Site Details

descriptions and directions

Cottonwood Marsh photo by Peter Burke

Lyons Area - Boulder County
Aliases: Meadow Park, Bohn Park, South Saint Vrain Trail, Apple Valley Road, South Saint Vrain Road
Ownership: None Listed
Description: The small town of Lyons, famous as a speed trap, is also well-known as a place to find a great mix of spicy foothills birds and juicy migrants. Several places in town are worth checking, as are two nice roads just outside town.

The Lyons cemetery is small, but contains some mature cottonwoods that might be worth checking for migrants. Meadow Park, along CO 7 just south of its junction with US 36, has a little riparian habitat and some very impressive sandstone cliffs that are home to White-throated Swift and Canyon Wren; keep an eye out for the local Golden Eagle pair. Bohn Park provides access to the South Saint Vrain Trail, which runs along the river of the same name about half a mile in either direction from the park, through riparian woods worth birding at all seasons.

Apple Valley Road and South Saint Vrain Road are very similar roads—so similar, in fact, that they are sometimes confused. Both are paved rural residential roads that parallel the busy highway on the other side of the river, and both are flanked by riparian cottonwoods on one side and dryer foothill habitats on the other side. The difference between these roads is that they parallel different highways and rivers. Apple Valley Road loops off US 36 and follows the North Saint Vrain, while South Saint Vrain Road (84S on some maps) loops off CO 7 and follows its namesake. Both roads can produce good flocks of migrants in season, including vagrants from the east, and both can produce difficult Boulder County birds like Northern Pygmy-Owl (mostly in winter), Lewis's Woodpecker (summer), Bushtit and Pinyon Jay. Both roads are very narrow and winding, both run entirely through private property, and neither has pullouts anywhere besides its end. For these reasons, both roads are best birded on foot, by people willing to pay as much attention to the traffic as to the trees. To bird Apple Valley Road, park just west of the suspension bridge at the road's north entrance to US 36. To bird South Saint Vrain Road, park at Bohn Park in Lyons and follow the South Saint Vrain Trail a half mile upstream to the start of the road, birding all the way.

Habitat: Lowland Riparian, Foothill Scrub, Cliff Face, Stream, Urban/Suburban
Elevation:
Directions: Lyons lies just west of the junction of US 36 and CO 66, north of Boulder and west of Longmont. To get to the cemetery, turn north off of US 36 onto 3rd Street and follow it through a small jog to its end. To get to Bohn Park, turn south off US 36 onto 2nd Avenue and follow it across the river; the park is on the right (west). Meadow Park is on the west side of CO 7 one block south of its junction with US 36.
Restrictions/Hazards:
Other Wildlife:
Other Attractions:
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CBRC Records from Lyons Area

SpeciesAccession No.Date(s)
Painted Bunting56-86-275/9/1986