COME TO LIFE / All Trails Lead to Limon; Gateway to Colorado: Julesburg ALL TRAILS LEAD TO LIMON Named after railroad foreman John Limon, this small town began as a work camp for the Chicago and Rock Island rail line in 1888. Today, Colorado’s “Hub City” sits at the junction of five major highways, gracefully merging farmlands and prairie as far as the eye can see and offering a welcoming respite for travelers making their way across the eastern plains. COLORADO MORNING Browse downtown Limon ’s gift boutiques and antique shops for a handcrafted souvenir. Follow the marked pedestrian trail to the Doug Kissel Fishing Pond just south of Main Street. The one-acre fishing hole is a popular attraction stocked with trout in the spring and home to bass, crappie, catfish and bluegill. After catching your fill, continue down the path to the Limon Wetlands , where you’ll discover 14 spectacular acres of wetlands and open water, a wide variety of waterfowl and unique environ-ments sprouting cattails, bulrush and sedge plants. AFTERNOON Step behind Town Hall for an exciting venture into high-plains history. The Limon Heritage Museum Complex (1) artfully captures the area’s past through photos, unusual displays and tales of settlers thriving in a tough landscape. Walk through an old-time store, one-room schoolhouse and prairie kitchen; see the famous weather station and wheat exhibit; and get a close-up look at a Cheyenne tipi and an antique sheepherder’s wagon. Carefully restored by dedi-cated Limon Heritage Society volunteers, the adjacent 1910 Limon Railroad Depot houses a permanent Trains on the Plains exhibit, circa-1970 railroad office and a working scale model of Limon’s 1940s rail yard. EVENING See a show at Limon’s historic Lincoln Theatre , which has operated continuously since 1938 (as the Cactus Theatre until 1949). It’s one of only two operating theaters in the nation that are built backward — movie-goers enter next to the screen instead of at the back of the auditorium thanks to an upward slope on the land beneath it. The independent theater has undergone today’s digital transition and now shows everything from first-run blockbusters to indie flicks and documentaries. 1 STAY & PLAY OPTIONS Limon (page 208) FROM TOP: LIMON HERITAGE MUSEUM COMPLEX, MILES/ANDREA BUROLLA; DEVIL’S DIVE HISTORICAL MARKER IN JULESBURG, MILES/ANDREA BUROLLA. QUICK TIP Lincoln County is right on the Kingbird Trail and is home to more than 50 different species of birds. Just ask the locals to direct you to some of the more popular birding spots — bring your binoculars! GATEWAY TO COLORADO: JULESBURG to 4,000 and Julesburg sprouted saloons and dance halls — and some interesting characters. Dive into this gritty era of Jules-burg’s past at the Fort Sedgwick Museum , where artifacts tell of days when gamblers, cowboys and railroad workers made this the “Wickedest City in the West.” A stop by the Depot Museum in the former Union Pacific Railroad depot building will also reveal relics from this time period. As you mull over these stories of scandals and triumphs, walk part of the 19-mile-long South Platte River Trail , peppered with Pony Express stops and pioneer landmarks. Bring your binoculars; sightings of warblers, vireos and other birds are highly likely. COLORADO Situated in the state’s northeast corner near the Nebraska border, Julesburg holds history at a crossroads for explorers, farmers, gold-seekers and others looking to find their place out West. The “Gateway to Colorado” has mellowed from its rough-and-tumble upbringing into a quiet agricultural hub of around 1,500 residents. Get your bearings at the Colo-rado Welcome Center with free coffee, maps and brochures. The staff can tell you about how this town on the Pony Express route was burned to the ground in the 1860s. A few years later, after the town was rebuilt, Union Pacific Railroad laid tracks through Julesburg. The population soared The region’s two harvest seasons — July for wheat and October for corn and beets — promote excellent hunting conditions as well. Stop by the Julesburg Family Market for a hunting license and directions to key spots, or just enjoy the abundant game found along the river and among the fields. Or choose to join the race fans flocking to the popular Jules-burg Drag Strip . The quarter-mile section of pavement becomes a launch pad for hot rods and dates back to the late 1950s when the Platte Valley Customs Club started the local tradition. STAY & PLAY OPTIONS Julesburg QUICK TIP 194 / Many visitors come for excellent tailwater fly-fishing along the South Platte River throughout the year. COLORADO.COM
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