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FrontRangeLiving.com -> Outdoors -> Phantom Canyon
 Phantom Canyon-A
Quiet River Runs Through It
By Niki Hayden
As
the crow flies, Phantom Canyon sits northwest of Fort Collins, a canyon in
Colorado without a road. This single distinction makes arriving at the canyon
unlike any other. People arrive on foot as they have for hundreds of years.
Parking is near the highway and visitors hike a short distance from Highway 287
crossing privately owned ranch land. There's only silence followed by the sounds
of caws from birds. Suddenly the earth opens to reveal a huge cleft with the
silvery glint of a river below. It's not until hiking the trail into the canyon
that the swooshing of water swirling around boulders can be heard.
But
first you cross a sliver of short-grass prairie. A sheepherder tends a flock of
sheep. Curious lambs straggle behind their mothers, staring at us with wide
eyes, but not approaching.
Pronghorn,
too, have their young in tow. They loll in the higher needle-and-thread grasses,
which are green and shiny from a deluge of spring rain. One male with
magnificent horns sits not far from the highway, gazing upon the herd, his back
to the cars whizzing by. The pronghorn colors of brown and beige blend into the
grasses, perhaps invisible to the drivers speeding by.
 Phantom
Canyon once was a draw to Fort Collins fishermen. Now The Nature Conservancy
owns it, so the conservation non-profit allows a number of fishermen to return
via a lottery. Volunteers work at the canyon, watching over it carefully,
pulling invasive weeds and documenting wildlife. They arrange wildflower walks
or star gazing, allowing the public to enjoy the canyon but not stay too long,
or in too great a number. Part of their stewardship is to keep good relations
with the ranchers surrounding the canyon, who have been granted easements.
Ranchers get tax reductions on their land, which encourages them to stay in the
business of ranching. In return, the canyon is preserved by a buffer of land,
which helps wildlife like the pronghorn to mix and mingle with cattle or sheep.
It's a balancing act that also includes funding from state and local tax
agencies. Each partner is essential to the preservation of the whole.
Like
so many conservation efforts, this relationship came together only when the
preservation of the canyon appeared to be in danger. Phantom Canyon was the
original name of a housing development slated to pop up around the canyon. A
volunteer at the canyon, says the threat of houses set off a debate in the
surrounding towns.
 "The
people in the community knew that if this went through they would no longer have
access to the canyon. They tried to make it a state park and they brought in The
Nature Conservancy as a consultant early on. That's how The Nature Conservancy
became aware of the area. At that time, in the early to mid-80s, The Nature
Conservancy was coming to realize they couldn't achieve their goals using some
of the schemes they had been using. They had preserved small pieces of property,
50 or 100 acres. But the purpose is to preserve species by preserving the area
where they live. They realized these small patches of land were not going to do
it. Many wildlife and plants require a larger area. They revised what they were
doing and they began looking for large areas that could save species. This is
one of them. It's an eco-zone, a special area that lies at the juncture of two
or more kinds of biological zones. In this case, we have the plains to the east
and mountains to the west. In these eco-zones, it turns out you find some of the
greatest diversity. We have the pronghorns and lark buntings, which you
typically see out in the plains around Pawnee Buttes. Then you have the animals
and plants from the mountains--bears, elk, cougars and bighorn sheep. Many
migrate through. Historically, they used to migrate through the plains," he
says.
 By
itself, the canyon is not exceptional, although no one could argue with such
spectacular natural beauty. But only one plant is remarkable to the area--Aletes
humilius, a member of the parsley family. And there’s a golden eagle's
nest dating back several thousand years, serving eagle families for all those
years, although the eagles have not been spotted recently. Still, standing at
the precipice of the canyon is astonishing. This is a canyon where time stands
still. A canyon without a road is extraordinary without fumes or engine noise to
distract from the quieter sounds of nature.
"This
area is pretty typical for this part of Colorado. The fact that it is not
fragmented and doesn't have roads makes it unique," says our guide, an
ecologist based in Fort Collins. On a summer's day we're looking at wildflowers.
She notes that many of the invasive grasses, originally used as horse and cattle
feed, have been pulled. What's left is a patchwork of typical native plants from
orange globemallow in the hollyhock family, to yarrow, one-sided penstemon,
miner's candle, potentilla, larkspur and scorpion flower. These common Colorado
foothills flowers represent some major botanical families like the rose and
delphinium. Here they are stunted by harsh Laramie foothill winds.
 The
border between Colorado and Wyoming is majestic, often with daunting desiccating
winds and extreme temperature changes. Rocky outcrops reveal the ancient Rockies
just across the highway and the more recent Rockies under our feet. We wind down
the canyon wall for a gentle hike, noting lichens, mushrooms, flowers and
shrubs. At the bottom, the plants shift from the drought-tolerant cacti and
grasses to water-loving willows, which provide a dense shrubbery offering
shelter to small birds. Cottonwood trees line one side of the stream.
Natural
caves carved from the rocky cliffs shelter raptors. The canyon is small, as
Colorado canyons go, but this one is glorious. Saving it is a reminder of how
canyons once looked. It means that the land is "contiguous," our guide
says, without the obstacles of roads, ranchettes or fences. "If we could go
back in time, this was short-grass prairie," she says, "That's gone.
But pronghorn stay here and they do have the means to go up high in the
mountains and return to prairie."
 Pronghorn
nibble on the grasses. These graceful creatures appear healthy and robust,
sturdy torsos attached to thin but powerful legs. Few animals are as exquisite.
Most bound away like birds in flight when they believe they are threatened. But
here, there's not a skittish one around. They glance at us from afar and appear
to understand that we will not approach them. Pronghorn need large tracts of
land and that's why we don't see the numbers that once flourished along the
Front Range. The foothills of the Rockies once provided a migratory path. Cities
and towns have interrupted those ancient migratory paths, which makes the canyon
and surrounding ranch land all the more precious.
For
those who visit during a summer's day, the hike comes close to experiencing a
prehistoric landmark. Set apart, untrammeled with only the sounds of water and
wind, Phantom Canyon disappears from the horizon in a matter of yards, as
quickly as it originally unfolded at our feet and remains a secret canyon.
Sidebar –
Trail Information
Phantom Canyon,
Nature Conservancy Preserve
Directions: Phantom Canyon is surrounded by private
property. Visitors must sign up for a Nature Conservancy workshop, field trip or
volunteer workday to have access to the preserve. See the web site below.
The preserve is located 30 miles north of Fort Collins.
From Fort Collins, take US-287 north to the town of Livermore, about 20 miles.
Livermore is at the junction of Red Feather Lakes Road and US-287. From
Livermore, continue north on US-287 for 7.7 miles to a gate on the west side of
the road. This gate, located at 40.8878N, 105.2854W, leads across 3.5 miles of
private land to the preserve. The preserve itself is located at 40.8666N,
105.3241W.
Features: The preserve comprises 1700 acres of canyon lands
created by the North Fork of the Cache la Poudre River and is one of the last
canyons without a road along Colorado’s Front Range. On the way in, you’ll
likely experience pronghorn, deer and coyote. Once in the preserve you may also
see elk, mountain lion, beaver and bear. The canyons provide habitat for bald
eagles, golden eagles, prairie falcons and red-tailed hawks. Pets are not
permitted.
More Info: Laramie Foothills Platform Project, 1235 Cherokee
Park Road, Livermore, CO 80536, 970-416-8620. Or, see The Nature
Conservancy, 2424 Spruce Street, Boulder, CO 80302, 303-444-2950
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