Summit County, only an hour's drive from Denver, Colorado, has been a favorite ski destination for some time. A community association is successfully turning Keystone into a year-round playground for tourists, with free concerts and other activities. Birders drawn to the area for the biking and hiking should also pack their binoculars.
Keystone Ski Resort Near Dillon, Colorado
Just 6 miles from Dillon, at Interstate 70, Keystone's ski area includes 3 mountains, 5 bowls and 20 lifts. Condominium villages at 9,300 feet lie nestled in the pines along the Snake River, and the area is served by a complete range of year-round restaurants and other businesses. A community organization, the Keystone Neighborhood Company, invests in events, concerts and other programs to insure the area's four season viability. One of these events, the Bluegrass and Beer Festival, drew 6,000 during 2 days in August, 2009.
The area in and around Keystone is characterized by mountains, streams and lakes, providing opportunities for summer visitors to hike, bicycle and fish. High altitude hiking can be strenuous, but spectacular scenery, summer wildflowers, waterfalls and alpine lakes reward those willing to brave the thin air. These montane forests also attract breeding migratory birds, which, along with a large number of resident birds, provide added reasons for birders to visit.
Birding in the Keystone Condominium Area
Visitors staying in Keystone's condominiums can see plenty of birds in the immediate area. Anyone interested in hummingbirds should hang at least one hummingbird feeder from their patio, deck or anywhere else it can be seen. The Walmart store in nearby Frisco sells a selection of inexpensive hummingbird feeders. Boil a quarter cup of granulated sugar in a cup of water, let it cool and fill the feeder with this solution to attract hummingbirds. Don't add any food coloring, and keep any leftover solution in your refrigerator.
Hummingbirds that will visit Keystone feeders in the summer include resident Broad-tailed and migratory Rufous. Lucky guests will also draw an occasional Calliope. At times, the hummingbirds will be as thick as bees. There is a small recreational lake in Keystone that attracts Mallards and Blue-winged teal, and the Snake River and adjacent wetland areas draw Violet-green swallows, Wilson's Snipe, and Red-winged Blackbirds. A number of sparrows can be seen at and around the condominiums, including White-crowned, Fox, Vesper, Song and Lincoln, and Cassin's Finches will also visit the condos. Both Red-tailed and Ferruginous Hawks can be seen as well.
Berry bushes around the condominiums attract Mountain Bluebirds. Mountain Chickadees, Hairy Woodpeckers, Northern Flickers, Dark-eyed Juncos and Steller's Jays can be seen in nearby pines, and brushy areas around the condominiums are home to Wilson's and Yellow Warblers and Cordilleran Flycatchers. Other common birds in the area include American Crow and American Robin.
Birding Nearby Keystone
There are many hiking destinations within a few miles of Keystone that provide excellent birding, including Lily Pad Lakes, Lower Cataract Lake, Shrine Ridge and Loveland Pass, to name just a few. Birds found in these nearby areas include Black-billed Magpies, Cedar Waxwings, Pine Siskins, Pine Grosbeaks, Green-tailed Towhees and Western Tanagers. The lakes produce Canada Geese, California Gull, Osprey, Willow Flycatcher and Lesser Scaup. Forested slopes show both Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creeper, Western Wood Peewee, Red-naped Sapsucker, Gray Jay, Downy Woodpecker and Clark's Nutcracker.
Higher elevations are good places to find American Pipit, Golden Eagle, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Townsend's Solitaire. Trailside brushy areas, particularly near streams, often show Yellow-rumped, MacGillivray's and Virginia's Warblers, among many others.
Colorado Ski Resorts are Great Summertime Birding Areas
Popular high-activity destinations like Keystone are often thought to be poor places to find birds. To the contrary, these areas are rich with summer migrants and residents, and are well worth putting on a birder's itinerary. Keystone lies in the White River National Forest, and the national forest's published bird list shows nearly 200 species that have been seen in the area.
For more information about related activities in the area, see the following articles:
Three Summer Hummingbirds at Keystone Ski Resort in Colorado
Birds and Wildflowers on the Gore Range Trail to Boulder Lake
Hike the West Loveland Pass Trail as a Loop
Visit Echo Lake near Idaho Springs, Colorado
Keystone's Bluegrass and Beer Festival
Birding Lower Cataract Lake near Silverthorne
The Wildflowers and Birds at McCullough Gulch near Breckenridge
Ride the Chairlift for Free at Copper Mountain
The Birds and Wildflowers on Shrine Ridge Trail
The Wildflowers and Birds at Lily Pad Lakes near Dillon
Mt. Evans Scenic Highway and the Goliath Natural Area
The Wildflowers and Birds on the Loveland Pass Loop Trail
Bob Bowers - A lifelong naturalist and amateur ornithologist, Bob's avocation is studying, photographing and writing about birds.
Join the Conversation