Colorado

We have done several projects in the Kentucky Placer, a narrow but critical piece of previously unprotected property between the town of Telluride and its glorious back country, running from Bear Creek Preserve to the famed Bridal Veil Falls along the south side of the valley.

In 2016, The Trust for Public Land protected the last piece of privately-held commercial property within Rocky Mountain National Park. Just down valley from the park’s entrance station on Fall River Road, the Cascade Cottages offered a rustic retreat for seven decades of park visitors.

In late 2009, The Trust for Public Land helped permanently protect a high mountain meadow in Chaffee County through conservation easement on this family-owned ranch.

Since 1981, The Trust for Public Land has protected nearly 10,000 acres of Colorado greenbelts—land that provides a buffer between open space and development or helps define a community's growth boundary.

Creekside Experience is a tucked-away gem of a park where all-natural play features, including a treehouse, boulders, logs and a water play area, invite kids and their families to be active and connect with nature.

In 2001 the National Park Service asked The Trust for Public Land to help preserve the 57 acres for the Curecanti National Recreation Area adjacent to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.

Between October 2017 and March 2018, The Trust for Public Land, Blackfoot Challenge, and Civic Canopy worked with the community of Lincoln, Montana, to bring community leaders and residents together to set a solid foundation for collaboration. The Partnership guided a process called Envision Lincoln that was designed to build on Lincoln’s existing efforts and accomplishments and invite all residents to participate and share their perspectives. Envision Lincoln developed an overarching vision to guide a collaborative effort that will help attract families to Lincoln and retain them, spur economic opportunities, and keep what makes Lincoln a special place to live.

Located just ten miles northeast of Gunnison, Fossil Ridge is completely surrounded by the Gunnison National Forest. Butch and Judy Clark purchased 960 acres here in the 1970s and have always allowed the community to use their property for hiking, hunting, cattle grazing, camping, and cross-country skiing.

Sale and development of the ranch would have compromised recreational access to the river as well as water quality. To prevent this, The Trust for Public Land worked to protect the ranch with a conservation easement that will safeguard the corridor’s rural character and scenic views.

A sixth generation ranching family chooses a modern solutuion to keep their livelihood alive.

TPL’s protection in August 2011 of 225 acres of high-country mining claims in the San Juan Mountains, speaks to the area’s rich past and uncertain future.

Community efforts led to protection of Jewell Wetlands, now owned by the growing city of Aurora, Colorado, southeast of Denver.

The Trust for Public Land worked with the LaRue family to secure funding to purchase a conservation easement for this 186 acre ranch in the Upper Arkansas River Valley. Conserving this land will preserve the scenic viewshed, wildlife habitat, ensure water quality, and help maintain the rural ranching economy.

Encompassing a mile-long scenic stretch of the lower Arkansas River, 204-acre Maverick Ranch offers premier opportunities for public fishing, boating, nature study, and outdoor exploration. The Trust for Public Land–in partnership with the Central Colorado Conservancy and the San Isabel Land Protection Trust–is working to forever protect this spectacular property.

Built in 1868, Mestizo-Curtis Park is the oldest in Denver. Its nine acres of tree-lined paths hold great potential, but the park lacks the amenities it needs to serve as a quality gathering and play space for this dense and diverse neighborhood.

Tucked away in the beautiful backcountry of southwestern Colorado, Mitchell Lakes and Flattop Mountain boast native grass meadows, seasonal ponds and wetlands, and dense conifer forests.

A place where families can grow fresh food, children can play safely, and neighbors can gather.

This land provides a unique opportunity to create a new trailhead and public access to more than 12,000 acres of Clear Creak County and Jefferson County open space. New trails for mountain biking and hiking will connect to an existing trail system that is currently inaccessible from I-70. Protected from development, this land will continue to provide recreation opportunities to people throughout the Denver metro area for years to come.

The Ouray Ice Park may be the only park in the world devoted exclusively to the sport of ice climbing. Located in the Uncompahgre River gorge just a ten-minute walk from the historic mountain town, the ice park allows climbers to test their skills in a controlled ice-climbing environment.

We worked with local partners to protect for the creation of the Rio Grande Healthy Living Park to include a six-mile trail system and 16 acres for community farming.

In the mid-1980s, The Trust for Public Land purchased 748 acres in Douglas County that had been targeted for development, protecting the land as an addition to Roxborough State Park.

Sawtooth Mountain Ranch is now part of more than 18,000 acres conserved by The Trust for Public Land along the San Juan Skyway, one of 31 designated scenic All-American Roads.

South Table Mountain is an oasis of solitude within a sea of development. A volcanic mesa rising above the western Denver metro area, it provides a welcome refuge for people and wildlife.

Scattered across 30 miles of river bottom from Gunnison to the doorstep of Gothic, the lands owned by Trampe Ranch are some of the most familiar, productive, beautiful, and scientifically significant in the Gunnison Valley.

From heart-pumping singletrack to peaceful mountain views, Ute Valley offers outdoor escape in easy reach. Not many folks know that half of this popular patch of wilderness is privately owned  and at risk of development.

This spectacular valley in south-central Colorado is one of the last remaining places where ranching is still the main way of life. Since 2000, we have spearheaded an ambitious and collaborative program to preserve the beauty and way of life in the Wet Mountain Valley.

In 2017, The Trust for Public Land acquired a conservation easement on the 14,000-acre Wilson Creek Ranch in Agate, Colorado, building on a partnership with the Colorado Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust that has preserved over 20,000-acres of working agricultural land on Colorado's eastern plains. Funding for the transaction was provided by the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund and the Natural Resources Conservation Service's Regional Conservation Partnership Program.

The Trust for Public Land works closely with local non-profits and government agencies to help farmers and ranchers in Colorado maintain ownership of, and continue working, their lands.