RANGELY

COLORADO'S BEST KEPT SECRET

Nestled in the valley of the White River in northwest Colorado, Rangely has come to be known as Colorado's best kept secret by all who visit. This small community offers a wide variety of activities such as premier hunting, golfing, an array of water sports and fishing at Kenney Reservoir and rock crawling at Colorado's only sanctioned rock crawling park.

Part of the "Dinosaur Diamond", Rangely boasts some of the most beautiful scenery around. High mountain desert flora and fauna can be seen year round. Whether it is from your car, RV, ATV or rock crawler, the Rangely area is a sight to behold.

The Taylor Draw Dam and Kenney Reservoir are located 5 miles east of town on the White River and offer a wide variety of recreational facilities and leisure activities, including motor boating, sailing, fishing and swimming. There are well maintained facilities that include clean restrooms, group shelters, horseshoe pits, swimming area, a marina and sand play areas. The facilities are all open in spring and summer, and are handicapped accessible.

The Cedar Ridges Golf Course, located just 2 miles east of Rangely, is a public course with a little bit of everything: rolling swells, mounds marking safe landing areas, multiple tee boxes, large rolling greens, hills, water, sand traps, trees and level areas. The 9 hole par 36 course was constructed in 1985. The golf course was designed by Frank Hummel, who has designed and constructed well over 200 courses in the United States.

Rangely is just 20 miles southeast of Dinosaur National Monument on the Dinosaur Diamond National Scenic Byway and is central to one of the last areas of the West explored by European settlers. Nestled in the lower White River Valley at the heart of the Canyon Pintado National Historic District, enjoy access to acres of green forests, riddled with wildlife, high desert plateaus and plunging canyons marked with petroglyphs left by the native Fremont and Ute civilizations.

The Canyon Pintado Historic District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is located in northwest Colorado in the Douglas Valley south of Rangely. Canyon Pintado (Painted Canyon) has been occupied by prehistoric people for as long as 11,000 years and was visited repeatedly by a variety of cultures throughout its long history. One culture that left a visible mark on the Canyon was the Fremont. The Canyon provides the largest concentration of Fremont archaeological sites along the Dinosaur Diamond. More than fifty archaeological sites in the Canyon Pintado District were the handiwork of Fremont-age peoples. The Canyon Pintado Historic District features eight marked sites along Highway 139 south of Rangely. The sites feature petroglyphs and pictographs on the sheer sandstone walls that were left by Fremont and Ute civilizations long before Europeans explored the West.

Rock crawling is an extreme form of off road driving using vehicles anywhere from stock to highly modified to overcome obstacles. In rockcrawling, drivers pilot highly modified four-wheel-drive vehicles such as trucks, Jeeps, and "buggies" over very harsh terrain. Driving locations include boulders, mountain foothills, rock piles, mountain trails, etc. Rockcrawling is about slow-speed, careful and precise driving. Rockcrawlers often drive up, down and across obstacles that would appear completely impassable to the average person.

Elks Park is located at Stanolind Avenue and Bell Street in the southwest corner of town, was originally built by the local Elks Lodge on 29-1/2 acres of land purchased from the Bureau of Land Management. Families can stretch their legs at the playground, relax under the mature landscaping that includes beautiful shade trees, lilac bushes and assorted shrubs, three picnic shelters, two sets of restrooms, basketball courts, horseshoe pits, sand volleyball court, two lighted softball fields, and paved parking lots at both ends of the park. The park is a busy place during the spring and summer months during adult and youth ball games, the 4th of July fireworks display, and the annual Septemberfest arts and crafts fair.

209 E Main St, Rangely Colorado 81648; 970-675-5290.

Visit our Web site Rangely Chamber of Commerce, Rangely, Colorado www.westernrioblanco.org