Are you planning a trip or vacation to Colorado to view our wide diversity of wildlife? Perhaps you’re a resident looking to explore more of your state. Prior to starting your adventure, please take a moment to:
We strongly encourage anyone visiting the back roads of Colorado to be prepared. Make sure you have a good road atlas, food, water, proper clothing and some sunscreen. We also suggest bringing a pair of binoculars and bird book or wildlife viewing guide.
Monte Vista Crane Festival
The festival hosts wildlife experts, local naturalists, and biologists who present free educational workshops at the Monte Vista Middle School, while flocks of dancing sandhills assemble in the neighboring farm fields, just east of town. Bus tours to the nearby refuge and adjacent farmlands provide visitors with the opportunity to view this spectacle up close and personal, with a knowledgeable local guide. Special tours feature raptor identification, sunset trips to view cranes, a visit to a local potato warehouse (with free potatoes) and visits to closed areas of the refuge for Crane Fest participants.
Dinosaur Ridge Hawkwatch
Volunteers and researchers from Bird Conservancy of the Rockies help visitors search the sky above the Dakota Ridge Hogback (Dinosaur Ridge) for hawks, eagles, and vultures while sharing why birds have chosen this migratory path. Tour involves a short, but steep, hike up the ridge to a viewing vantage point.
Annual Eckert Crane Days
Greater sandhill cranes in small and large flocks glide into Heart’s Basin of the Surface Creek Valley, and land at Fruitgrowers Reservoir east of Eckert. Most of the 20,000+ migrating birds come to the reservoir for an overnight stay to rest, feed, and regroup, relying on the reservoir’s water and wetlands for protection, and adjacent agricultural lands for food. The following morning they lift off in an organized mayhem of flight and sound that cannot be forgotten. Get schedules, maps, information about other wildlife seen at this time of year, lodging suggestions, and more information at the event website.