‘Garden Spot of Colorado’ reaps harvest of interest
BERTHOUD — The southern Larimer County town of Berthoud is making its mark as an affordable option along the Front Range urban corridor between Loveland and Longmont. New subdivisions are sprouting on several sides of Berthoud.
That’s not all that’s sprouting.
With more than 9,000 trees in its parks, public rights of way and natural areas alone, Berthoud revels in its reputation as the “Garden Spot of Colorado” and is celebrating its 41st year as a Tree City, a designation conferred by the Arbor Day Foundation.
The family-oriented town has numerous parks, and its recreation center at Waggener Farm Park contains an aquatic center with pool, water slide, lazy river, hot tub and spa as well as basketball courts, volleyball courts, pickleball courts, a walking track and a climbing wall. The town also offers a wide variety of programs for youths and adults in the community. The Berthoud Bike Park opened in September 2023, complete with pump tracks, jump lines and dual slalom, and groundbreaking was held for an adaptive park.
The Berthoud Fire Museum opened in May after years of work led by the town’s Caretakers of Tradition, a nonprofit organization made up of former Berthoud Fire Protection District firefighters. The museum is home to a restored 1888 hose cart and 1927 Julius Pearse fire engine.
Nonprofits also provide services to the community; the Berthoud Community Fund Committee channels grants from the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado.
With more than 9,000 trees in its parks, public rights of way and natural areas alone, Berthoud revels in its reputation as the “Garden Spot of Colorado.”
Berthoud, parts of which extend east into Weld County, was founded on agriculture and railroad access. Its colorful history includes the use of German prisoners to help harvest sugar beets during World War II as well as a 2019 measure that made the town the only municipality in Colorado to ban the sale of puppy-mill dogs.
Industry has thrived in the town, which takes advantage of its access to Front Range cities along Interstate 25 and U.S. Highway 287.
Rocket engine manufacturer Ursa Major Technologies Inc. continues to make products for the budding private aerospace industry. Ranked 20th in Virginia-based nonprofit Silicon Valley Defense Group’s “NatSec 100” list, Ursa Major — a privately funded company focused solely on propulsion —, in April announced that it had signed a contract with the Naval Energetics Systems and Technologies (NEST) Program to develop and hot fire test a prototype solid rocket motor for the U.S. Navy’s Standard Missile program.
City Star Brewing Co. has grown from a taproom-focused brewery into a to-go sales model echoed by other small brewers in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Berthoud also is home to the offices of the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, which has won awards for its promotion of water efficiency. Its Chimney Hollow Reservoir project west of Berthoud is mostly on schedule for completion in 2025. The project has reached the midway point of its four-year construction cycle. When done, it will be the tallest new dam — 350 feet — built in the United States during the past 20 years and will hold back a reservoir 2.5 miles long.