Fort Collins Chamber of Commerce

Outdoor Activities

Biking

There is plenty of biking in Fort Collins, whether you want to cruise around town, go up into the mountains or bike down the Front Range.  Below are some biking resources.

  • Fort Collins Bike Library: The library is a free service for residents or visitors to Fort Collins. Members of the library can borrow bikes for as little as one hour or up to seven days. Check them out at Café Bicyclette, their Downtown location.
  • Fort Collins Bike CO-OP:  The Fort Collins Bike Co-op is a community bike shop that teaches bicycle maintenance and repair as well as refurbishing and recycling old bikes.
  • Fort Collins Bike Map: Check out the city's comprehensive bike map. 

  

Camping

Below are resources you can use to find the perfect camping spot, whether it is up the Poudre Canyon or in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland. Trail information can be found here.

 For a list of camping retailers such as JAX Outdoor Gear and REI, please click here.

 

Hiking

There are roughly 29 miles of hiking trails in and around Fort Collins.  Additionally a wide variety of easy to extremely strenuous hikes can be experienced in the Poudre Canyon, Big Thompson Canyon, nearby Rocky Mountain National Park and other places throughout Northern Colorado and Southern Wyoming.  Below are a list of hiking resources available.  

  • City of Fort Collins, 215 N. Mason St., (970) 221-6600:  The city has maps for all of their natural areas that can be picked up at their north Mason location or printed from their website.  
  • Larimer County: The county's website has a comprehensive list of all the parks and open lands in the county.  
  • LoryState Park:  Lory State Park is located just Northwest of Fort Collins adjacent to Horsetooth Reservoir and connects with Horsetooth Mountain Park. Lory State Park has plenty of hiking and biking trails.  
  • U.S. Forest Service : The Forest Service has comprehensive listings of all the hiking trails in the Poudre Canyon as well as both Arapahoe and Roosevelt National Forests. 

 

Whitewater Rafting & Kayaking

The Poudre Canyon is Colorado's only nationally designated "Wild and Scenic" River. Colorado Highway 14, which follows much of the river, is designated a Colorado Scenic and Historic Byway between Fort Collins and the town of Walden.  This river not only offers a spectacular scenic drive, but also some of the best rafting in the state.  Mountain Whitewater Descents offers many rafting packages down the Poudre Canyon.

 

Skiing

In 90 minutes and you can be skiing at Loveland Ski Resort, 30 minutes later Keystone/Breckenridge and in 2 1/2 hours you can be in Vail.  Click here for additional skiing information.