Udall Natural Area

I’ve long appreciated that living in Old Town also provides such easy access to a variety of natural areas. This past week, with the first days of summer here and children interrupting my regularly scheduled early morning walk with the dog to city park, I decided to head out to one of the natural areas after daycare dropoff. I’ve been to Udall natural area many times in the past, and while it isn’t the most glamorous natural area the city owns, it never disappoints when it comes to seeing wildlife.

Udall Natural Area sign with the backdrop off Downtown and the railroad tracks

Perhaps the hidden nature of this natural area, the lack of definitive parking, or its location sandwiched between the poudre river, the railroad tracks, and a somewhat noisy grain mill deters visitors. However, I’ve had the privilege of seeing quite a bit of wildlife here over the years, including cranes, ducks, red winged blackbirds, hawks, eagles, deer, and coyotes. On my most recent outing, I came face to face with a deer not more than 30 feet away. We both stared at each other for a few moments as I waited to see if my 100 lb German Shepherd Edel would notice its presence (she did not, perhaps old age is starting to kick in?). Either way, it was a pretty amazing moment to stare eye to eye with a young buck, fuzzy antlers burgeoning in the early morning sun.

Edel didn’t see this buck or it would have bolted sooner. No zoom on this photo!

As we continued along our path towards the river, I kept a close eye out for more deer as it always seems like they come in groups, and I was fully prepared for Edel to pull me abruptly towards one once she caught sight or wind of another. Alas, we made it to the river section with no nearly dislocated shoulders from leash pulling, at which point in time I noticed just how amazing it was that we were the only people in this small section of natural area. Taking a moment to reflect, I began to listen to the birds singing, which all but drowned out any dull grain mill or road noise. The poudre river was flowing in full force and the early morning sun definitely makes for a beautiful setting to enjoy a morning sit down.

The poudre river flowing by. The other side of the river is the poudre river trail as it passes by the Woodward campus

I’ll admit, this is my favorite portion of the natural area, and if I was a complete rule follower, I would have never made it all the way back to this section. I frequently ask myself what I would say if stopped in this section, like “I didn’t see the sign but just followed these 2 tracks back here”, but I’ve never had to explain my presence to anyone on all of my journeys back to this section. You do have to do a bit of bushwacking to cross a small creek, but once on the other side, you can follow the poudre river along, which we did on this occasion. Edel loves to “slip in for a dip” everytime we reach the river, and on this occasion, our presence spooked a pair of ducks and a crane which promptly flew away in alert of our presence. It seems that too alerted Edel and she became excited with the concept of a quick chase down the river bank into the water.

Bird dog she is not, but she still loves a quick swim and a chase when the opportunity presents itself!

As we neared our completion of the small loop around the 3 small wetland ponds, we noticed a plethora of ducks and another unknown species of bird in a smaller pond. At this point, Edel had become disillusioned with concept of chasing after an animal, particularly birds which are a bit of a touch chase, although I’m sure a rabbit or dear would have perked her right up again. Either way, I found it quite peaceful to see multiple groups of ducks, geese with goslings, and other wildlife in this small, 15 minute loop through the natural area.

Not sure the exact species of this bird

A short walk from this last pond, and we were just about out of the natural area again, and into city life. As we walked back to the daycare, across Lincoln, around the grain mill, and on the lower section of the river trail, I thought to myself that it was so great that Fort Collins has these small pockets of solitude and serenity scattered throughout town. Next time you are out and about at the breweries, downtown, or otherwise just need a quick getaway to gather your thoughts, I’d recommend slowing things down, hitting a natural area, and just taking some time to reflect….you will thank me later!