Find Your Inspiration in North Park

Welcome to the time of year when most of us are sick of winter, when all the fresh powder on the ski slopes is made by machines, our NCAA brackets have been busted since the first round, and battling cabin fever is a must. We know we haven’t seen the last snowstorm of the season, but up in the mountains, we can dream. As the land thaws and frost turns to mud, it’s a time of planning. A time to set our sights towards new horizons and make plans for new adventures. If a trip to North Park isn’t on the top of your list for destinations to explore, it really should be. Regardless of what you are looking for in North Park, you are almost certain to find inspiration.

Get Started on the Cache la Poudre-North Park Scenic Byway

Colorado is home to a handful of scenic highways, with each chosen to offer a cross-section of scenery, history, and mountain majesty that has to be experienced to be believed. The Cache la Poudre-North Park Scenic Byway has taken one of the most beautiful drives in Colorado from a section of CO Highway 14. Beginning at the eastern end of the Poudre Canyon, where US 287 meets Hwy 14 in Larimer County, where the Cache la Poudre River exits it’s namesake canyon near Ted’s Place, the Scenic Byway runs alongside this bucket list destination for whitewater rafting. With places of interest along the way such as Sleeping Elephant Mountain and Profile Rock, the terrain changes as you climb in elevation until you see the craggy peaks of Mt. Richtofen and the Nokhu Crags.

Over the next 70 miles of twists and turns, Hwy 14 reaches its apex at Cameron Pass, where it enters Jackson County, also known as North Park. At the crux of the Never Summer Mountains and the Medicine Bow Range, the highway skirts along the edge of the Colorado State Forest State Park, Colorado’s only State Forest, and the Routt-Arapaho National Forest. The village of Gould, CO is the first town in Jackson County you will encounter. As you continue along the highway, the alpine forest of lodgepole pine and aspen trees open up to rolling hills, grassy river bottoms, and sagebrush prairies.

The Cache la Poudre-North Park Scenic Byway continues on until it reaches Walden, CO, which was founded farming community in 1890 and later whistle stop for a burgeoning forestry industry, supplying lumber for new cities and expanding railroads at the turn of the 20th Century. CO Hwy 14 continues on towards Muddy Gap where it meets with US 40 near Rabbit Ears Peak.

A One of a Kind Wildlife Experience

Along the Cache la Poudre Scenic Byway, as well as Hwy 125, which intersect in Walden, CO, you are bound to see wildlife. One of North Park’s charms is how much untamed land and wide open spaces you see as soon as that valley opens up in front of you. Hundreds of thousands of acres of forest, high-country desert, riverlands, and endless skies are home to wildlife most people only see on TV. Here in North Park, we are so used to seeing deer, hawks, and jumping trout that we almost take it for granted. 

The high country is home to bighorn sheep, mountain goats, marmots, and even wolves. Lumbering moose cross our highways, browsing through stands of red willows. Herds of hundreds of pronghorn antelope eat wild grasses and blend in with the arid landscape. Not many places are left in Colorado where these habitats haven’t been disrupted. North Park is home to some of the largest herds of elk in Colorado. Eagles, falcons, and even turkey vultures catch thermals on warm days, searching for snowshoe hares and ground squirrels.

The variety of our wildlife is nearly unparalleled when it comes to Rocky Mountain wildlife habitats. A self-guided tour through the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge allows you to see several species of ducks and other waterfowl. National Forests allow access to see working beaver dams, muskrats, and up in the tundra you can see pica and even ptarmigans among the lichen covered rocks.

Sage Grouse

The North Park Area Chamber of Commerce has been hosting a one-weekend event for several years, which gives visitors a chance to see the often celebrated and seldomly seen greater sage grouse mating ritual. Jackson County is home to several leks, or grouse mating grounds, where the greater sage grouse have been performing their mating dance and echoing their characteristic sounds in early spring since before humans came to North Park.

Check out the Chamber website to find out how to sign up for a sage grouse tour. This year the event has been open for two weekends and the price has dropped considerably from previous years. Lodging and food are up to you, and spaces fill up quickly, so be sure to check out some of our local accommodations before you book your spots.

Perfect for wildlife photographers, birdwatchers, and even content creators/influencers, the event is a perfect way to see these elusive birds in action. April 18-19 and April 25-26. Reserve your spot today!

A Great Place to Get Away from It All

Even if you aren’t here for the grouse tours, taking a few days to visit North Park is just what you need. During the summer, weekend events in Walden often mean that hotels and vacation rentals run out of vacancies. Check out this list of places to stay, as well as our lodging directory.

Book your lodging in a hotel, VRBO or AirBnB property in Walden, CO. Here are the best hotels in Walden, CO and other places to stay in North Park:

• Antlers Inn Call: (970) 723-8690
• North Park Inn and Suites Call: (970) 723-4271
• Chedsey Motel Call: (970) 723-8201
• Lake John Resort (970) 723-8201
• And many others! 

Windswept Mountain Vistas

From winter to summer and back again, the mountains that surround North Park are a stunning reminder of the raw power of nature. Unmarred by ski runs, unlike other mountains in the Rockies, the mountains surrounding North Park are formidable yet awe-inspiring. In the summer, many of these mountains open up with challenging hiking trails, jeep roads, and  Deep glacial lakes draw anglers from all over the country, in search of sport fish such as mackinaw and tiger muskie.

Public lands are as much of a part of the landscape of North Park as hay meadows and cattle drives. All of this open space gives you plenty of room to explore, whether it's from the cockpit of a side-by-side or on a secluded mountain trail with everything you need for a few days stowed away in your backpack.

Local Color and Character

If your adventures in North Park take you back to civilization, be sure to check out what Main Street in Walden, CO has to offer. Our turn of the century storefronts are home to all sorts of shops, eateries, and local nightlife. North Park has a strong sense of community, and you’ll often find that at local street festivals throughout the summer. 

The Never Summer Rodeo is just one of many events that brings visitors in from all over the USA. Walden has always been a favorite place for road-trippers to stop for a lunch or stretch their legs. You can get a bite to eat at Rita’s Cafe, the River Rock, or other places to eat in Walden year round! The Stockman Bar and Grill is Walden’s main watering hole, which features a historic bar that was hand-crafted in the 1880s. It's also the main hub of entertainment during Rodeo Weekend in June!

Take Your Time

Whether it is a day trip or an entire week, you’ll want to take your time to appreciate what North Park has to offer. The communities of Jackson County run at a slower pace than the rest of Colorado. It might be maddening to some, but to folks who are looking at a way to escape the rush and frantic pace of the city, North Park is exactly what you’ve been searching for.

A trip to North Park is good for the soul. With the constant buzz of bad news in the media, being connected to work and social networks, and the incessant calls from telemarketers and scammers, even the drive to North Park will take you off grid for at least an hour. Once you do pick up a cell signal, you might never want to turn your phone on again. Our kind of remoteness can become addictive. With blue skies, clean air, crystal clear lakes, and windswept mountain vistas, North Park feels like a place from another time. All without the crowds and traffic of Rocky Mountain National Park.

If your idea of a great time is an outdoor festival of thousands of socialites jockeying for the perfect selfie in front of a band nobody has heard of, you probably aren’t going to have a great time here. But if your idea of the perfect place is far removed from those sorts of people— Welcome! 

Prepare to be inspired, allow your imagination to run wild, and enjoy a trip back in time to a simpler place. A place where a handshake meant your word, where neighbors kept an eye out for each other, and the biggest story in the newspaper each year highlights everyone from this year’s graduating class.

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