Tour Day Friday May 30th

Wear casual clothing suitable for the tour you select and comfortable, sturdy walking shoes.  When registration opens in January, tour reservations will be on a first-come, first-served basis. *Please note we regret that the local bus companies do not provide handicapped accessible vehicles and if this is a consideration for you, we will work with you to use your own vehicle or find an IFYE that can accommodate special needs transportation. For those with walkers or canes, we will reserve seats in the front of buses to ease getting on and off at tour stops. We will have a line on the registration where you can denote special transportation needs and mobility concerns.

Tour Options

Tour 1 – Ag Tour -  $90 per person               

The Ag tour will explore some of the Front Range’s variety of agriculture. Stops will include Root Shoot Malting, a fifth-generation family farm and malthouse that provides barley, wheat, rye and non-GMO corn to craft brewers and distillers. Also, to be announced a diary and a stop at the area’s FFA Foundation Farm. A catered lunch will be provided at one of the stops. This tour will involve some walking and some areas that won’t be handicapped accessible.

Tour 2 – Arts & Culture - $80 per person

 This tour will head to downtown Loveland where participants will split into two groups to alternate visits to the Loveland Museum and the Rialto Theatre. The Loveland Museum has a rotating schedule of temporary art exhibitions in four exhibit spaces. It also contains several history exhibits portraying the development of Loveland from its beginnings as a pioneer settlement to becoming a thriving artistic and business community. Of special interest is a gallery focused on the history of the Big Thompson River Canyon and Water Project. This space is handicapped accessible.

The Rialto Theatre opened as a silent movie theater in 1920 and is currently Loveland’s premier performing arts venue. The tour will go through the art deco building and recount the various stages of use throughout its 100-plus year history. In 1988 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places following an extensive renovation. While mostly handicapped accessible there may be one or two places’ wheelchairs might not fit due to the historical site designation.

Time will be provided after the tours to browse through historic downtown filled many shops and boutiques and to have lunch on your own. Loveland has created a diverse public art collection, and several pieces are in the downtown area. After lunch the tour group will depart for the Benson Sculpture Garden, the city’s largest outdoor sculpture venue. This is also handicapped accessible via garden paths.

Tour 3 – Rocky Mountain High - $100 per person

The Rocky Mountain tour will be a full-day tour to Rocky Mountain National Park. Given the unpredictable spring weather in the Rockies we cannot guarantee that Trail Ridge Road will be open by May 30, but even if it isn’t stops will be made throughout the lower elevations of the park. These include the Fall River Pass Historic District, Beaver Meadows Visitor Center and the Bear Lake area. A boxed lunch will be provided and, weather permitting, participants will be able to eat outside at one of the area’s campgrounds. A final stop will be at the historic McGregor Ranch, established in 1873 as a Colorado Homestead Ranch. Please be advised this tour will involve being at high altitude for several hours and seeing many of the stops will also involve walking over uneven terrain.

Tour 4 – Ft. Collins - $85 per person

This tour will include a 45-minute tour at New Belgium Brewery, a tour of Otterbox, a privately owned consumer electronics accessory company that primarily produces cases for mobile devices, a tour of the Colorado State University Campus and a stop at Four Rivers Equipment, which sells John Deere construction equipment. To be determined is whether a lunch will be served enroute or a box lunch will be available. This tour will involve walking and standing, but for the most part should be handicapped accessible.