Thursday, June 26, 2008

Excursion of the week: Fort Collins and Horsetooth Reservoir

I recently explored Fort Collins, Colorado. Fort Collins is about 1-1.5 hours north of Denver. I was really impressed with this cute town. It was such a balance and seemed to fit almost any different type of person. For instance, the town seemed simultaneously rural and urban, small and big.


One of the best parts of my visit was the discovery of Horsetooth Reservoir. Here you can camp, boat, swim, scuba dive, and hike. This is one of the bigger reservoirs in north-eastern Colorado. The water was surrounded by tall red rock walls and veered around in a snake-like structure--unlike several of the circular reservoirs I've seen. There is a campground on the south side of the park, along with several camping cabins.

The park is just a few minutes from town so you can always drive into town and grab a beer at one of the local breweries.

Anyway, so if you travel north of Denver, be sure to check out Fort Collins and Horsetooth Reservoir.



More Links:

http://www.co.larimer.co.us/parks/brochure_horsetooth.pdf

http://www.co.larimer.co.us/PARKS/horsetooth.htm

www.newbelgium.com

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Colorado White-Water Rafting Excursions

The start of summer means the beginning of white-water rafting season here in Colorado. There are a ton of places to enjoy rafting, as well as, multiple rafting outfitters to help you on your journey. As I mentioned in a previous post, one of my favorite rafting destinations is along the Arkansas River, near the town of Buena Vista.

There are several rafting outfitters in this area, however, the one that I have used atleast a half-dozen times is Noah's Ark Rafting Co. Their guides are very skilled and are big on safety. They offer a variety of options, such as; full-day trips, half-day trips, overnight trips, and also rock climbing opportunities.


Anyway, there are literally a ton of places to go rafting, along with just as many rafting agencies.

Here are some links if you want some other options:

This link is very comprehensive and shows you the variety of rivers and outfitters in Colorado.


http://www.coloradoraftguide.com/

http://www.rafting-colorado.net/

http://aroa.org/rafting-members.asp