The Riverbend Ponds Natural Area in Fort Collins is just one of many
oases found within the city limits. But this one is one of my favorites.
Riverbend Ponds, Fort Collins – In A Colorado Minute (Week 325)
Riverbend Ponds Natural Area hovers on the north-east side of the Cache la Poudre River
where it bends from flowing east to flowing south. The 218 square acres
of Riverbend Ponds Natural Area include seven ponds and supposedly 200
species of birds! You can see a heron and a black and white pelican in
this video… and a dragonfly!
Conveniently for Fort Collins fishing, the ponds are stocked by Colorado Parks and Wildlife
with bass, wiper, bluegill, black crappie, and channel catfish. And
I’ve personally seen huge carp in the large pond. Oh, and a humongous
turtle. Here is a great list of all the Fort Collins ponds and the native and stocked fish.
The
seven ponds on this side of the river were originally gravel pits
created from the 1950s to the 1970s. I presume the same is true for all
the ponds on the other side of the river that make up the Cattail Chorus Natural Area and Kingfisher Point Natural Area.
For
this video, I only filmed around the three most northern ponds (Turtle
Pond, Trout Pond and ?) and along the Poudre River. This is not a
comprehensive video, just an impression. Most notably, I left out the
largest pond and the wetlands to the east.
The Riverbend Ponds are
accessible on the north end via Timberline, on the south end via
Prospect Road, by riding your bike along the Poudre Trail and on an
inner tube by cruising down the river.
One of my favorite places
in all of Fort Collins is the rocky beach you can see in the last shots
of the video. I discovered it and named it No Booze Riverbend last year,
when Judith and Christoph were visiting from Berlin and we stopped by
there… without booze, naturally. Ah, the lovely memories made in this
spot with friends and Whiskey dog.
I love coming to the Riverbend
Ponds at any time of year – as long as I never run into that woman with
those aggressive German shepherds again.
The song in this video
is called “Rainy Day” and was written and performed by my dear friend
Hollie Greer, who currently plays in the band As Is in Gainesville, Florida. Thank you for the beautiful song, Hollie. I think it fits quite well on a sunny day, too.
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| Riverbend Ponds, Fort Collins, Colorado |