5608 W Hwy 34 

MAP and REGULATIONS

Wild Natural Area is a 25-acre Open Land property in west Loveland along the Big Thompson River. The property has been developed to provide amenities for public access and opened in early 2025. 

This new natural area offers opportunities for passive recreation including hiking, fishing, wildlife viewing, birding, and leashed dog walking. Amenities include a trailhead parking area with standard and ADA spaces, a 0.6-mile soft-surface trail, an information kiosk with map, ADA-accessible portable toilet, and a bicycle rack. Access to the property was made possible with the addition of a new traffic signal at Hwy 34 and Glade Road. The intersection improvements were installed by Larimer County using grant funding along with city and county partnership dollars. No Loveland General Fund money was spent on this project. 

Allowed uses at Wild Natural Area include hiking and biking on the soft-surface trail, fishing (north side of the Big Thompson River only), leashed dog walking, wildlife viewing, and birding. A trail provides access to the neighboring property, Sweetheart Winery. No alcohol is permitted on Wild Natural Area.  

The river corridor offers a variety of options for connecting with Wild Natural Area's beautiful and diverse ecosystem. 

Wild Natural Area was purchased in 2009 using the City of Loveland's share of dedicated funding from the Larimer County Open Lands Sales Tax. In 2013, the Big Thompson Flood caused the river to change course through this reach, destroying riverside vegetation and depositing silt, sand, woody material and debris throughout the corridor. City staff and volunteers helped remove hundreds of cubic yards of debris from the site after floodwaters receded. In 2018, a partnership project with the Big Thompson Watershed Coalition and neighboring landowners utilized grant funding to restore the natural area and recontour the river channel to a meandering and more sustainable course. Native vegetation was restored along the river banks and throughout the site, providing habitat for elk, deer, black bear and other mammals, resident and migratory songbirds, raptors, and waterfowl, and numerous amphibians and reptiles. 

Loveland's Open Lands and Trails are funded through the 0.25% Larimer County Open Lands Tax, City Capital Expansion Fees from new development, and grants and partnerships. The Open Lands and Trails Division does not receive funding from the City's General Fund.