Glenwood Springs follow-up - climate

[ndk]

Originally Posted by docwatson

Thanks ... is there any nice scenery on the Roaring Fork? Swimming holes? Preserved cottonwoods? Or just barbed wire?

It's hit and miss. There's a lot of private land along the river with a lot of different uses. Some is explicitly locked in as ranchland by Pitkin County, and some(e.g. the stretch through Carbondale) is more urban. And it's followed by the moderately trafficked Highway 82 for basically its whole length.

I think it's a pretty area, but more for the limestone and sandstone and scrub that xeric described(and Mt. Sopris) than the vegetation that you might be envisioning. It's certainly one of the less wild rivers you'll find in Colorado. Some of the other rivers nearby, like the Crystal River, might be closer to what you're thinking of.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by docwatson

Thanks ... is there any nice scenery on the Roaring Fork? Swimming holes? Preserved cottonwoods? Or just barbed wire?

Mostly just upscale and trophy house subdivisions along the river--just like most of the I-70 Sacrifice Zone resort corridor, until one gets aways above Basalt on the Roaring Fork--then it's Reudi Reservoir and mostly public land.

[docwatson]

Ah yes ... the "mountain suburbia" as was described. I wish we could build the compact walkable villages I found in the European mtns ...

Where is the Crystal River?

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by ndk

It's hit and miss. There's a lot of private land along the river with a lot of different uses. Some is explicitly locked in as ranchland by Pitkin County, and some(e.g. the stretch through Carbondale) is more urban. And it's followed by the moderately trafficked Highway 82 for basically its whole length.

I think it's a pretty area, but more for the limestone and sandstone and scrub that xeric described(and Mt. Sopris) than the vegetation that you might be envisioning. It's certainly one of the less wild rivers you'll find in Colorado. Some of the other rivers nearby, like the Crystal River, might be closer to what you're thinking of.

I don't find the lower Roaring Fork Valley really spectacular at all(except for Sopris) and from my memories years ago before a lot of the current homes and subdivisions were built, I remember some irrigated agriculture but mostly scrub type land. It's what I term "high desert" and except for the green golf courses, not something I would describe as a "green" area either.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by docwatson

Ah yes ... the "mountain suburbia" as was described. I wish we could build the compact walkable villages I found in the European mtns ...

Where is the Crystal River?

Going south from Carbondale to its headwaters above Marble. It is in my top 5 for beautiful Colorado river canyons. It, too, has the trophy home cancer in some places, but far more of the streamside areas are public land along its course, so the development is not quite so obnoxious.

[xeric]

Originally Posted by wanneroo

I don't find the lower Roaring Fork Valley really spectacular at all(except for Sopris) and from my memories years ago before a lot of the current homes and subdivisions were built, I remember some irrigated agriculture but mostly scrub type land. It's what I term "high desert" and except for the green golf courses, not something I would describe as a "green" area either.

To each their own. In terms of the natural scenery, I think that the Glenwood Springs area is one of the most beautiful in the state. But then I don't think that lush greenery makes an area more beautiful. But in any case, the Front Range cities are mostly a little dryer then GS so in terms the aridity factor there really isn't much difference.

[wanneroo]

Originally Posted by xeric

To each their own. In terms of the natural scenery, I think that the Glenwood Springs area is one of the most beautiful in the state. But then I don't think that lush greenery makes an area more beautiful. But in any case, the Front Range cities are mostly a little dryer then GS so in terms the aridity factor there really isn't much difference.

To me it is what it is along the lower Hwy 82 corridor, I don't really like it nor dislike it. The canyon of course is impressive. In that area I do like it from Carbondale out to Marble, as well as Snowmass, out to ******** and up to Independence Pass.