4 percent growth rate. The community, 60 miles northwest of Orlando, Florida, added 5,867 residents last year.

In Colorado, Greeley had the greatest growth rate during 2014, followed by Fort Collins and then Denver.

Business is Good

We see that the north Front Range is a very popular area and one of the fastest-growing areas in the state “We see that the north Front Range is a very popular area and one of the fastest-growing areas in the state,” Garner said. “We also have to remember this is for July 1, 2014, which is really before the oil and gas prices started to fall.

A lot of the faster growth we saw, especially in Larimer and Weld, may slow a little bit in 2015.”

Local governments, state agencies and other organizations use the 2014 census numbers for a variety of reasons.

“Sometimes funds are distributed based on population. People also use them for planning purposes — looking at how fast or slow their community is growing because they need to be looking at available housing units and other community services,” Garner said. The numbers are especially helpful when paired with past years.

Last year, Colorado grew by about 1.6 percent, adding 83,780 residents, according to the census. Growth in Fort Collins and Greeley spurred a stronger year-over-year growth rate in Larimer and Weld counties.

Larimer had the sixth-fastest growth rate in the state (100th in the nation). Weld had the fifth-fastest rate in the state. The county was

ranked the 76th fastest-growing county in the nation. Gilpin County along the Front Range was the fastest-growing county in the state with a 5 percent year-over-year increase.

Growth in the area is manageable at this point, Larimer County Commissioner Steve Johnson said. “When we have a higher growth rate than 3 percent, then that gets a little more challenging for local governments.”

Northern Colorado consistently being ranked as one of the country’s best places to live may be attracting people to the region, in addition to the area’s strong economy, Johnson said. The Republican commissioner said he often runs into people who have recently relocated from California, the Midwest and places with a high cost of living.

“All the options of keeping people out are not good ones” and may even have negative impacts on our economy, Johnson said. “We are going to continue to grow and have to face that reality. The challenge is how do we maintain our quality of life with those additional people.”

“We’ve done a good job of keeping up with growth in the past,” he said. “We just have to do good job in the future.”

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A DAY IN THE LIFE “You're off to Great Places !

Today is your day !

Your mountain is waiting, So... get on your way !”

Photo: Dawn Madura

–Dr. Seuss

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LIVIN’ THE DREAM

Photo: V. Richard Haro

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I’ll never forget Labor Day 2009. My wife Julie and I are at Horsetooth Reservoir with our 11-month old daughter Noelle. Julie was pregnant at the time with our second daughter Greta. It is one of those perfect Colorado fall days- crystal blue skies, crisp air, leaves showing that first tinge of yellow, the high peaks showing the first dusting of snow.

I turn to Julie and say “so, what do you think?”

She says, “oh yeah, I want to live here.” And the rest, as they say, is history.

At the time we lived in Breckenridge (another spectacular place). We were visiting Northern Colorado for the long holiday weekend because I had been offered an incredible job opportunity in Fort Collins. Even though I was a Colorado native, I hadn’t spent much time in Fort Collins and the surrounding areas. We spent the weekend getting a “lay of the land.” Needless to say, we were beyond impressed.

That holiday weekend and that afternoon at Horsetooth Reservoir convinced us. This is where we wanted to live and raise our family. We based our decision on the obvious- the terrific outdoor lifestyle, the countless parks and playgrounds, the endless miles of bike paths, the beautiful rivers, the yummy restaurants, the charismatic downtown areas,

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the performing arts centers, the vibrant economy, the close proximity to a National Park, the close proximity to a major metropolitan area, the close proximity to an international airport, the wonderful schools for our kids, and the “just big enough” size that provides wonderful amenities yet minimal congestion. We knew we would be “livin’ the dream!”

Here’s the catch. Six years later, it’s way better than we ever imagined! All of the obvious reasons remain fantastic. And what we didn’t fully understand 6 years ago is the reason why Northern Colorado is so incredible is because of the people.

The people here are the most authentic, sincere, caring, intelligent, down-to-earth people I have ever been around. I’m lucky enough to travel to many places around the globe and the people of Northern Colorado clearly stand out as a cut above.

I have a saying that “the best people want to be around the best people.” Northern Colorado is unique in its ability to attract world-class people. The people here give back. The people here collaborate.

The people here are visionary. The people here are committed to making Northern Colorado great.

Every day I’m grateful for our decision to move here. Every day I’m grateful for the people of Northern Colorado!

Eric Thompson, President, Windermere Real Estate Services

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FORT COLLINS GIVES BACK

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Top photo: V. Richard Haro, Bottom photo: Morgan Spiehs

Gordan Thibedeau President & CEO, United Way of Larimer County

Our community has a strong history of volunteerism. According to the Corporation for National & Community Service, Fort Collins is ranked 7th nationwide among other mid-sized cites for volunteerism with 39.4% of residents volunteering. That’s 7.6% higher than the Colorado state average of 31.8%.

Additionally, each year, thousands of people volunteer for our community’s nationally recognized Make A Difference Day. Here in Larimer County, United Way expands this national day of service to a full week of giving back that encourages people to participate in numerous service projects benefiting local organizations.

Because of this, it should come as no surprise that Make A Difference Day is listed as one of the Fort Collins Coloradoan’s “101 Things to Do in Northern Colorado.”

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However, volunteer needs go beyond one week in October. There are many ways to make a difference all year long.

People can use their different skill sets and passions to fill the gaps where there is not normally the time, money, and/ or capacity to accomplish all that needs to be done. Volunteers can help ensure fresh produce at the Food Bank or help keep our natural areas clean and looking nice. They can be positive role models for at-risk youth who might not otherwise have a caring adult in their lives.

And, they can provide a kind, caring smile to seniors who may not be able to leave their homes or don’t have anyone to look in on them.

Volunteers come in all shapes and sizes with varying commitment levels, and there are opportunities for everyone. Volunteers can help fill one-time and ongoing needs, and many volunteer opportunities are open to local youth and groups of people, such as businesses, church groups, friends, families, and neighbors.

In Larimer County, we don’t sit on the sidelines while our fellow community members struggle. That’s why thousands of volunteers have already joined United Way’s movement to change lives and strengthen our community, and we invite you to join us. If we all work together and give what we can, we can keep Larimer County a great place to live, work, and play for generations to come. Great things happen when we LIVE UNITED.

Get Involved

Photo: Kathy Jack-Romero

There are many different ways to find volunteer opportunities that match your interests, skills, and schedule. » Contact the local organization of your choice and ask if they have any needs. » Go to www.uwaylc.org/ volunteer and search the online database or the Northern Colorado Volunteer Resource Guide for current and ongoing opportunities. » Sign up for United Way monthly email updates at www.uwaylc.org to receive information on Current Volunteer Opportunities. » Call United Way 2-11 (970-407-7066) or email volunteer@uwaylc.org to be matched with the right volunteer opportunity for you. » Sign up for a Make a Difference Day project in October or a National Volunteer Month project in April at www.uwaylc.org/ MakeADifferenceDay.

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ADVERSTISEMENT

New Homes in the Heart of Northern Colorado Larimer County is projected to grow by 37,000 people in the next five years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. With the influx of jobs, a strong economy, and its’ close proximity to the foothills, choosing a home in the epicenter of northern Colorado seems an obvious choice for both newcomers and natives to Colorado.

Every Day is an Adventure Here One key point to finding the perfect community is to think about the amenities you want direct access to and the neighbors you want to be surrounded by. While you can’t always choose your neighbors, you can choose to live in an active lifestyle community that fosters relationships with your neighbors and nature and places you minutes from everyday conveniences.

The plan behind The Lakes at Centerra came from McWhinney, the developers who designed and built Centerra in the early 90’s. The Lakes at Centerra is built on the same philosophy of creating a sense of place and invites homebuyers to engage with the newest residential lifestyle community in Loveland, CO. 112 » FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado

The Lakes at Centerra offers immediate access to Hwy. 34 and I-25, making it close to Fort Collins, Greeley, Windsor, and an easy drive to Denver, Denver International Airport and Rocky Mountain National Park.

You’ll experience nearby shopping, dining, world class medical and health services, and everyday conveniences as well as sports, art performances, hiking, rafting, boating, skiing, cycling, fishing, festivals, and other activities both indoor and outdoor enthusiasts love year round. Don’t be surprised if the enjoyable Colorado climate keeps you close to the state-of-the-art clubhouse and the outdoor pool and splash zone, has you engaged and participating with neighbors at regular community events, maybe relaxing as you paddle a kayak on the lake or has you exploring the miles of neighborhood

Townhomes and Patio Homes Boulder Creek Neighborhoods provides low maintenance 2-4 bedroom townhomes and patio homes perfect for those who love convenience and easy living. The two and three car garage options offer the perfect storage place for toys for all seasons.

Wonderland Homes builds luxury low maintenance patio homes on premier home sites with open space frontage.

Single-Family Homes Three builders were chosen to offer single-family homes offering a wide variety of floor plans and sizes for expanding families. Each single-family floor plan offers unique amenities and options to homebuyers. New buyers can choose from the following collections: - TRI Pointe Homes Premier Collection - Village Homes Award-Winning Park Collection - Wonderland Homes Summit Series trails home to natural habitat. There’s also a winter season to enjoy that’s filled with roasting marshmallows by the firepit, cooking demonstrations in the Lake Club, snowshoeing on the trails, sledding, and ice skating at the Centerra Ice Rink.

Sustainable Lifestyle Living A sustainable community was a key component of the master-plan for The Lakes at Centerra. The High Plains Environmental Center (HPEC) is located

ADVERSTISEMENT

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LakesAtCenterra.com

near The Lake Club and is a thriving community non-profit whose focus includes land stewardship, management of natural wetlands, demonstration gardens, lecture education classes, guided nature and bird walks, community garden plots and plenty of volunteer opportunities for children and adults in The Lakes community.

Miles of trails, recreational space, and acres of tranquil water have been invested in and are maintained regularly. Community resources have been considered and implemented to promote engagement and shared use by all residents. The community experience is full of programs and events where neighbors actively engage with each other.

A neighborhood pre K-8 Thompson School District school is currently under construction and is slated to open August of 2016. This public S.T.E.M school focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math and is located within the community. Walking and biking to school for your family can be a regular practice and be a small way to demonstrate your own commitment to sustainability at The Lakes at Centerra. The Sunshine House Daycare offers early morning and after-school care for school-age

children in addition to regular early childhood education programs.

Building on Quality The Lakes at Centerra invested in finding four innovative and creative building partners to construct a variety of energy efficient homes. Quality and distinctive design and sustainable building practices are employed to offer homebuyers the most value and engagement with the natural habitat at The Lakes at Centerra.

Embrace Everything You Love Make finding your new home a meaningful decision to become part of a dedicated and thriving lifestyle community you can see yourself actively engaged in for years to come.

Whatever your values are: arts, culture, recreation, open space, fitness or community events and activities you’ll find that The Lakes at Centerra gives you the space to explore and enjoy them all year round. Families, couples, and individuals know that The Lakes at Centerra offers them the accessibility they need to live the Front Range lifestyle they desire while remaining close to employers, amenities and everyday conveniences.

To learn more, visit LakesAtCenterra.com

A ONE-OF-A KIND ACTIVE LIFESTYLE COMMUNITY IN LOVELAND, COLORADO TO LEARN MORE: Visit www.LakesAtCenterra.com Or call (970)962-9990 CONNECT WITH US: Visit Facebook.com/LakesAtCenterra 13 MODEL HOMES AND LAKE CLUB OPEN DAILY FYI: Your Guide to Northern Colorado ÂŤ 113

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TOP 5 FOCO HIKES FOR KIDS

BY STEPHEN MEYERS This story was originally published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan on March 19, 2014.

Fort Collins boasts dozens of natural areas and open spaces and Lory State Park, all offering great opportunities take the tykes for a stroll outdoors. As the weather warms, streams will start running and wildflowers will start popping.

Animals will scurry about through the wilderness, capturing your children’s attention and their imagination.

File away this story, as these five destinations are worthy of a visit any time of the year:

Well Gulch Nature Trail Where: Take Overland Trail north to Larimer County Road 50E (Bingham Hill Road). Turn left and go west to County Road 23. Turn left and go 1.4 miles south to Larimer County Road 25G. Take a right and drive 1.6 miles to the Lory State Park entrance. Follow the road south until you see the sign for the trail.

Distance: Easy, 1.2-mile loop Hours: 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. (year-round dawn to dusk) Fees: $7 for a daily pass Facilities: Restrooms, water and information available at the Visitor Center Pets: Yes, on leash Why go: With all the moisture we’ve had this winter, this foot-only trail ought to be stunning in the spring. A creek parallels the trail, attracting migrating birds and butterflies, and this might be the best wildlflower hike in the area. Check out the several interpretive signs, pointing out the different life zones along the trail.

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animal life during the walk. For a longer hike, try Arthur’s Rock Trail, which is a park favorite.

Information: (970) 493-1623 or http:// cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/Lory

CSU Environmental Learning Center Where: Go east on Drake Road. About 1 mile after passing the intersection at Timberline, turn left on Environmental Drive.

The road will cross a one-lane bridge and turn sharply to the south. Before making the sharp turn south, take a left on the gravel road (you will see the ELC sign), crossing the railroad tracks.

Distance: Easy, 1 mile one way Hours: Dawn to dusk Fees: Free Facilities: Restrooms, picnic tables, bike rack at the ELC Pets: Not allowed Why go: Nestled along the Poudre River, the Environmental Learning Center features self-guided nature trails that meander through the cottonwood riparian forest, where you can catch glimpses of waterfowl and shorebirds. It’s a perfect place to pack a picnic. Deer hang out in the area, and the trails hook up to the Poudre River Trail, so you could bring the bikes for a pleasant ride along the river. The big draw here is the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program’s raptor cages at the ELC parking lot. Here, you can see eagles, hawks, turkey vultures and owls. The kids will love that. The ELC hosts educational programs throughout the year, including summer day camps for kids.

Information: (970) 491-1661 or www. csuelc.org

Coyote Ridge Natural Area Where: Take Taft Hill Road south of the Larimer County Landfill for 1 mile. The Coyote Ridge Natural Area parking lot is on your right.

Distance: Easy to moderate, 2.3 miles of trails Hours: 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.

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Fees: Free Facilities: Restrooms at the Coyote Ridge Natural Area cabin, 1 mile from the trailhead.

Pets: No Why go: The trail gets hot in the summer, so early spring is a prime time to visit Coyote Ridge, which winds through the prairie and switchbacks and up the foothills. Check out the 1/4-mile Hidden Clues Trail, an interpretive loop about 1 mile into the open space. The interpretive loop is wheelchair accessible. The city will make arrangements for groups or people with limited mobility to have vehicle access to the accessible trail loop.

Look for wildlife, such as mule deer, especially in the morning or evening, as well as prairie dogs, rabbits and hawks. You might even catch a glimpse of a coyote.

Information: (970) 416-2815 or www. fcgov.com/naturalareas/finder/coyote.

Photo: Coloradoan file photo

The Farm at Lee Martinez Park Where: 600 N. Sherwood St., Fort Collins. From Old Town Fort Collins, head west on LaPorte Avenue. Turn right on North Sherwood Street. The farm is located on the park’s west side.

Distance: Easy, 1 mile one-way Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m.

Sundays; closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Fees: $3 for ages 2 and older; 10-day admission $24 Facilities: Restrooms, picnic tables, picnic shelter and water at the park Pets: Yes, on leash Why go: Take your bikes, or walk along the Poudre Trail to The Farm, where kids and adults can pet and feed farm animals and take part in interactive hands-on

activities. Kids can take pony rides at certain times during the year, and The Farm really puts on a show in October, with hayrides and pumpkin patches.

Information: (970) 221-6665 or www. fcgov.com/recreation/thefarm.php.

Bobcat Ridge Natural Area Where: 10184 W. County Road 32C, Loveland. Take Harmony Road west, which turns into County Road 38E. Follow County Road 38 E to Masonville. Go left (south) at the Masonville Mercantile onto County Road 27. Follow County Road 27 about 1 mile to County Road 32C. Head west about 1 mile to the Bobcat Ridge parking lot.

Distance: Several trails, including Valley Loop (4-mile loop); Ginny Trail (5.4 miles); D.R. Trail (3.4 miles); Powerline Road (1.5 miles) and Eden Valley Spur (1.3 miles).

Hours: Dawn to dusk, daily Fees: Free Facilities: Restrooms, covered pavilion, horse trailer parking Pets: Not allowed Why go: The red rock cliffs and grassy valley are home to elk, wild turkey and even mountain lions, and the natural area hosts a series of educational programs for kids. Nature Nuggets is one of several free educational programs provided by the city of Fort Collins Natural Areas Department. The programs teach youngsters (and their parents) about animals and ecology and many of the programs are hosted at Bobcat Ridge. The natural area is also a popular location for skygazing programs. There are also several historic homestead sites.

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5 NOCO WATERFALL HIKES

BY STEPHEN MEYERS This story was originally published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan on June 4, 2015.

Horsetooth Falls ripped down the rocky chute to the small, chilly pool 25 feet below. Brave souls stood under the falls, letting the steady stream of cold Spring Creek water crash on their heads and shoulders.

The refreshing blast was welcome on the warm, late spring day.

The trail to Horsetooth Falls at present is the most beautiful I’ve ever seen it. All that May rain has left the vegetation absolutely popping in every shade of green imaginable. White, purple and yellow wildflowers are beginning to sprout up along the trail.

While late spring may be the most impressive time to see the falls, the beauty remains throughout the seasons.

There aren’t many better nature experiences than hiking to a mountain waterfall.

The best Northern Colorado waterfall hikes are in Rocky Mountain National Park, including Ouzel Falls, which were featured as part of the Coloradoan’s summer hiking series.

Here are five of the best waterfall hikes near Fort Collins.

Horsetooth Falls

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Photo: Coloradoan file photo

Where: Go west on Harmony Road (Larimer County Road 38E) and follow this around Horsetooth Reservoir for 6.5 miles to the Horsetooth Mountain Open Space parking lot on the north side of County Road 38E. Trail distance: 1.7 miles one way Prime time: June-July Go with the flow:The 25-foot waterfall,

A Day in the Life fed by Spring Creek — and all the recent rain — is ripping right now. Bring the kids on a hot day to play in the pool below.

Enjoy the wildflowers along the trail.

Fee: $6 for daily entrance or $75 for annual pass Information: Larimer County Parks, 970 679-4570 orwww.co.larimer.co.us/ naturalresources/htmp.cfm.

got its name. With snowpack so high this season, expect a good flow show this season. Enjoy the refreshing mist. Make sure to hike above the falls on the giant granite slabs to picnic and take in the show.

Fee: It’s part of Rocky Mountain National Park, but there is no entrance fee.

Information: Rocky Mountain National Park, 970-586-1206 or www.nps.gov/romo

Alberta Falls

Fish Creek Falls

Where: From the main Beaver Meadows entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park, head west for a quarter of a mile to Bear Lake Road. Take Bear Lake Road 8 miles to the Bear Lake parking lot.

Trail distance: 0.8 miles one way Prime time: June-July Go with the flow: These falls cascade 25 feet over granite slabs and boulders and into a pool before funneling into Glacier Creek. These easily accessible falls at the popular Bear Lake area of Rocky Mountain National Park are the most visited in the park, so time your visit accordingly. Plan to arrive at the parking lot by 10 a.m. during the weekends.

Fee: $20 for seven-day pass Information: Rocky Mountain National Park, 970-586-1206 or www.nps.gov/romo

Where: From the middle of Steamboat Springs, follow Fish Creek Road for three miles to the parking area. The upper lot is for day hiking and lower lot for overnight and horse trailers.

Trail distance: 0.6 miles; wheelchair accessible Prime time: The falls run all year, but the biggest show is June-July Go with the flow: Just minutes from downtown Steamboat, this is one of Colorado’s premier waterfalls with an impressive 280-foot freefall. It is easily accessible with a short concrete nature trail leading to the upper viewing area.

Fee: $5 Information: Routt National Forest, 970-870-2299 or www.fs.usda.gov/mbr

Bridal Veil Falls

Where: Lory State Park, accessed from the Timber Group Picnic Area, near the visitor center.

Trail distance: 0.1 miles Prime time: Now to July Go with the flow: Normally not much more than a trickle, the series of waterfalls this spring and early summer are gushing thanks to the recent rainfall and a strong snowpack. Go now to see the show.

Fee: $7 for daily entrance or $70 for annual state parks pass Information: or cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/Lory.

Photo: Coloradoan file photo

Where: From Fort Collins, take U.S. Highway 287 south to U.S. Highway 34 in Loveland. Take U.S. 34 west to Drake then veer off on Larimer County Road 43 (Devil’s Gulch Road). Take LCR 43 (you may encounter delays) 11.5 miles west onto McGraw Ranch Road. Continue 2.2 miles to Cow Creek Trailhead.

Trail distance: 3.2 miles one way Prime time: June-July Go with the flow: Once you see the falls with white water flowing over repeated drops, you’ll know how the falls

Lory State Park Waterfall Trail

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MOVE YOUR BODY

BY STACEY MCKENNA

With abundant sunshine, towering mountains, and diverse wilderness spaces, a fit and active lifestyle is just part of being a Colorado resident. In recent years, Fort Collins has been popping up on healthiest cities lists.

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off and play. Water-sports enthusiasts may want to try their hand at stand-up paddle boarding or wake-boarding on Horsetooth Reservoir. The city boasts several outdoor swimming pools and accessible swimming quarries for a more relaxing afternoon. The skilled and adventurous may want to kayak the challenging waters of Cache la Poudre River’s “The Narrows.”

Boulderers can climb a bit of history at Horsetooth Reservoir’s Piano Boulders and Rotary Park. The area, developed by John Gill, is considered by many to be the birthplace of American bouldering. A few top-rope climbs can be found at Duncan’s Ridge and the Torture Chamber.

A fantastic system of less nature-oriented city sports resources are available as well, including public golf courses and baseball fields, as well as outdoor tennis, raquetball and basketball courts.

Most of these resources are free or lowcost to use.

Photo: Sam Noblett

Most recently, Livability ranked us No. 9 nationwide. And it’s no surprise, with a bounty of opportunities for adventure, recreation, and sport all around.

Outdoor types will find plenty of local chances to enjoy nature in the city: Ride a bike! If you don’t have one, you can rent one at the bike library.

Fort Collins offers miles of paved trails, bike lanes, and mountain biking trails for cyclists. We even host New Belgium Brewery’s original and amazing annual bike festival, Tour de Fat. There’s a reason we’re a designated Platinum Level Bicycle Friendly Community.

Hike to Horsetooth Rock or go for a run along the Poudre River. Fort Collins is packed with excellent hiking and running trails through beautiful scenery. The ambitious can enjoy participating in any of a number of local races, while those happy to take life in at a slower pace may enjoy wildlife spotting in our open spaces.

Come summertime, local rivers and reservoirs can be great places to cool

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Staying fit indoors Staying fit in Fort Collins doesn’t always require perfect weather. There are plenty of chances to stay fit and have fun indoors.

There are many dance-based health and fitness opportunities throughout the city, both at gyms and activity-specific facilities.

Alternative Fitness Classes available include pilates, dance, and aerial silks, just to name a few: » Powerhouse Pilates » Julia DiVerdi, Cupcake Cabaret and Sumatra Bellydance » Limelight Fitness

Photo: Erin Hooley

Crossfit For those who enjoy a cross-training feel, CrossFit classes are offered throughout the city at designated studios and gyms: » CrossFit Evolve » CrossFit Chaos » Miramont Lifestyle Fitness, CrossFit

Yoga If you’re looking to mix your workout with some mental work, yoga studios abound, covering a variety of styles of practice. Many gyms also offer yoga classes with membership: » Om Ananda Yoga » Core Power Yoga » Holistic Yoga School » Old Town Yoga

Climbing Aspiring and experienced climbers alike can get some vertical training in at Fort Collins’ rock gyms: » Inner Strength » Miramont Lifestye Fitness, North » CSU Climbing Wall All kinds of recreation activities and classes — from art classes to yoga to hiking groups — are available through the recreation center.

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–Tyler Hamilton

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Photo: Chancey Bush

If you like the outdoors, Colorado is a big adventure playground for adults: it’s great for skiing, cycling, climbing, and hiking.

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