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Citizen's Guide to Colorado's Environmental Era
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Citizen's Guide to Colorado's Environmental Era
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Publications
Year
2005
Title
Citizen's Guide to Colorado's Environmental Era
Author
Colorado Foundation for Water Education
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as Utah, the Grand Valley Audubon Society <br />is working with Mesa County, the City of <br />Grand Junction and private landowners, <br />with a grant from the Colorado Department <br />of Parks and Outdoor Recreation. <br />Gore Creek <br />Certain tributaries to the Colorado <br />River offer notable river walks. The Gore <br />Creek Trail in Vail wanders through deep <br />woods which screen out some of the <br />condos and take eastbound trail users to <br />botanical heaven —the Betty Ford Alpine <br />Gardens. This state of the art Gore Creek <br />Stream Walk, as it is officially called, offers <br />separate trails for foot traffic and bicy- <br />clists. The soft bark chip trail adds spring <br />to the footstep, a welcome discovery for <br />pedestrians. Many interpretive signs and <br />diversions, including bird feeding stations <br />and mini - nature trails, make this one of <br />the state's best river walks, although on the <br />eastern end a paved golf course road grabs <br />the creek away. <br />Vail also offers the Vail Pass /Copper <br />Mountain/Ten Mile Canyon and Frisco <br />trail. Besides being an acrobatic asphalt <br />ribbon that adorns I -70, this trail takes <br />foot and bike traffic through alpine scen- <br />ery along Black Gore Creek and Ten Mile <br />Creek through wetlands, meadows and <br />forests. The trail also follows sections of the <br />Blue River in Summit County. <br />Yampa River <br />The Yampa, long a favorite for boat- <br />ers, is also becoming a grand river trail. A <br />paved and soft surface riverside trail starts <br />east of Steamboat Springs at the Yampa <br />River Botanic Park, fabulous gardens that <br />since their 1997 opening have grown to <br />rival Betty Ford's Alpine Gardens at Vail. <br />Free umbrellas and brochures welcome <br />visitors at the flowery trailhead just off <br />U.S. 40. <br />From the Yampa River Botanic Park, the <br />water trail leads through Steamboat Springs, <br />with links to the city's Hot Springs inter- <br />pretive trail, the Howelsen Ski Hill Sports <br />Complex and Rodeo Grounds and the <br />library. Downstream at Hayden, the Yampa <br />adorns the well preserved Carpenter Ranch, <br />a famous Hereford and hay ranch that is now <br />a major Nature Conservancy project with <br />riverside nature trails open to the public. <br />Re- Animating the Animas <br />The Animas River Greenway Trail <br />offers a fast and scenic route through <br />Durango. On high -water days, trail users <br />are joined by river runners as well as bik- <br />ers, rollerbladers, dog walkers and fisher- <br />men. A paved trail follows the river and <br />the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge <br />Railroad track from 32nd Street south to <br />the Durango Mall <br />The Roaring Fork of the Colorado <br />Aspen's Roaring Fork River trail leads <br />to the Holden Marolt Museum, a notable <br />celebration of Aspen's mining and ranching <br />past, at the town's north entrance. From <br />Holden Marolt, cyclists and foot traffic can <br />follow the river walk to the Aspen Institute <br />with its earth sculpture gourds and famous <br />Music Tent, to the Aspen Art Museum <br />and the Ute Cemetery, which has been <br />converted to a park featuring a tombstone <br />history walk. <br />Breckenridge on the Blue <br />Breckenridge boasts one of the busiest <br />and most beautiful river trails. The Blue <br />River Walk takes you through the center <br />of a town that was almost gobbled up by <br />gold dredge boats. Today's remnant is the <br />Dredge Restaurant & Bar. Sitting in the <br />middle of the Blue, it offers food, drink, <br />dredge boat history exhibits, and a great <br />view of the surrounding snow capped <br />1 4 1 C O L O R A D O F O U N D A T I O N F O R WATER E D U C A T I O N <br />mountains and the Blue River Trail lead- <br />ing to the town's Alpine Gardens, Music <br />Tent and other attractions. Besides many <br />people and dogs, the river is also adorned <br />with water sculptures thanks to the city's <br />"Sculpture on the Blue" program. <br />Minturn on the Eagle <br />Smaller, less glamorous towns are <br />also cleaning up their waterways. Tiny <br />Minturn, a blue - collar town of miners and <br />more recently of service workers for near- <br />by ski resorts has actively pursued and <br />implemented a turnaround of the Eagle <br />River for more than a decade. "Mines had <br />really killed the river," admitted former <br />Mayor Earle Bidez. "The joke was that you <br />could catch more fish with a magnet than <br />a fishing pole." However, with mitigation <br />funds from the Eagle Mine —which had <br />polluted its namesake river —the Eagle <br />has undergone a $70 million cleanup. <br />Now the trout and the fishermen have <br />returned to the rehabilitated river as it <br />flows through Minturn. ❑ <br />About the author: Thomas J. Noel, a professor of <br />history at CU- Denver, writes the Dr. Colorado <br />Column for the Saturday Rocky Mountain <br />News /Denver Post and appears as the good <br />doctor on Channel 9's Colorado & Company. <br />Tom has authored or co- authored 35 books <br />including Buildings of Colorado; Colorado: <br />A Liquid History & Tavern Guide, Riding <br />High: Colorado Ranchers & 100 Years of <br />the National Western Stock Show, Denver: <br />Mining Camp to Metropolis and Historical <br />Atlas of Colorado. Tom also conducts tours <br />of Denver cemeteries, railroads, saloons and <br />waterways for the Colorado Historical Society <br />and the Smithsonian Institution. <br />
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