Twenty years ago, Ft. Collins, Colorado was one of those college towns that was an undiscovered gem. Back then it was best known as the place where Disneyland Main Street designer, Harper Goff grew up and used for inspiration. Today the word is out, and it has become a mecca of experimental food (mac and cheese pizza!), nature, art, outdoor adventures, and top-notch public spaces and playgrounds. This in part has to do with the new creative economy with start-ups in agricultural innovation and green technology. We saw a display celebrating Fort Collins at the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, DC and knew we had to visit. With boots on the ground, we experienced the Old West and the new frontier side-by-side hailing craft of all kinds including beer, shoes, log cabins, fences, homes and trucks. Even firewood is stacked with an artistic attention to detail!
Since our play is exploring play spaces around America, we had to visit the award-winning Twin Silos Community Park. This public space was designed to honor the agricultural heritage of South Fort Collins. It includes, community gardens, walking trails, an orchard, a BMX park, pickleball courts, a dog park and a playground. On a summer afternoon we met clusters of kids, teens and the elderly enjoying the grounds. The playground has several pieces of custom designed equipment. The main feature is the tallest slide in Fort Collins that flows between two between 2 locally reclaimed 48-foot-tall farm silos. The echo of screams filled with excitement on the way down is a wonderful sound to hear.
Another favorite was a stop at the Morning Fresh factory tour. Here we learned about the revival of the milkman, dairy farming, and what buying local means to this community. We saw cows offering their milk on an industrial merry-go-round and pet a baby calf. There is an old schoolhouse on the grounds that held local history. The tour does have a marketing slant however that aside the tour was worth it for the full experience.
The Colorado State University Trial Gardens was a breathtakingly beautiful rainbow of color. The grounds are a nice place to picnic, walk, smell the flowers and vote for your favorites. Across the street outside in front of the Griffin Concert Hall of the University Center for the Arts is an Andy Warhol Soup Can sculpture waiting for a snapshot.
For nature explorations on the outskirts of town we rode our bike around the beautiful countryside of Poudre Canyon and visited the Horsetooth Reservoir. In these areas there are many miles of trails for hiking, and biking. The waters offer fishing, swimming, boating and other water sport activities.
With so many things to do and see in Fort Collins don’t forget to look up. This is big sky country with bright blue expanses and big puffy clouds.
