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Trails of Northern Colorado Fort Collins Museum of Discovery
Tour 2: Fort Collins Tour 3: Mountains to Plains Tour 1: The Foothills
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Mule deer at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area. Photo courtesy City of Fort Collins Natural Areas Program

Reservoir Ridge Natural Area is part of the Foothills Trail system that also connects with Pineridge and Maxwell Ridge Natural Areas. Reservoir Ridge is the northernmost of these areas, covering 311 acres. It offers the visitor a scenic Colorado experience amidst rugged trails, dramatic rock outcroppings, grasslands, mountain mahogany shrubs, and a few Ponderosa pines.

At Reservoir Ridge you’ll also find Primrose Studio, a meeting facility open to the public. Primrose Studio was once a busy art studio for textile printer, Dorothy Udall. She and her husband Robert built the studio and nearby residence, where they lived for more than 40 years. Dorothy passed away in 1993. In 1996, Robert donated 41 acres of land to the west of the studio to the City’s Natural Areas Program, and in 2001, he donated the studio, the house and 20 acres more on the southwest shore of Claymore Lake to the program. Robert passed away in 2001, and the couple’s desire was that the land and the art studio they held dear be preserved and available for other people’s enjoyment and use--a tribute to them and a celebration of the natural and cultural legacy they left to the Fort Collins community and its visitors. 


Dorothy Udall at Primrose Studio

Dorothy and Robert (Rob) Udall were devoted to land restoration, conservation and social work. It was on land that is now part of Reservoir Ridge Natural Area that these two Colorado State University professors built a home and art studio where they lived and created for more than 40 years. Rob, a professor of Veterinary Medicine, and Dorothy, a professor of Interior Design in the Home Economics Department, were active in many organizations in Fort Collins and in Kenya, Africa where they journeyed in 1965. This adventure took them off the typical academic path and changed the course of Dorothy’s career.

The couple moved to Kenya for Rob to teach at the veterinary school at the University of Nairobi. Since American wives were not expected to hold jobs, Dorothy found herself combining her background in art and design with her desire to provide work for some of the many unskilled women from rural areas seeking employment in Nairobi. She opened a small textile production company, which she dubbed “Maridadi” after the Swahili word meaning “pretty” or “fancy.” Here women produced unique fabrics inspired by the region’s traditional arts, the local wildlife and people, and even typical household objects. After the Udall’s return to the United States at the end of the 1960s, the company continued and within ten years hired more than 80 employees, selling fabric and garments to upscale shops in Nairobi and exporting to the U.S. and Britain.

Upon returning to Fort Collins, Dorothy opened Maridadi West, a small textile printing factory on the outskirts of town. Setting up shop with Wilma “Tuck” Denney, a Fort Collins resident (who Dorothy had met while in Nairobi), the women brought many of the lessons they had learned in Nairobi with them. But instead of Maridadi’s Kenya-inspired designs, Dorothy Udall turned to sources native to the North American continent: patterns from the Pueblo cultures of the Rio Grande Valley, Mimbres pottery designs, the architecture of Colorado’s Mesa Verde cliff dwellings, and the natural elements surrounding her at home and her studio.

 

Red Mountain Open Space

Managing Agency
Larimer County Department of Natural Resources
Open
March 1 to November 30
Fees
None. Consider purchasing a Park Permit to help support Larimer County Department of Natural Resources

Red Mountain Open Space is rugged and remote - always carefully prepare for your experience. Carry plenty of water and extra food. Watch the weather closely - fast-moving thunderstorms and high winds are common.

Read the brochure for all the rules and regulations.

Hiking the Anticline Trail

Hiking the Anticline Trail

photo by Terry Burton

Gateway Natural Area

Managing Agency
City of Fort Collins Natural Areas Program
Hours
Sunrise to sunset
Fees
Required March 1-November 30
$5.00 per standard vehicle
$10.00 per commercial vehicle, bus, motor home,trailer, or van occupied with 8 or more passengers. Annual pass available.

Hiking, fishing, picnicking, and relaxing by the river makes Gateway a place for all. Each season is special - visit all year round. For your protection, no overnight parking or alcohol is allowed at Gateway. All pets must be leashed. Use grills provided or table-top gas grills only.

For information on renting a picnic shelter rental, call 970-416-2815.

Fall reflections along the Poudre

Fall colors at Gateway Natural Area

photo by Richard Ernst

Reservoir Ridge Natural Area

Managing Agency
City of Fort Collins Natural Areas Program
Hours
5:00 am to 11:00 pm
Trails
About 3.5 miles of soft surface trail. Connects to the Foothills Trail.

Visitors to this foothills natural area enjoy its rugged trails, access to the 6.8 mile Foothills Trail, wildlife viewing opportunities and a feeling of remoteness-- all close to Fort Collins. You’ll see dramatic rock outcroppings, grasslands, mountain mahogany shrubs and a few ponderosa pines. Views of the city and Horsetooth Reservoir are great from the trails!

Flowers on the hillside

photo by City of Fort Collins Natural Areas Program

Horsetooth Mountain Open Space

Managing Agency
Larimer County Department of Natural Resources
Open
Open year-round from sunrise to sunset
Fees
Park permit required for all visitors, including walk-in and bike-in

Horsetooth Mountain Open Space (consisting of Culver, Soderberg, and Hughey Open Spaces) is a scenic 2,711 acre park located on the west side of Horsetooth Reservoir. This is a very popular open space, so if you should arrive and find the parking lot full you will know that the trails are at maximum capacity. Please consider one of our other open spaces for your outdoor enjoyment that day, and come back to Horsetooth Mountain Open Space another time.

Read the brochure for all the rules and regulations.

Mountain biking in Horsetooth Mountain Open Space

photo by Mike Strunk

Bobcat Ridge Natural Area

Managing Agency
City of Fort Collins Natural Areas Program
Hours
Open daily from dawn until dusk
Trails
Valley Loop (4 mile loop), Ginny Trail (5.4 miles, climbs 1,500 feet, open for hiking and mountain biking, closed to horses), D.R. Trail (3.4 miles long, climbs 1,100 feet, open to equestrians and hikers, closed to cyclists), Powerline Road (1.5 miles long, climbs steeply with loose rocks so not recommended for horses, uphill only for cyclists), Eden Valley Spur (an out and back route, 1.3 miles along the valley bottom)

Discover Bobcat Ridge Natural Area! You’ll find a grassy valley, foothills, ponderosa pines, stunning red rock cliffs and more. Bobcat Ridge is home to elk, wild turkey, mountain lions and other wildlife. Several historic homestead sites dot the landscape.

Hiking the Valley Loop trail

photo by City of Fort Collins Natural Areas Program

Devil's Backbone Open Space

Managing Agency
Larimer County Department of Natural Resources
Open
Open year-round from sunrise to sunset
Fees
None. Consider purchasing a Park Permit to help support Larimer County Department of Natural Resources

The 2198-acre Devil's Backbone Open Space provides abundant opportunities on a seven-mile trail for outdoor recreation including hiking, running, horseback riding, mountain biking, wildlife viewing, observing nature, as well as enjoying close-up inspection of the rock outcrop and long vistas of the area, while on the trail.

This is a very popular open space, so if you should arrive and find the parking lot full you will know that the trails are at maximum capacity. Please consider one of our other open spaces for your outdoor enjoyment that day, and come back to the Devil's Backbone another time.

Read the brochure for all the rules and regulations.

Devil's Backbone rock formation

photo by Larimer County Department of Natural Resources

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