HOW TO FIND US

Directions to Rancho Lobo y Mariposa, 1002 Dry Creek Drive ,

LYONS, Colorado 80540

From Boulder, take 28th Street or Broadway north; they merge north of town into highway 36. Follow highway 36 north from Boulder about twenty minutes to the t-intersection with highway 66; take a left at the T and go a few miles into the little town of Lyons, where you’ll find yourself on Main Street. At the west end of Lyons, where there’s a forced choice turn, go right or northwest onto highway 36 toward Estes Park. Go 2.3 miles from that turn to County Road 71N. On your left, there will be a pretty arched bridge and the road is marked Apple Valley Road, but don't turn onto the bridge. Instead turn right onto 71N and reset your odometer.

From Estes Park, take highway 36 southeast toward Lyons. Look for the mile markers; Mile 0 is Estes Park and the numbers get larger as you go toward Lyons. After mile 17, the turnoff is not quite another mile. Look for a pretty arched bridge on your right, marked AppleValley Road; turn away from the bridge, left, onto County Road 71N, and reset your odometer. (If you see mile marker 18, or the Stone Mountain Lodge, you have gone too far.)

No matter how you got onto County Road 71N, after 2.6 more miles, just where the bank of mailboxes sits on the left, the road forks; take the left fork and reset your odometer. The pavement ends about .25-.3 miles later; keep going. Take the first right turn just beyond, where the section of green fence and the power box are on your right. Immediately cross over the creek (it’s actually the Little Thompson River) on a concrete bridge, and after .2 mile, turn right onto Ponderosa Hill Road — there’s a sign.

**After 1.7 miles on Ponderosa Hill Road, turn right onto Blue Mountain Trail.

**Drive another 1.6 miles, taking you past Dale and Freda Drive and shortly after that by the sign for Copper Cliff Ranch, and then the big stone Elk Run Estates sign. You’ll start seeing a series of “property for sale” signs. After the 1.6 miles, at the top of a steep hill, bear sharply left so that you’ve stayed on Blue Mountain Trail. Don’t bear right onto Dry Creek here.

**Keep going about another .5 mile, past the Simple Ranch Road sign, until you see the stone sign that says 100 Elk Run. Don’t turn right into the driveway there; keep going, but a couple dozen yards later turn right onto the road marked Dry Creek Drive (the sign is off to your left, is made of wood, and is not very prominent).

**Go .5 mile to the gate opening; you will see our stone sign just inside the gate. Drive through and follow the road another .25 mile to the house.

The first time we ever saw the place, a real estate agent showed us, and we were staggered by the drive. It didn't really take that long, but we were used to living just yards off the pavement, and it seemed like the dirt road went on forever. We were about to tell the agent to forget about it when we drove over the rise and saw the place. We fell in love at once, and the drive never seemed that long afterward. The last five miles or so is on dirt, but it's quite passable most of the year, and in fact we've never been unable to get out, even after winter blizzards. Even with heavily loaded trailers. So just go slowly and enjoy the amazing scenery. The drive will take you about 45 minutes from Boulder, Longmont, or Estes Park.

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