Chaffee County
Author(s): Sherrie York
County Seat: Salida
County Size: 1,008 square miles
Low Elevation: 6,880 ft. - Arkansas River on the Fremont border
High Elevation : 14,420 ft. - Mount Harvard
Best Birds : Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (1908), Golden-crowned Sparrow (1908)
Checklist : Download pdf | View HTML
Introduction: Chaffee County. Fourteeners and the Banana Belt in the same day! From Salida at 7,000' elevation to the summits of the Collegiate Peaks, the Upper Arkansas Valley offers good access to a wide variety of habitats: alpine tundra, ponderosa forest, pinyon-juniper woodland, high meadows, big aspen groves, and over 100 miles of river riparian. Over 70% of the county is public land, with plenty of trails and access along both the Continental Divide and the Arkansas River Valley floor. If you like to mix your birding with other forms of recreation, be sure to bring your kayak, your skis, your mountain bike, and your fishing pole and don't forget your swim suit (or in some places your birthday suit) for a dip in the area's hot springs when you've got a bad case of binocular neck.
The public river accesses through Chaffee County are managed by the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation District, a joint Colorado State Parks/BLM arrangement. Most require a State Parks Pass or a day use fee. While there are many points marked "DOW Fishing Access," please keep in mind that usually these are state leases on private land for fishing access only. Technically that means that unless you're carrying a fishing pole and a license, you're not supposed to be there and the property owner can make a complaint. Information and maps can be found at the AHRA office in Salida, on G Street between Sackett and First (Hwy 291). There is a Forest Service office on Highway 50 in Salida, as well and in the summer the "Crossroads" Visitor Center is open at the junction of Highway 50 and Highway 285 in Poncha Springs.
Birding Locations
Sands Lake State Wildlife Area
Description - Sands Lake could well be called the hot spot for Chaffee County birds. As the settling pond for the Mount Shavano State Fish Hatchery located just upriver, its constant influx of "fishy" water keeps it ice-free year-round. Great-tailed Grackles winter here, and the willows around the lake attract migrants. The open water hosts a good variety of waterfowl in winter and migration. The lake is to be drained and dredged sometime in 2005 (apparently required by law once every 10 years).
Habitat - Pond/Lake/Reservoir
Directions - Sands Lake SWA is just north of the town of Salida on Highway 291. From Highway 50 turn north on Oak St./291. Drive through downtown; Sands Lake will be on your right just beyond the ball fields. From Buena Vista and points north: South on 285 to Hwy 291. South on 291 approximately 7 miles. 291 will cross the Arkansas River twice; just past the second bridge you'll see a sign for the Mount Shavano State Fish Hatchery on the right. Sands Lake is just beyond on the left. Parking areas are off of Spiral Drive. Please note a valid Colorado Habitat Stamp is required to use any SWA area in the state. They can be purchased anywhere fishing licenses are sold.
Delorme - 60 D2-D3
Roads of Colorado - 102 C3
Mount Shavano State Fish Hatchery and Frantz Lake SWA
Aliases - Frantz Lake
Description - Unlike Sands Lake, Frantz freezes over quickly when the weather changes. Waterfowl and shorebirds are hit-or-miss, but the marshy/willowy area at the southwest corner of the lake can be good for migrants. Osprey hunt the lake and the adjoining Arkansas River during migration. The hatchery property is open to the public, with river access from both the northwest corner of the lake and through the hatchery itself. Mt. Shavano hatchery is operating at less than half its capacity, and the unused raceways often attract shorebirds.
Habitat - Pond/Lake/Reservoir, Hedgerow/Shelterbelt
Directions - From Hwy 291 just north of Salida: Turn west on County Road 154 just south of the bridge over the Arkansas River. Hatchery is on the right, about .5 miles from 291. Raceways are best viewed from the road; there are parking spots just east of the fence. Beyond the hatchery to the east is Frantz Lake State Wildlife Area. Please note a valid Colorado Habitat Stamp is required to use any SWA area in the state. They can be purchased anywhere fishing licenses are sold.
Delorme - 60 D2
Roads of Colorado - 102 C3
Mount Ouray State Wildlife Area
Description - Another river-access point, Mount Ouray sports a shallow cattail marsh and a few small ponds, remnants of an earlier fish hatchery. Rails, wrens, sparrows are regulars, but Willets, Bald Eagles, and a Peregrine have been seen here, too. Swamp Sparrow has been annual in recent winters.
Habitat - Pond/Lake/Reservoir, Marsh, Stream
Directions - From Highway 291 north of Salida, turn west at the Mt. Shavano Hatchery sign (County Road 154) and drive past the hatchery and Frantz Lake. Turn right on County Rd 160 approximately 1.5 miles. Mt. Ouray SWA is on your right. The driveway to the parking area comes up quickly. Watch for a wooden barn; the parking entrance is just beyond. Please note a valid Colorado Habitat Stamp is required to use any SWA area in the state. They can be purchased anywhere fishing licenses are sold.
Delorme - 60 D2
Roads of Colorado - 102 C3
Fairview Cemetery
Description - Fairview Cemetery adjoins an irrigation ditch and is thick with assorted evergreens, brush, and mule deer. It can be good corvid-watching. Watch the irrigated fields on your way in for Lark Sparrows and Mountain Bluebirds.
Habitat - Park/Cemetery
Directions - From Hwy 291 just north of Salida, west at the Mt. Shavano Hatchery sign (County Road 154) and drive past the hatchery and Frantz Lake. Turn left on County Rd 160 (uphill). At the top of the hill, turn right onto County Road 144, approximately .5 miles to County Road 142. Turn right (west) on County Road 142 to cemetery.
Delorme - 60 D2
Roads of Colorado - 102 C3
Steele's Meadows
Description - These are irrigated hay meadows. If you catch it right, you might see 100+ ibis, long-billed curlew, snowy egret, sandhill crane. Chaffee County isn't particularly "gull-y," but these meadows can host a few species when wet.
Habitat - Wet Meadow
Directions - The SE corner of the junction of Hwy 285/Hwy 24. Just west of Johnson Village, two miles south of Buena Vista. All the land here is private, so you must bird it from the road.
Delorme - 60 B1
Roads of Colorado - 102 C1
Cottonwood Lake
Description - At about 9,000' elevation, the area around Cottonwood Lake is worth exploring. Be sure to swing your scope or binoculars up to the cliffs opposite the lake. You might see mountain goats. Watch along the canyon for bighorn sheep. Camping is available here, too. Be sure to spend some time investigating the huge willow carr above the lake. Wilson's Snipe, Fox Sparrow, and Cooper's Hawk are known inhabitants.
Habitat - Pond/Lake/Reservoir, Mixed Conifer Forest, Streamside Willow, Krummholz, Alpine Tundra
Directions - From the traffic light in Buena Vista, go west on 306 (Cottonwood Pass Road) about 5.5 miles to Road 344 (dirt) and turn left. The lake is along this road in about three miles.
Delorme - 59 B7
Roads of Colorado - 102 A1
St. Elmo/Chalk Creek Canyon
Aliases - Chalk Creek Canyon, Chalk Cliffs Fish Hatchery, Love Meadow viewing area
Description - While you're in the area, check out the once-booming, now semi-ghost town of St. Elmo. Historic buildings in various states of disrepair and restoration are all privately owned, so please be respectful. Willow-choked Chalk Creek runs through the little town, and aspen abound on the mountainsides. On the way up, if you have time, you can try stops at Chalk Cliffs Fish Hatchery (bald eagles in winter) or the Love Meadow viewing area (bighorn sheep). Save a stop at Mount Princeton Hot Springs for the trip back down. Most of the property through Chalk Creek Canyon is private, but there are several parking areas and access points for the San Isabel National Forest. Up FR 295 past St. Elmo you get into some great Spruce-Fir Forest with Pine Grosbeak, Three-toed Woodpecker, and probably Boreal Owl.
Habitat - Streamside Willow, Aspen Grove, Mixed Conifer Forest, Spruce-Fir Forest
Directions - From the junction of Hwy 285/24 west of Johnson Village, go south on 285 about 5 miles to Nathrop. Don't expect a town here, just a post office and a now-defunct general store. Turn west on County Rd 162, Chalk Creek Canyon Road. St. Elmo is about 12 miles up this road, which is paved for most, but not all of the way.
Delorme - 59 C7
Roads of Colorado - 102 A2-B2
Monarch Pass
Description - Someone we all know and love seems to always see White-winged Crossbill here, but it ain't me. Monarch Park Campground and Fishing Ponds seem a good possibility, though I've only been here once.
Habitat - Spruce-Fir Forest
Directions - Monarch Pass is at the crest of the Continental Divide on Highway 50 between Poncha Springs and Gunnison. To reach the Monarch Park Campground and Fishing Ponds, go west on Highway 50 from Poncha Springs. The campground is less than two miles from the summit, on County Rd 231, south of Highway 50.
Delorme - 59 D7
Roads of Colorado - 102 A3
Cottonwood Pass
Description - In the summer you can take Rd 306 over Cottonwood Pass to Taylor Reservoir in Gunnison County. The road is paved to the Continental Divide on the Chaffee County side, dirt on the Gunnison side. Most of the land on either side of the Cottonwood Pass Road is San Isabel National Forest or the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness Area, so if you're looking for a backwoods experience, stop at the Forest Service office in Salida for maps. The area atop the pass is above treeline, and hikers can look here for ptarmigan and rosy-finches.
Habitat - Spruce-Fir Forest, Krummholz, Alpine Tundra
Directions - Cottonwood Pass is a little under twenty miles west of Buena Vista along CR 306 (Cottonwood Pass Road/Main Street).
Delorme - 59 B6
Roads of Colorado - 102 A1
Clear Creek Reservoir State Wildlife Area
Description - By far the largest body of water in the county. Best in spring and fall for migrant ducks, grebes, loons etcetera, although Common Merganser and Osprey breed on the lake, and California Gull sometimes summers. Brewer's Sparrow breeds in the sage on the hillside north of the road. The only county record of Great Egret comes from here. A big willow carr at the west end can be great birding.
Habitat - Pond/Lake/Reservoir, Sagebrush, Streamside Willow
Directions - From Buena Vista, go 13 miles north on US 24, then half a mile west on CR 390. Please note a valid Colorado Habitat Stamp is required to use any SWA area in the state. They can be purchased anywhere fishing licenses are sold.
Delorme - 47 D7, 48 D1
Roads of Colorado - 86 B3
Bassam Park
Description - This is about 600 acres of gently sloping grassland surrounded by hills. The hills to the east and north are ponderosa pine, to the south are mostly aspen with lots of spruce-fir and some lodgepole. To the east are rougher hills with mostly pinon and some ponderosa and a scattering of aspen. It is entirely USFS. There are some private properties to the south by south-east about a mile from the park that are private, but they are well marked. Bassam has some of the biggest aspen I've ever seen. I can't even get my arms halfway around the trunks of those things. I KNOW there are goshawk in there, I've seen 'em.
Habitat - Mountain Meadow, Ponderosa Forest, Aspen Grove, Mixed-Conifer Forest, Lodgepole Forest
Directions - From US 24/285 about seven miles east of Johnson Village, head south on CR 307, a loope road off the highway. A little over a mile from the highway, head south on CR 187. The Bassam road is CR 187 south to CR 185. From the split, 187 goes on the east side of the park and 185 to the west side.
Delorme - 60 B3
Roads of Colorado - 102 C1, 103 D1
Chubb Park
Description - Chubb Park is relatively flat grassland, probably 1200 acres of grass or more, below Ponderosa Pine forest with some big aspen stands mixed in. There's some spruce fir to the west as you get higher on the west ridge. To the northeast is a small amount of pinyon-juniper. Most of the grassy floor of the park is privately owned, but the surrounding hills are USFS. USFS only owns a very little of the far northern end of the actual grasslands part.
Habitat - Mountain Meadow, Ponderosa Forest, Aspen Grove
Directions - From US 24/285 on Trout Creek Pass (at the Chaffee/Park county line), head east on CR 311. This road runs westerly along the north end of the park. It intersects with the Chubb Park road (CR 309) which runs full length north-south and connects back to the highway at a western entrance. The county roads through these places are mostly dirt. At the top end there is a parking area just off the highway. It doesn't get you very far, but it's where mountain bikers and such usually park.
Delorme - 60 A2
Roads of Colorado - 86 C4
Buena Vista
Aliases - McPhelemy Park, Forest Square Park, Marquard Nature Area, Yale Pond
Description - This lovely little town, properly pronounced "byoona vista," has several nice riverside parks and nature trails as well as some ponds worth checking. Right downtown is McPhelemy Park, with great mature trees for migrant passerines, a duck pond, and a stream complete with willows. Nearby is the smaller Forest Square Park, with similar habitat but far more human traffic. A little farther downstream is the E. Alfred Marquard Nature Area, which includes a nature trail complete with wildlife viewing blinds. Lewis's Woodpeckers aren't difficult to find on the outskirts of Buena Vista.
The BV sewage ponds, dry as of June 2005, can be scanned from CR 317 (South Railroad Avenue) southeast of town. Northwest of town is Yale Pond, which may be worth a check. Several other ponds in the area, including the large Ice Lake, are difficult or impossible to scan due to the design of the subdivisions that surround them, although in the case of Ice Lake, at least, this may change as construction continues.
Folks can also get Forest Service maps in the BV area at The Trailhead, a rec outfitting store right on Hwy 24 in BV, north of the traffic light, east side of the road, near the Pizza Hut.
Habitat - Park, Stream, Urban/Suburban, Pond, Lowland Riparian
Directions - McPhelemy Park is adjacent to downtown Buena Vista, on the northwest corner of Main Street and US 24. Forest Square Park is one block south, on the east side of US 24. To get to the Marquard Nature Trail, head south on US 24 roughly half a mile from Main Street to a left-hand turn opposite DePaul Street. Once you turn left here and cross the railroad tracks, turn left again on South Railroad Street and take it north a few blocks to the trail access. To get to the sewage ponds, turn right on South Railroad instead of left, and look for the sewage ponds on your left in about half a mile. To get to Yale Pond, head north from downtown on US 24 about four blocks past Main and turn left (west) on Crossman Avenue (CR 350). After a mile, turn right (north) on CR 353. Take your first right in half a mile; Yale Pond is on the right (south).
Delorme - 60 B2
Roads of Colorado - 102 B1
Fourmile Travel Management Area
Aliases - Collegiate Peaks Overlook, Shields Gulch, McGee Gulch
Description - (Submitted by Nathan Pieplow): This large area includes BLM, Forest Service and state lands. It caters to a wide variety of outdoor recreationists, from four-wheelers to mountain bikers and horseback riders. Depending on when you visit, parts of it may seem overrun, but in reality large chunks of it are always quiet, secluded and inviting to birders. Bohemian Waxwings have occurred here in large numbers in some winters.
The western part of this area, just east of Johnson Village near the Collegiate Peaks Overlook, has the best PJ habitat in the county and is a classic spot for Pinyon Jay among other specialties. For the best birding opportunities, drive the good-quality Road 304 past the overlook. A mile or so past the overlook, if you are in a passenger vehicle, you might want to take a left at the trailhead rather than go down the aptly named "Big Sandy Way." However, the entirety of both roads have great habitat, and all of it can be explored on foot.
Another section of the FTMA farther east can be terrific birding also. You can drive a loop off US 285 by heading up Shields Gulch on FR 315, taking a right on FR 376E, and heading down McGee Gulch on FR 305. (Naturally, you can also do the same route in reverse.) Shields Gulch starts out in good PJ, then traverses a great Ponderosa savannah which has the likes of Western Bluebird and looks absolutely perfect for Lewis's Woodpecker, although I haven't seen any here yet. McGee Gulch runs though a variety of habitats, from PJ to mid-elevation riparian, some aspen groves, and ponderosa and mixed-conifer stands. This loop should be accessible to passenger cars during most of the warmer months of the year.
Habitat - Pinyon-Juniper Forest, Ponderosa Forest, Aspen Grove, Mountain Meadow, Mixed-Conifer Forest
Directions - To get to the Collegiate Peaks Overlook and the rest of the western part of this area, head east on US 24/285 from Johnson Village a little under two miles to Road 304 on the left (north), signed for the overlook. Shields and McGee Gulches are on the north side of the highway a few miles farther east: Shields Gulch about 5 miles from Johnson Village and McGee Gulch about a mile beyond that.
Delorme - 60 B2
Roads of Colorado - 102 C1
Trout Creek Marshes
Description - (Submitted by Nathan Pieplow): The nice beaver pond marshes at the beginning of CR 307 are an extension of those on the south side of US 24/285 to the west of here. The entire stretch is reliable for such things as Song Sparrow, Yellow Warbler and Red-winged Blackbird. Sora has been found near the junction of CR 307 and CR 187, and Virginia Rail is also certainly in the area.
Habitat - Marsh, Streamside Willow
Directions - From Johnson Village, head east on US 24/285 about five miles to CR 307 on the right. The most easily accessible marshes are on the right (south) side of 307 for the next few hundred meters. Some are on private property and must be birded from the road.
Delorme - 60 B2-B3
Roads of Colorado - 102 C1
North Fork Reservoir Road
Aliases - Angel of Shavano Trailhead
Description - (Submitted by Nathan Pieplow): This road is well-maintained as far as the Angel of Shavano Trailhead. Near US 50 it runs through mostly willows and Ponderosa Pine habitat (with Pygmy Nuthatch, etcetera); nearer the trailhead it starts to get into mixed conifers and aspens. The willow carr on the left about a half-mile before the trailhead has breeding Fox Sparrow among other specialties. After the trailhead the road gets rough, possibly too rough for some passenger cars, but breeding Pine Grosbeak and Swainson's Thrush are worth a dented axle or two, right?
Habitat - Streamside Willow, Ponderosa Forest, Mixed Conifer Forest, Aspen Grove, Spruce-Fir Forest
Directions - From US 50 about seven miles west of Poncha Springs on the way to Monarch Pass, turn right (north) onto CR 240, which is the North Fork Reservoir Road.
Delorme - 59 D7, 60 D1
Roads of Colorado - 102 A3-B3