Sunday, June 1, 2025

The Cache la Poudre and North Park Scenic Byway in Colorado, Part One


 Colorado has designated 26 areas as official scenic byways, with just over a dozen federally classified as American Byways. My husband and I have traveled many of them since moving to Colorado twelve years ago. While on a visit to Fort Collins- click here--to read that blog post, we learned there was a scenic drive nearby we could take as a detour side trip on our way back home.

The 101-mile corridor of Highway 14 between the city of Fort Collins and Walden, Colorado, constitutes the Cache la Poudre-North Park Scenic Byway. For much of the journey, the road parallels the Cache la Poudre River, Colorado’s only federally-designated National Wild and Scenic River. The river’s name translates from French to “hide the powder.” Legend tells that the river (pronounced "poo-der") was where French fur trappers decided to bury their gunpowder for retrieval in spring to lighten their load while traveling during a snowstorm in the mid-1800s. The name Caché la Poudre in French means ‘where the powder was hidden,’ and thus the river was named.



Along the drive, the rocky canyon twists and turns, crossing the river in a few places. The lower altitudes feature places where locals gather to engage in inner-tube rides and swimmers paddle in the slower-moving shallows. Rougher water can be found upriver, where rafters and kayakers challenge upwards of Class III rapids from May until late September.


As we drove through steep canyons, we saw hikers, fishermen, and campers along the way.


We enjoyed the wild, rustic scenery we saw along this part of the river!

A short video above of rapids on the Cache la Poudre River.

It was easy to see how the Rocky Mountains got their name!


As we gained elevation, we saw beautiful forest areas...


...but we also saw some areas that had been sadly devastated by past wildfires.


We stopped at the summit of Cameron Pass  (elevation 10,276 ft; 3,132 m). The pass is a gap between the south end of the Medicine Bow Mountains and the north end of the Never Summer Mountains. 


After descending from Cameron Pass, we entered a high plain area called North Park.


North Park is a high, sparsely populated basin (approximately 8,800 feet (2,700 m) in elevation). The valley receives its name from being the northernmost of the three large mountain valleys (or parks) in Colorado on the western side of the Front Range. The others are Middle Park and South Park respectively.  The basin opens northward into Wyoming, in the direction of flow of the North Platte. On the east side, it is rimmed by the Medicine Bow Mountains, the Never Summer Mountains, and Rabbit Ears Range to the south, and the Park Range to the west. The Continental Divide rims the Park along the south and west.

I find these high-elevation "parks" so mesmerizing! We live closest to South Park, and I've often blogged about it.

I have more to show about North Park and a wonderful wildlife refuge in Part Two of my next blog post--see you then!





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Sunday, May 25, 2025

Cherry Pie along The Big Thompson River Canyom



In last week's blog post-- click here-- I showed our drive west from Loveland, Colorado, to Estes Park and into Rocky Mountain National Park along Highway 34, and the Big Thompson River Canyon route. Afterward, we returned on Highway 34 to drive east back to Loveland and then Fort Collins, where we stayed for a few days at the end of April.

As you can see, we had blue skies for part of the drive...




...but soon hit fog as we climbed in elevation.



 
The foggy views were beautiful and atmospheric. 




We noticed two memorial plaques at a pull-off and stopped to read them. The first was a memorial to two law enforcement officers, Colorado State Patrol Sgt. W. Hugh Purdy and Estes Park Patrol Michel O. Conley. They both died trying to save lives on July 31, 1976 when more than 140 people perished during a flash flood of Big Thompson Canyon. 





The second plaque was a memorial to Scott Ellis, 55, of Johnstown, Colorado, an experienced mountain biker who died while participating in the grueling Leadville, Colorado, 100-mile, high-altitude course, called the “Race Across the Sky.” 

Ellis worked as an engineer for the Colorado Department of Transportation. had been leading the rebuilding of U.S. Highway 34 through Big Thompson Canyon after the 2013 flood disaster

 “His dedication, passion, and caring grace for the people of Colorado will be profoundly missed,” the Department of Transportation said in a statement.



There is an interesting YouTube video series made by the Colorado Department of Transportation called "The Road to Resiliency."
Video #1 shows the 2013 flood on this link.
Video #10 is about the two and a half year engineering challenge to redo US Highway 34 through the Big Thompson Canyon to prevent flooding damage in the future. It can be seen on this link.




We appreciated all the apparent improvements made to the road during our drive.




We almost passed by this outlet of the Colorado Cherry Pie Company at 1024 US-34! In fact, my husband made a U turn to return to stop at this store along the Big Thompson Canyon. How could we resist?



The displays inside of all kinds of fruit pies, fruit condiments, and gift items were delightful! 

The Colorado Cherry Pie Company began in 1929 with Grandma Katherine's roadside stand, where she sold homemade pies with their delicious flaky crust. In the 1960s, the second generation opened this store in Loveland. In 2000, the third generation opened shops in Lyons and Estes Park, Colorado, adding more types of pies to the menu. In 2020, fourth-generation Lehnert’s introduced the next chapter of the family business, and a new branch called Legacy Pie Co. was born with locations in Denver. 




We chose a cherry pie to take home with us. 
The store clerk told us the seven hearts along the top crust were traditional. 




It was the best cherry pie I've ever had! The crust was exceptional, and the cherry filling was very full, fresh, and not overly sweet.  I would definitely recommend trying one of their pies--they make other flavors as well--if you visit one of their stores!


On our journey home, we took a four-hour detour to drive the entire Cache la Poudre Scenic Byway 

Colorado has 26 beautiful scenic and historic byways, and whenever we know of one near where we travel, we make a point to drive along them.....more on my next post.





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