Things to do / Travel Guide
When your eyes feel a little whitewashed and you crave the colors of spring in the dead of the winter, Colorado Rockies' botanical gardens will give you the splash of reds, blues, yellows, and greens you seek. And in spring and summer, these botanical gardens are the proverbial pots of gold at the end of a floral rainbow. Horticulture hobbyists will be happy to know that the Colorado Rockies region has not neglected the needs of the green-thumbed tourist. Botanical gardens near Steamboat Springs, Vail, and Grand Junction will certainly satisfy your wish to satiate your senses strolling among fragrant flowers, brightly colored blossoms, and butterflies.
Botanical Gardens in Northwest Colorado
Packed into just six acres and a frost-season growing season of only 60 days, the Yampa River Botanic Park makes the most of its challenging location. Located just off U.S. Highway 40 outside of the ski resort town of Steamboat Springs the gardens are at an altitude of 6,800 feet in the Yampa River Valley. The list of individual gardens the botanic park has managed to cultivate is as long as the Yampa River itself. You can meander through an Annuals Garden, Butterfly Garden, Culinary Herb Garden, Daylily Garden, Hummingbird Garden, a Pond Garden of water lilies, a Rainbow Garden, a Japanese Garden with a reflecting pond, and much more. Yampa River Botanic Park is open from dawn to dusk on days before the first frost (sometimes as early as August or September).
The Betty Ford Alpine Gardens in the ski resort village of Vail is rated among the top alpine gardens in the world. The world's highest botanical garden, sitting about 8,200 feet above sea level, it features more than 2,000 alpine and sub-alpine plant varieties, as well as a lovely 120-foot waterfall, and an Asian meditation garden. These tranquil gardens are a refined oasis from the otherwise bustling recreation hub that is Vail. The gardens are open from the first snowmelt until the first snowfall, from sunup to sunset each day, and numerous educational tours are available for both adults and children.
Having turned junk cars into cacti, dead batteries into butterfly, and used tires into tropical plants, the Western Colorado Botanical Gardens have magically transformed the former site of a junkyard into a colorful, florid, paradise. Both car mechanics and flora fanatics will undoubtedly agree: the makeover is marvelous. Located in Northwest Colorado on Seventh Street in Grand Junction, the gardens feature a 4,000-square-foot butterfly house and greenhouse in which more than 600 orchids flourish. Outdoor gardens include a Cactus and Succulent Garden, an International Garden, a Harmony In Color Garden, a Sensory Garden, and a Native Garden where you can take a leisurely stroll through Grand Valley and western Colorado's 13 geological zones without leaving Grand Junction. Western Colorado Botanical Gardens are open year-round from Tuesdays-Sundays.
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