Fort Collins Colorado - Introduction
Fort Collins (pop. 127,000) is a
large city at the northernmost end of the Denver metro corridor.
Listed number
2 in CNN Money’s Best Places to Live (2009), Fort Collins caters to a
youthful crowd,
with a bike lane on nearly every street and a vibrant downtown. In
fact, Disneyland’s Main Street was patterned after Old Town Fort
Collins. Fort
Collins is home to 4 established microbreweries and a plethora of local
restaurants. A number of cultural events take place downtown and at
the Lincoln Center throughout the year. Fort Collins is home to
Colorado State
University, which boasts a premier veterinary school and one of the
world’s
seed banks.
About 600 acres of city parks, 20
miles of hiking/biking trails, several lakes within city limits, and
thousands
more of protected natural areas help to integrate nature into the urban
landscape. Visitors to Fort Collins have ready access to several different
kinds of terrain. Rocky Mountain National Park is a short drive to the
southwest, and the surrounding forested mountains and wilderness areas
are also
open to the public. Nearby Horsetooth Reservoir is enjoyable by boat, and
additionally offers several parks accessible by car. The Cache la
Poudre River, one of the last un-dammed rivers in the country, provides
entertainment for water sports enthusiasts and fisherman. Finally,
the grasslands of the Great Plains
stretch out to the east, enticing bird watchers and those interested
in pioneer
and Native American history.
Fort Collins is located about 60
miles north of Denver north central Colorado, and is not far from the
Wyoming
border.
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