Bobcat Ridge Natural Area

Description

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.

Note: This is one of the few Fort Collins natural areas on which dogs are not allowed.

Trails

Trails include the 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). Trail conditions and closures are posted here.

Hours

Bobcat Ridge is open daily from dawn to dusk.

Directions

From Fort Collins, take Harmony Road west, it turns into CR 38 E. Follow CR 38 E to Masonville. Go left (south) at the Masonville Mercantile onto CR 27. Follow CR 27 about 1 mile to CR 32 C, head west about 1 mile to the Bobcat Ridge parking lot.
From Loveland, go west on Highway 34 about 4.5 miles west of Wilson Avenue. Turn north on CR 27 by Big Thompson Elementary and drive 4.5 miles. Turn left on CR 32C and go 1 mile west to the Bobcat Ridge parking lot.

Note:Horse trailer parking is limited to 8 spots, if the parking lot is full, please come back another time.

Events and Activities

• Would you like monthly event and activity updates, trail recommendations and more? Sign up for the Natural Areas electronic newsletter in the upper right corner of this page.
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• Customized free educational programs at Bobcat Ridge Natural Area are available for groups, call Susan Schafer at 970-416-2480 or email .

  Related Information

  • Bobcat Ridge Wildlife Camera Project
    View photograhps from motion-activated cameras located within the Bobcat Ridge Natural Area.
  • Bobcat Ridge Natural Area Ranger Office 970-461-2700
  • Bobcat Ridge site brochure
  • Working the Land: Creating a Life a booklet about Bobcat Ridge's history.
  • Bobcat Ridge Management Plan
  • Pieces of the Past: The Story of Bobcat Ridge Natural Area is a historical record by Carol Tunner.
  • Article about Communities, Cameras and Conservation by a Rocky Mountain High School student
  • Part of Bobcat Ridge Natural Area was burned in the 2000 Bobcat Gulch Fire. Read the Bobcat Gulch Fire report.
  • Bobcat Ridge is featured on Trails of Northern Colorado: Exploring Cultural and Natural History, a tour by the Fort Collins Museum and Discovery Science Center.