

"To me, this is a really elegant project. "There's a huge underground reservoir here,'' said Mike McHugh, the CUP manager. In the porous soil beneath the arid grazing land, more than 16 million acre-feet of water percolates in the mile-deep South Park aquifer, a natural sedimentary bowl that once was an inland sea. "We won't go down without a fight,'' said Gordon, one of those leading the charge against the Aurora Conjunctive-Use Project - known as CUP - centered on a scenic 2,200-acre spread called the Sportsmen's Ranch. At issue is Aurora's controversial plan to pump 2 billion gallons of water each year from beneath one of the state's largest mountain basins, where residents have long memories, parched land and the taste of bad water lingering in their mouths.Īnd, for the first time, they now have money to fight, the result of an election last November that demonstrated the degree to which sleepy South Park has grown alienated from the Front Range. In the wide-open rangeland of South Park, an old-fashioned showdown is taking shape over the rarest of western resources, harking back to the emotional days of the Owens Valley water fight in California. I think it's terribly important that people become aware that water has its limits.'' "And now they're going after our groundwater, too.

"Roughly 80 percent of Park County's surface water has gone to the Front Range,'' Gordon said. 4, 1998 - FAIRPLAY - Dry as a ghost's breath, a handful of soil scooped from Bill Gordon's ranch drifts along the relentless South Park wind, an unsettling sign that the Dust Bowl days of the Great Depression aren't archaic.

Colorado Water Resources Research Institute Bureau of Reclamation - Upper Colorado Basin If you’d like to take some scenic drives in Rocky Mountain National Park, there are many amazing routes you can explore, each one offering an abundance of mountain views, wildlife, and pristine lakes that never fail to enchant visitors.- Bureau of Reclamation - Lower Colorado Basin Bear Lake Road also offers plenty of amazing views as it rises to an altitude of 9,491 feet where the alpine lake is located. Taking Trail Ridge Road will shave about an hour off the trip and will give you a chance to explore this legendary highway. If you’re coming from Granby, it will take about three hours to get to Estes Park, but in the warmer months, you can also take Trail Ridge Road to Estes Park. The road begins near the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, which is in Estes Park, Colorado. If you have time for a longer trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, you can take a drive to beautiful Bear Lake, with its stunning mountain views. However, to really enjoy all the amazing sights the byway has to offer, you’ll want to spend at least three hours on this scenic roadway. The byway stretches over 80 miles from Grand Lake to Gore Canyon, and takes about 90 minutes to drive.

As you drive, keep a lookout for moose and other wildlife that call the banks of the Colorado River home. In Grand Lake, you can pick up the Colorado River Headwaters Scenic Byway, which takes you alongside the winding river, through mountain valleys, and past lakes and canyons. Visitors who enter Rocky Mountain National Park through the Grand Lake entrance also have the opportunity to explore the headwaters of the Colorado River. The drive takes about two hours, though you might want more time to take in all the sights. Here, visitors find themselves in a magical alpine tundra surrounded by snow-capped mountains, where tiny plants and wildflowers thrive. The road continues to weave and climb through the mountains, achieving altitudes of 12,000 feet. Within minutes, travelers ascend through aspen and pine trees that then quickly yield to forests of fir and spruce. Visitors from Granby can access Trail Ridge Road via the Grand Lake entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park, which is a 20-minute drive from Granby. The road opens around Memorial Day weekend and closes for the winter in October. Often described as a “highway to the sky,” Trail Ridge Road is an awe-inspiring 48-mile road that soars alongside the mountain peaks. Here are some of the best scenic drives in Rocky Mountain National Park that you won’t want to miss. One of the most remarkable experiences the park has to offer are scenic drives through the mountains, including drives along the legendary Trail Ridge Road. Scenic Drives at Rocky Mountain National ParkĮach year, millions of visitors flock to Rocky Mountain National Park to take in the breathtaking mountain scenery and to enjoy the great outdoors.
