The park is situated on the West side of Horsetooth Reservoir and butts up against forest service and private land to the west, and Horsetooth Mountain Park to the south. The trail we hiked was up to the top of Arthur's Rock which is a 3.4 mile round trip. Its a steep, dusty, and rock strewn trail that works its way back and forth across a creek filled ravine from the valley to the top of the ridge line. It's not quite the tallest peak in the park but it's very close. Generally we see a lot of wildlife but on this day it was mainly birds soaring on the thermals. However, a couple we met on the way up said they saw a mama bear and two cubs about half way to the top that morning. It's not surprising as these hills are full of mule deer, bear, mountain lion, and of course turkeys.
On Saturday the 3rd of May we decided to head up to Lory State Park as a family. The goal was to begin our challenge to slowly work off the multiple steep trails and hikes that will be required to check this park off the list. I have done a bit of turkey hunting on these hills and those days never disappoint, as long as you are into a hike that makes you feel like your legs and lungs are going to give out. It's steep, hot, and extremely beautiful. Lory is probably one of my most favored places on the Northern Front Range because of the variety of trails and the access to the lake. The park is situated on the West side of Horsetooth Reservoir and butts up against forest service and private land to the west, and Horsetooth Mountain Park to the south. The trail we hiked was up to the top of Arthur's Rock which is a 3.4 mile round trip. Its a steep, dusty, and rock strewn trail that works its way back and forth across a creek filled ravine from the valley to the top of the ridge line. It's not quite the tallest peak in the park but it's very close. Generally we see a lot of wildlife but on this day it was mainly birds soaring on the thermals. However, a couple we met on the way up said they saw a mama bear and two cubs about half way to the top that morning. It's not surprising as these hills are full of mule deer, bear, mountain lion, and of course turkeys. Headed up the trail Headed down to find some cold Cherry Limeaid
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I decided to cap off the first week of Hometown Hikes with a visit to one of my favorite Fort Collins Natural Areas. Riverbend Ponds sits on the East side of Fort Collins right off of Riverside Avenue and adjoins several other city natural areas. It's not only a great place to hike or bike but to also canoe/SUP and fish. I have spent many afternoons fly fishing from the canoe in these generally shallow ponds. The area has seven ponds in all, two of which are fairly decent in size. The fishing is good most of the year and you can catch bluegill and bass here. The natural area also shares a border with the Poudre River and so I often use the parking are off of Timberline as an access point to paddle. Trip details
For many of the hikes I plan to do as part of this challenge, a bike is just going to be a necessity. The trip I did Saturday is a good example of how using a bike makes it actually faster to hit multiple parks in a single afternoon than if I were to drive from park to park and check them out. With a bike I was able to visit 8 parks, 3 natural areas, and completely ride 4 of our city bike trails in just a couple of hours. And becuase they are all connected with city bike trails I only had to leave a bike trail for less than a quarter mile - that's pretty amazing. I sat down Friday night with my map knowing that Saturday afternoon I'd have a couple of free hours. I mapped out a big loop that would get me through all of the major bike trails on the south end of town and to many of the city and community parks. Below are some pictures and details from the journey. The parks were a particular challenge since many only had a trail on one side so I ended up having to circumnavigate in the grass or ride through it twice just so it would count.
Lucas and I decided to get a jump on the weekend with a little Saturday morning hike before lunch. We drove just south of the house to a really nice open space park managed by Fort Collins. The city hosts a really nice birding fair each year at this facility that we have been to many times. This was the first time that we had hiked all of the way down to the East shelters along the lake. Trip details
A windy evening hike Tonight I looked at the map of my hiking options and picked a natural area that was close to home and one I know very well - Arapahoe Bend Natural Area. In the years where I was doing a lot of canoe challenges, I would paddle between 200 - 300 miles a year, in circles, in this parks largest lake (Beaver Pond). We also visit this spot often on summer evenings to play with the sailboats, paddle boards, and kayaks with the family. The park is just a few miles from the house and provides a quick escape from reality with dirt trails, 4-lakes to boat or fish in, and access to the Poudre River for upstream/downstream paddling. Trip details
Let's get pointless I haven’t had a pointless challenge out in front of me for a while now and so I decided to activate a little idea that I have had rolling around my brain for a few years now. As you know, I live in a pretty fabulous spot on the planet known as Fort Collins, Colorado. Nestled against the Eastern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains we have a mixture of hills, plains, lakes and ponds, a couple rivers, lots of trails, and many, many regional parks and open spaces. It’s special to me because it’s my hometown of course, but more importantly, every time I get outside to play (canoe, hike, hunt, bike, fly kites, etc.) I am reminded of just how special and beautiful a place it is and how getting outside always lifts my spirits. The challenge is simple – get outside, move around, and visit every park in our county Typically my outdoor challenges are big and audacious and often include multi-day, hundred plus mile canoe journeys, or something that involves a great deal of personal suffering…this will not be that kind of challenge. It’s a bit more down to earth for a reason, river trips take planning, my body hurts a lot when I get home, it takes me away from family, and it’s hard to do with consistency. So instead of a huge challenge this year I am challenging myself to do a bunch of small and accessible challenges strung together into a huge goal. I plan to visit then walk, run, rollerblade, or bike all of the parks, open space areas, and trails in our extensive trail system. I am going to start with the Fort Collins Natural Areas and the Larimer County Open Space Parks and then throw in some random places as they make sense. I am not putting an end date on this project or too many rules, I just want to make steady progress towards this fairly big goal, get outside, and have a bit of fun in the outdoors. Rules for this challenge include:
It’s not as small a challenge as I originally thought The more I have begun to look at the reality of this challenge, the more I realize that I have a lot of time in the outdoors ahead. Because our city and town invest so many resources in preservation of open space, and everyone is pretty active, there are hundreds of trail miles out in front of me right now. Highlights include:
I hope you find some inspiration in this pointless challenge Fort Collins is not so dissimilar to YOUR hometown and so anyone can take on a crazy challenge like this to get to know your hometown a bit better. If you look around you all of the amenities we have in Colorado that I mentioned above, maybe minus a 14,000 foot peak or two, exist where you are – regardless of if you live in the Midwest, the plains, an island, or on the coast. In fact when I lived in Ohio I found lots of places to “get my outdoors on” without any mountains, microbreweries, and accoutrements that come with the Colorado lifestyle. I remember fondly cross country skiing and mountain biking on the east side of Alum Creek Reservoir, canoeing the river below that same dam or on any of number of local rivers in central Ohio, hiking in the Hocking Hills, biking along the Olentangy River Trail, and the list goes on and on – there are beautiful places everywhere you just need to get off the couch and out of your car.
More to come, stay tuned to the blog for pictures and updates. Dinosaurs and crazy characters made of junk On the second stop during our first day of Hometown Hikes, Lucas and I dropped by an old family favorite park, Swetsville Zoo. This park was developed at the home of Bill Swets on the Eastern edge of Fort Collin,s and right along the banks of the Poudre River. There are all manner of creative sculptures including life-size dinosaurs, alien spaceships, huge bugs, and all manner of wind sculptures all made from discarded iron. If you have not been there, it's worth a stop. Trip details
First "official" hometown hike Our family just returned from 8 full days at Disney World and Universal Studios on Saturday and so we had already been walking for days and days in a row. So I figured instead of chilling out on the couch on Sunday before returning to work, Lucas and I could pack up the Vespa and head out to pick off the first of the many parks and open spaces in the Hometown Hikes Challenge. We revisited a spot that we have been to previously, River Bluffs Open Space - part of the Fort Collins Natural Areas System, and I knew the round trip would only be about 2-miles. The weather was in the 60's and clear and Lucas was just stoked to get to ride on the scooter. Trip details
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AuthorRob Bean is an everyday adventurer who is based in Fort Collins, Colorado. He enjoys all manner of outside activities from canoeing, to kiting, and hunting. Archives
May 2014
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