Birding Trail in Rio Blanco County

Added to all the other enjoyable activities in the protected Flat Tops Wilderness in Rio Blanco County, is the Colorado Birding Trail.
“Even among native Coloradans, the Flat Tops are a well-kept secret.” states Explore Wild Colorado. “Flat though their tops may be, these impressive mountains are the centerpiece of the second-largest wilderness area in the state. They include a vast landscape of subalpine forest, alpine tundra, sheer cliffs, and sparkling lakes. Here you can hike the death-defying trail across the Devil’s Causeway, where thousand-foot drops are separated from one another by a knife ridge only a few feet wide. You can visit Trappers Lake, one of the only known breeding sites in Colorado for Barrow’s Goldeneye, and explore aspen stands with nesting Purple Martins and oak scrublands where Dusky Grouse are common. You can see Band-tailed Pigeons winging their way overhead. This is a special area, well worth the effort to get to.”
Sites on this Trail include:

1. Piceance State Wildlife Area
2. Rio Blanco Lake State Wildlife Area
3. Oak Ridge SWA (Lake Avery Unit)
4. Buford Area
5. Big Marvine Peak
6. Trappers Lake
7. Ripple Creek Pass
8. Dunckley Pass and Vaughn Lake
9. Stillwater Reservoir and the Devil’s Causeway