Alamosa Riparian Park

A result of a two-year effort by Western Rivers Conservancy, the City of Alamosa, Great Outdoors Colorado, and other partners, the 203-acre City of Alamosa Riparian Park was completed late 2019. The project conserves a mile of the Rio Grande River and creates new opportunities for recreation along its banks. The largest funder of the project, Great Outdoors Colorado, ranked Alamosa Riparian Park as its number-one Open Space Project in 2018 and provided $695,000 for the city to purchase the land. 

Western Rivers Conservancy (WRC), the City of Alamosa, and a long list of partners worked together to add the pristine, 203-acre riverfront park to the city’s open space offerings and conserve a mile of the Rio Grande. The park created new opportunities for recreation along the river banks and protected a valuable stretch of wildlife habitat.

Located just northwest of Alamosa, the park serves as an upstream anchor for the city’s growing network of pedestrian and bike trails, adding more than five miles of new trails on the property itself. It is a critical piece of the community’s Revitalize the Rio Initiative, an effort to link trails and improve river health and access along the Rio Grande throughout Alamosa and south to the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge. To make the park a reality, WRC purchased adjacent properties in 2018 from two families that shared the community’s vision to create public open space along the river and keep the land undeveloped.

True to its name, Alamosa Riparian Park contains extensive groves of tall cottonwoods (or alamosas, in Spanish) that shade trails for pedestrians, cyclists, birders, runners and others to enjoy year-round. Healthy, native plants line the river and provide habitat for animals like the rare southwestern willow flycatcher. Visitors can also see river otters, bald eagles, and other wildlife.

Learn more about other parks, trails, and open spaces funded by the Colorado Lottery at PlayOnColorado.com.

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