By Shannon Lukens
The gates are open for the season Wednesday, May 1. at Yampa River Botanic Park in Steamboat Springs. Flowers are blooming and the osprey are nesting along the Yampa River. The Botanic Park is free and open to the public from dawn to dusk, from May through October.
For information visit www.yrbp.org, or contact the Yampa River Botanic Park via email at office@yrbp.org or 970-846-5172.
Press Release from the City of Steamboat Springs; April 29, 2024.
Celebrate May Day At The Yampa River Botanic Park
Park Will Open Its Gates For The Season On Wednesday, May 1
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, COLORADO-April 29, 2024-As the Yampa Valley transitions into spring, the first flowers are starting to bloom, the grass is greening up around town, and the nesting ospreys have returned to their nest overlooking the Yampa River Botanic Park for the 9th consecutive year.
As the snow continues to melt, the park’s horticulture team has been hard at work preparing the gardens after the long winter. The Yampa River Botanic Park will open their gates and welcome visitors for the season on Wednesday, May 1, which also happens to be May Day!
“We’re excited to show off all the early season blooms in the park,” commented Executive Director Jennifer MacNeil. “There is lots in store this season and we hope folks will join us for fun events, programs, and stroll through often to see the park as the seasons change from spring, to summer, to fall.”
Early flowers such as crocus, hyacinths, hellebores and tulips are already showing off their early season colors. The osprey pair which has been raising young since 2016 in the nest along the Yampa River returned on April 3.
Several events are on the books for the summer including Yoga on the Green, Music on the Green, Stories in the Garden, Fairy Garden House Contest (June 14), Lulie’s Wildflowers and Watercolors, and Piknik Theatre. New this season, the park will host Guided Meditation on the Green, select Tuesdays at 5:30 PM beginning May 7. In addition, the garden’s signature event, Passport Through the Park, is set for July 20. This year’s event theme is “Journey to the Far East” and will feature plants native to high elevations in Asia and exotic cuisine from Japan, China, and Korea.
Once a sprawling horse pasture, the six-acre Yampa River Botanic Park is now home to more than 60 unique gardens, thousands of plant species, animals, and hosts special events of all shapes and sizes. An innovative experiment in private/public partnerships, the Botanic Park is free and open to the public from dawn to dusk, from May through October.
For information visit www.yrbp.org, or contact the Yampa River Botanic Park via email at office@yrbp.org or 970-846-5172.