At the head of Waterton Canyon stands Strontia Springs Reservoir which provides drinking water for many Denver residents.
Downstream, the South Platte River flows toward Chatfield Reservoir. This provides additional opportunities for fishing, boating, and swimming. Beyond, 20+ miles distant as the crow flies, lies downtown Denver.
Waterton Canyon is home to many residents, including dozens of bighorn sheep, scores of mallards and other birds, and both rainbow and brown trout.
There are even a few humans living here. These fortunate folk are employed by Denver Water to manage natural resources. They live year round on site. But such humans tend to be much more camera shy than bighorn rams. These guys seem to treat the roadway as their own and have no problem posing for pictures.
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Visitors (like me) ride mountain bikes or hike the 6.5 miles of dirt road from trail head to Strontia Springs Reservoir. Beyond, for the more adventurous (or for those with better lungs and legs – and more time!) lies the 567-mile Colorado Trail which terminates near Durango. See here for a great Denver Post piece on the woman whose efforts brought this trail to life. And see below for me at the trail head: Though I’ve done the first 6.5 miles many times, I never hiked the whole thing. But it’s definitely on the bucket list.
