Places: Chalk Cliffs State Trout Rearing Unit

By Mike Rosso The Chalk Cliffs State Trout Rearing Unit sits at the base of majestic Mt. Princeton, near Chalk Creek in Nathrop. Originally a private trout farm, the state of Colorado began operating the facility in 1948 to provide catchable trout to waters throughout the Front Range and Eastern Plains of Colorado. Its stocking …

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The Continuing Saga of Hill Ranch

By Ron Sering Editor’s note: This article is a follow-up to one written in our January/February 2013 issue.  The long journey for the area near Nathrop known as Hill Ranch began in 1886, when irrigation rights were first established for use in agriculture and ranching. Exactly a century later, the Hill family sold the rights …

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Saving Wildlife: A New Underpass Near Nathrop Will Help Prevent Accidents and Save Lives

Crew members from High Country Fence in Rye, Colorado, installing fence posts to help channel wildlife to a new highway underpass.

Story and Photos by Mike Rosso

Anyone who drives U.S. Highway 285 between Buena Vista and Salida on a regular basis has likely experienced it.

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Alpine: The Town That Wouldn’t Die

A view of the Alpine railroad station, a combination frame depot, freight room and living quarters. A large group of men is pictured on the wooden plank depot platform with piles of bundled canvas sacks. Denver, South Park & Pacific freight cars are on the tracks, circa 1882. Courtesy of the Denver Public Library.

By Jan MacKell Collins

There is much to say about Colorado ghost towns that have found new life in more recent years. While some places have simply vanished, others have been regenerated in one form or another. One such place is Alpine, located about twelve miles from Nathrop on Highway 162.

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Q & A with Colorado author Kent Haruf

A Colorado native, Kent Haruf is the award-winning author of five novels including “Plainsong,” published in 1999, which became a national bestseller and a finalist for the National Book Award, The Los Angeles Times Book Award and The New Yorker Book Award; it won the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Award, The Midland Authors Award, The Salon.com Award and the Alex Award from the American Library Association.

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