Just a little background on Aurora... it is Colorado's third-largest city with a population of over 335,000 residents. Aurora makes up the eastern Denver metro area and sits on the High Plains at an elevation of 5,471 feet. The foothills of the Rockies are about a 20-30 minute drive, depending where you're at in the city, and offer amazing vistas ranging from Pikes Peak to Longs Peak. Aurora, as a city, is over 150 square miles.
With all of that being said, Aurora is home of one of the gems of the metro area... Plains Conservation Center. It is right smack dab in the middle of the city and right across the street from Buckley Air Force Base. Visit Aurora was able to take a tour with a guide from the Center, and she kept using the phrase "prairie thunder" with us. We were finally able to understand what she meant when two of the F-16's from the 140th Colorado Air National Guard were taking off directly over us.
The Plains Conservation Center covers an area that is over 1,110-acres. It offers a nature center, a historic farm with two replicated homesteads, a schoolhouse, a blacksmith shop, and a barn, and four Cheyenne-style tipis. Not only does the Center have the opportunity to educate visitors on what life was like in the 1800's, but they are also home to many different types of wildlife. Their farm has oxen, chickens and turkeys. The open prairie part of the center is home to many species of "big birds" (as our guide referred to as birds of prey), several colonies of prairie dogs, and a few herds of Pronghorn.
The Center also hosts an array of events that teach all about everyday surroundings, including prairie bird identification, solar eclipse viewings, and the skills it took to be a Cheyenne man!
No better way to end this blog than with some amazing photos taken at the Plains Conservation Center...
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| Cheyenne Tipis Photo: HansWatson.com |
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| Photo Courtesy of the Plains Conservation Center's Facebook page |
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| Photo Courtesy of the Plains Conservation Facebook page |
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| Photo Courtesy of the Plains Conservation Facebook page |
