Rock Bottom Ranch

A property of the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, Rock Bottom Ranch is a hub for environmental education, wildlands preservation, and sustainable agriculture. The 113-acre wildlife preserve and educational ranch sits between the Roaring Fork River and the Crown of Mount Sopris, and is conveniently located midway between Basalt and Carbondale on the Rio Grande Trail. Its acreage includes wetlands, spring-fed ponds, a braid of the Roaring Fork River, cottonwood bottomlands, a view of piñon-juniper woodlands on adjacent public land, teaching farmyards, pasturelands, and gardens. The Ranch is western Colorado's "school" for teaching people of all ages how to grow healthy, local, sustainable food. This means farming using principles of ecology and natural biological cycles to satisfy human food needs while enhancing and protecting water, land, and climate resources. The Ranch is also home to in-school environmental science education programs for Aspen, Basalt, and Carbondale Elementary Schools as well as field programs for more than fifty regional schools. A conservation easement on the property ensures that it will always offer winter range and unobstructed river access for resident herds of elk and mule deer. Heron, hawk and owl nesting grounds exist at the Ranch, and its wildlands provide habitat to wildlife including bear, coyote, bobcat, weasel, and beaver.

www.aspennature.org.

Hours: Special Garden Conservancy Open Day tour, July 14, 11 a.m. Otherwise, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., plus Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the summer.

Admission: Free; $10 suggested donation.

Directions: From Aspen: Just past Basalt, turn left at the Willits Lane stoplight off of Highway 82. Turn left onto Hooks Lane (cross the Roaring Fork River). After the bridge, take an immediate right onto Hooks Spur Road. Hooks Spur Road (approximately 2 miles) dead ends at Rock Bottom Ranch. Park in the lot, only handicapped vehicles may drive to the end of the road.

From Carbondale: Just past El Jebel, turn right off of Highway 82 onto Willits Lane. Turn right onto Hooks Lane to cross the Roaring Fork River. After bridge, take an immediate right onto Hooks Spur Road. Hooks Spur Road (approximately 2 miles) dead ends at Rock Bottom Ranch. Park in the lot, only handicapped vehicles may drive to the end of the road.

Digging Deeper program: Guided garden tours. 11 a.m. Join Rock Bottom Ranch staff and educators to explore the Ranch, animal paddocks, hoop houses, and gardens while learning the science behind RBR's vegetable production and livestock rotational grazing system. In addition, you are free to explore the nature trail and grounds including beautiful vistas, verdant wetlands, cottonwood galleries, and more. You may see heron, red-winged blackbirds, elk, mule deer, and other local bird and wildlife. Visitors are welcome to purchase RBR products including eggs, pork, lamb, chicken, vegetables, and cut flowers.