FUEL-CONSCIOUS: A ONE-TANK ITINERARY FOR THE NORTHEAST REGION
The Pawnee Buttes aglow at early sunset - Photo by Andrea Golod/Weaver Multimedia Group
You might only have one tank of gas, but that doesn’t mean you only have one day to tour Colorado’s Northeast. In fact, a full tank of gas can propel you throughout the entire area with enough activities to fill quite a few days. And when your trip is over, you might even have a few gallons to spare.
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Stargaze at Jackson Lake State Park
Brilliant stars dance in flickering light as you gaze skyward into an indigo-black night. Meteor showers, comet tails and the twinkle of stars are immutably brighter at Jackson Lake State Park. Far removed from city lights, and at a respectable altitude of more than 4,000 feet, celestial bodies thrust themselves outward and fill the eye.
In addition to stargazing, the park is ideal for boating, fishing and wildlife viewing. Its 260 campsites support tents, trailers and RVs, and most of the sites have spigots with potable water.
Back to map Visit the Fort Morgan Museum and Cross the Rainbow Arch Bridge
The Fort Morgan Museum provides visitors with a look at the area’s past by presenting exhibits on everything from a big band innovator to Plains Indian artifacts.
Glenn Miller, one of the biggest influencers of American music, called Fort Morgan home. The big band leader lived in Fort Morgan for three years and attended high school here. The museum provides displays on his life and many accomplishments through historical photographs and gold records.
Other permanent exhibits focus on the town’s military past, transportation in the area, American Indian history and a wonderful icon of a bygone era, a 1920s soda fountain. While at the museum pick up a map detailing a self-guided walking tour of the town.
The 1923 open-spandrel Rainbow Arch Bridge is an architectural jewel. This multi-span arch bridge is the only one of its kind in Colorado, and at 1,100 feet in length, it is one of the longest in the nation. Currently, it spans the South Platte River and serves as an entrance to the Pawnee Pioneer Trails Scenic Byway. This unique byway takes visitors through the Pawnee National Grassland to see historic preservation of another kind — that of the natural prairie that has changed little since pioneers passed through it in covered wagons along the Overland Trail.
Back to mapSee the Pawnee Buttes
The Pawnee Buttes are two fortress-like mesas that rise seemingly at random from the level land. At 250 feet tall, their appearance on the horizon may seem startling. A hiking trail leads visitors to the geologic wonders, and photographers will delight in the area’s beautiful shadows at dawn and dusk.
Back to map Stay in Sterling and Take a Dip in the Sterling Reservoir at North Sterling State Park
Sterling is the largest town in this corner of the state, and the trailblazing Overland Trail — a spur of the Oregon Trail that brought pioneers into the area — passes through the park.
Today, Sterling is a farming and ranching community with deep roots in the Colorado prairie. Make a first stop at the Overland Trail Museum to learn about the town's history and explore a historic, one-room schoolhouse.
Next, sit in the shade at the downtown Columbine Park and admire two of the town's living-tree sculptures — trees carved into shapes representing, among other things, a mermaid, a golfer and a group of giraffes.
Or, tee off at one of the area's four golf courses. And if you're an angler at heart, break out a fishing rod and visit nearby North Sterling State Park or Prewitt Reservoir, where you can catch a dinner of walleye, bass or muskie.
You might only have one tank of gas, but that doesn’t mean you only have one day to tour Colorado’s Northeast. In fact, a full tank of gas can propel you throughout the entire area with enough activities to fill quite a few days. And when your trip is over, you might even have a few gallons to spare.
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