Guided bird walk and history talk at Mt. Harris. This event takes place on a beautiful private property along the Yampa River near Hayden. History portion of the event will be provided by Laurel Watson, curator of Hayden Museum. Bird walk portion of this event will be led by Paul and Lisa Williams, Yampa Valley Birding Club Mount Harris was founded in 1914, when the Colorado-Utah Coal Company purchased the land for a coal mining venture. Two brothers from Iowa were in charge of developing the mining town which would become home for many people for the next 44 years. Mount Harris soon became noted as a ‘model coal camp’, the streets were wide and tree lined, and the residential area was planned in a generous way, allowing for homes to have a large yard and garden area for each family. In addition to the Colorado-Utah Coal mine, which operated from 1914-1958, there were two other mines in the area that provided employment for residents of Mount Harris: the Wadge Mine and Wolf Creek Mine. As the mines began to close the town started to fade and on May 20, 1958 the entire town of Mount Harris was auctioned off, houses and mining equipment were sold and moved, most of what remained was demolished. This area features rare riparian forest type dominated by narrowleaf cottonwood, box elder, and red-osier dogwood. Bird life is abundant and includes raptors, warblers, Belted Kingfishers, woodpeckers, swallows, towhees, tanagers, and more.
Directions: From Steamboat, take Hwy 40/Lincoln Ave west (toward Milner and Hayden). 6.8 miles past Milner, turn into the pull-off on the south side of the Hwy. There is a historical marker here for Mt Harris and it is directly across Hwy 40 from CR 52. Once you pull off, there will be someone there to direct you to the parking area further down the road. Drive time from Library is ~20-25 mins.
Guided bird walk and history talk at Mt. Harris. This event takes place on a beautiful private property along the Yampa River near Hayden. History portion of the event will be provided by Laurel Watson, curator of Hayden Museum. Bird walk portion of this event will be led by Paul and Lisa Williams, Yampa Valley Birding Club Mount Harris was founded in 1914, when the Colorado-Utah Coal Company purchased the land for a coal mining venture. Two brothers from Iowa were in charge of developing the mining town which would become home for many people for the next 44 years. Mount Harris soon became noted as a ‘model coal camp’, the streets were wide and tree lined, and the residential area was planned in a generous way, allowing for homes to have a large yard and garden area for each family. In addition to the Colorado-Utah Coal mine, which operated from 1914-1958, there were two other mines in the area that provided employment for residents of Mount Harris: the Wadge Mine and Wolf Creek Mine. As the mines began to close the town started to fade and on May 20, 1958 the entire town of Mount Harris was auctioned off, houses and mining equipment were sold and moved, most of what remained was demolished. This area features rare riparian forest type dominated by narrowleaf cottonwood, box elder, and red-osier dogwood. Bird life is abundant and includes raptors, warblers, Belted Kingfishers, woodpeckers, swallows, towhees, tanagers, and more.
Directions: From Steamboat, take Hwy 40/Lincoln Ave west (toward Milner and Hayden). 6.8 miles past Milner, turn into the pull-off on the south side of the Hwy. There is a historical marker here for Mt Harris and it is directly across Hwy 40 from CR 52. Once you pull off, there will be someone there to direct you to the parking area further down the road. Drive time from Library is ~20-25 mins.