Front Range
Larimer County
31 Porch Notes tied to Larimer County — the local details that change from one part of Colorado to the next.
Places in this county
Money and taxes (1)
Home and property (1)
Water and land (3)
Water and land
Around Fort Collins, the big reservoirs hold project water from the other side of the mountains
Horsetooth Reservoir and Carter Lake store water brought across the Continental Divide by the Colorado-Big Thompson Project, and that supply is managed separately from any well or city tap.
Read note ->Water and land
Boating rules change from one foothills reservoir to the next
Carter Lake, Pinewood Reservoir, and Flatiron Reservoir sit close together west of Loveland, but each allows different kinds of boating, so the rules depend on which water you pick.
Read note ->Water and land
Motorized boats need an inspection before launching at Horsetooth and Carter
Larimer County requires an aquatic nuisance species inspection before any motor or trailered boat launches at Horsetooth Reservoir or Carter Lake, which limits launching to certain hours.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire (12)
Outdoors and wildfire
Bighorn sheep cross the road at Sheep Lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park
Bighorn sheep come down to Sheep Lakes in Horseshoe Park to lick mineral-rich mud, and the park manages a crossing area so the animals can reach it safely across the road.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Dispersed camping up the Poudre is not camp-anywhere
Free dispersed camping is allowed on much of the national forest along the Poudre, but the Canyon Lakes Ranger District sets real limits on how close to roads, water, and busy areas you can camp.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Getting into Rocky Mountain National Park can take a reservation
On busy stretches of the year, Rocky Mountain National Park uses a timed-entry reservation system, so a visit from the Estes Park side may need planning ahead.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Horsetooth Mountain Open Space charges an entrance permit
Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, home to Horsetooth Rock and a seasonal waterfall, is a Larimer County open space that requires an entrance permit; the reservoir below it is a separate county park with its own rules.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
In fall, give elk room near Estes Park and watch for meadow closures
Each fall, bull elk gather and bugle in the meadows around Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park, and the park closes several meadows to off-trail foot travel from late afternoon through mid-morning while asking visitors to keep a safe distance.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Lory State Park hides a bike park behind Horsetooth
Lory State Park, on the far side of Horsetooth Reservoir near Fort Collins, packs the Arthur's Rock climb, miles of mountain-bike trails, and a dedicated bike park into one Larimer County state park, with its own CPW pass.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Moose live in the high country around Cameron Pass
The willow valleys near Cameron Pass and the Laramie River, in far western Larimer County, are moose country, and these large animals deserve more distance and caution than most people expect.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Poudre fishing rules change by stretch of river
The Cache la Poudre and its North Fork hold strong trout fishing, but the rules differ by segment, with some reaches set aside for artificial flies and lures only and catch-and-release.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Red Mountain Open Space closes in winter for wildlife and bans dogs
Red Mountain Open Space, a large area of red rock and grassland near the Wyoming line, is open only part of the year to protect wintering wildlife, and it does not allow dogs.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The Cache la Poudre is a federally designated Wild and Scenic River
The Cache la Poudre River, which runs out of the mountains through Larimer County and Fort Collins, carries a national Wild and Scenic River designation that shapes how the canyon is managed.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The Devil's Backbone is a tilted rock fin west of Loveland
Devil's Backbone Open Space protects a hogback, a wall of sedimentary rock that the same forces that built the Rockies tipped on edge, and it is a popular trail area close to town.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The Poudre is a National Heritage Area you can raft through
The Cache la Poudre corridor above Fort Collins is a 45-mile national heritage area honoring Western water law, and summer snowmelt turns the same canyon into the Front Range's go-to whitewater run.
Read note ->Cars and driving (2)
Cars and driving
Driving Larimer County's canyons: the one weather tip worth knowing
The drive up Big Thompson Canyon west of Loveland is one of Larimer County's prettiest. One thing worth knowing before you go: in a flash flood, leave the car and climb to higher ground.
Read note ->Cars and driving
Trail Ridge Road is a high alpine drive that closes for winter
Trail Ridge Road climbs above 12,000 feet through Rocky Mountain National Park and is only open for part of the year, so a drive over it from the Estes Park side depends on the season and the weather.
Read note ->Local rules (2)
Local rules
Fort Collins libraries are run by a separate district, not the city
The Poudre River Public Library District, formed by voters in 2006, runs the libraries in Fort Collins and parts of northern Larimer County as an independent taxing district rather than as a city department.
Read note ->Local rules
In Larimer County, who makes the rules depends on your address
Larimer County is a statutory county, while its biggest cities run under their own home-rule charters, so the rules for a property can change depending on which line of the map it falls on.
Read note ->History and culture (10)
History and culture
A 1914 pack trip recorded Arapaho place names near Estes Park
In 1914, Arapaho men joined a Colorado Mountain Club pack trip through the Estes Park region so Arapaho place names and trails could be recorded, work later published as 'Arapaho Names and Trails.'
Read note ->History and culture
A flood is the reason Fort Collins sits where it does
Fort Collins grew up around an Army post that was moved downstream after an 1864 flood washed out the earlier camp near Laporte, and the county seat followed the new fort a few years later.
Read note ->History and culture
At Soapstone Prairie, a spear point in a bison's spine rewrote the past
At the Lindenmeier site in Fort Collins's Soapstone Prairie Natural Area, a stone point lodged in the backbone of an extinct bison helped prove people hunted here at the end of the Ice Age, roughly 10,000 years ago.
Read note ->History and culture
Colorado State University began as the state's land-grant farm college
Colorado State University in Fort Collins started in 1870 as Colorado Agricultural College, the state's land-grant institution, and that farming-and-research mission still shapes the city and county.
Read note ->History and culture
In Fort Collins, you can pedal between breweries that helped start Colorado craft beer
Fort Collins grew up as a brewing town, and today its breweries sit close enough that many visitors hop between taprooms and tours on foot or by bike.
Read note ->History and culture
Loveland's Valentine remailing program is a real, long-running tradition
Each February, Loveland runs a Valentine re-mailing program through the post office and chamber of commerce, hand-stamping cards from around the world with a Loveland postmark.
Read note ->History and culture
Old Town Fort Collins is a listed historic district, not just a name
The Old Town district at the heart of Fort Collins is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and it is the city's own historic preservation review that keeps its old brick storefronts looking the way they do.
Read note ->History and culture
Sugar beets built much of early Loveland and Fort Collins
In the early 1900s, sugar-beet factories run by the Great Western Sugar Company reshaped Loveland and Fort Collins, drawing in workers and leaving behind a heritage you can still see in old factory sites and neighborhoods.
Read note ->History and culture
The Cameron Peak Fire still shapes the land west of Fort Collins
The 2020 Cameron Peak Fire burned a large stretch of Larimer County's high country, and its burn scar continues to affect flooding, roads, and recreation years later.
Read note ->History and culture
Walk Old Town's brick blocks and you may be reading Disneyland's first sketches
Some of the Old Town Fort Collins buildings researchers tie to Disneyland's Main Street are still standing, so a slow walk down Linden Street is a way to see the references in person.
Read note ->