Natural Areas

Skygazing Canceled due to weather forecast.  Friday, April 20, 8:30 p.m. at Fossil Creek Reservoir Natural Area. Each month volunteers from the Northern Colorado Astronomical Society provide telescopes for your viewing pleasure and share their knowledge about stars, planets, galaxies, and more. Dress warmly and bring a blanket or chair to sit on. Meet in the parking lot off Carpenter Road. Free, registration required. For weather updates, visit the NCAS website.

Spring Birding Along the River, Wednesday, May 3, 9:00 a.m. – noon, Lee Martinez Park, meet near the tennis courts. Enjoy a leisurely stroll along the paved Poudre River Trail to look for spring migrants. Bring binoculars (or borrow ours), water, bug spray, and sun protection. Adults only, please. Free, registration required at fcgov.com/register

Geology-Ecology Exploration: From Basement to Desert, Tuesday, May 15, 9:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Bobcat Ridge Natural Area, meet at the parking lot. Explore with experts to uncover the secrets of the oldest rocks in Fort Collins and how the landscape was shaped by natural forces to form the ecological landscape of today. Bring sun protection, lunch, water, sturdy shoes, and rain gear. 4 miles; moderate. Free, registration required at fcgov.com/register

Behind the Scenes Birding, Thursday, May 17, 8:30 a.m. – noon, Bobcat Ridge Natural Area, meet at the parking lot. Explore a closed-off portion of Bobcat Ridge, Brooks Canyon which is great habitat for a variety of birds. Participants will ride in a van and must stay for the entire program. Bring water, snacks, off-trail shoes and binoculars (or borrow ours). 1-2 miles off-trail; easy. Free, registration required at fcgov.com/register

Astronomy: The Speed of Light, Friday, May 18, 8:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. Bobcat Ridge Natural Area, meet at the parking lot. Enjoy a brief, family-friendly astronomy program followed by skygazing. Volunteers from the Northern Colorado Astronomical Society provide telescopes for your viewing pleasure. Dress warmly, bring water and a blanket or chair to sit on in the parking lot. Program begins at the picnic shelter, a 0.25 mile-walk. Please arrive on time! The gate closes shortly after start time and parking is not allowed on the road outside the gate. Free, registration required at fcgov.com/register

Discover the Bobolinks, Saturday, May 26, 8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m., Reservoir Ridge Natural Area, meet at the trailhead off Overland Trail Rd. Each year for a short time, we are visited by one of Colorado's rare birds, the bobolink. Kids, bring your parents for a fun morning of bobolink spotting. Learn, listen and see this special visitor and some of its friends. Binoculars will be provided. 0.25 miles; easy. Free, registration required at fcgov.com/register

Skygazing, Saturday, May 26, 9:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m., Fossil Creek Reservoir, meet at the parking lot. Volunteers from the Northern Colorado Astronomical Society provide telescopes for your viewing pleasure and share their knowledge about stars, planets, galaxies, and more. Dress warmly and bring a blanket or chair to sit on. Meet in the parking lot. Free, registration required at fcgov.com/register

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Support a true americano! The bison that live at Soapstone Prairie Natural Area and Red Mountain Open Space are the charity focus of the season for Bean Cycle Coffee. It will be available until the end of April. They made a special roast called Bison Bison and the proceeds support the Laramie Foothills Bison Conservation Herd, thank you!

Thank you for a quarter century of Natural Areas land conservation, stewardship, and volunteerism, all made possible by sales tax ballot measures!

This short video was made for the occassion!

In January, Larimer County Open Lands and the City of Fort Collins Natural Areas closed on the last in a series of land acquisitions south and west of Horsetooth Reservoir, conserving 2,492 acres of rocky ridgelines, mountain mahogany shrublands, hillsides forested with ponderosa pines, and rolling grasslands. The newly conserved areas are adjacent to Coyote Ridge Natural Area, Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, and Devil’s Backbone Open Space. Great Outdoors Coloradoinvested nearly $5 million in the project with additional funding from City of Fort Collins Open Space Yes! and Larimer County Help Preserve Open Spaces sales tax ballot measures. The future of these sites, including outdoor recreation and public access, will be determined through public planning processes in the coming years.