Boulder's wide-open spaces - Boulder, Colorado

Sunset, Sept, 1996 by Peter Fish

Brassy texas journalist Molly Ivins once wrote that people in Boulder, Colorado, want "to bring humankind up to a level of perfection that is almost [in] lunatic defiance of everybody else's tendency to let things go to hell."

We couldn't put it better. Boulder cares. Boulder tries. As suburbs spread all around it, Boulder - 26 miles northwest of metropolitan Denver - has tried especially hard to preserve its dramatic physical setting at the base of the Rocky Mountains. If you're headed anywhere in Colorado this fall, you owe yourself a good long day of hiking or billing among Boulder's open spaces, both for the inherent pleasures of such activities and to remind yourself of the good things a city can do when it sets its mind to it.

CREATING A COMMUNITY PLACE

As early as 1898, Boulder residents started to preserve their mountain backdrop. The city acquired Flagstaff Mountain and the tilted rock formations known as the Flatirons. When, in the late 1960s, Boulder seemed on the verge of being swamped by development, it became one of the first cities in the nation to set aside sales tax money to purchase park land. Today, the Boulder Open Space Program controls more than 25,000 acres.

The classic starting point for exploring Boulder's open spaces is Chautauqua Park, about 1 mile up Baseline Road from Broadway. The gracious colony of cottages grouped around a community house and a dining hall was founded in 1898 for the enjoyment of genteel, vacationing Methodists from Texas. Now the park hosts cultural events all year - including, this month, dance performances in the newly winterized community house. For information, call (303) 440-7666.

From Chautauqua Park, a good 2-mile loop hike along the Mesa and McClin-tock trails takes you through the meadows of Boulder Mountain Park. If you're feeling ambitious, you can get close-up views of the Flatirons by taking the Mesa Trail 7 miles south to its terminus at the South Mesa trailhead on Eldorado Springs Road. Return the way you came, for a very long hike, or arrange a car shuttle at Eldorado Springs.

Doing any loop hike out of Chautauqua Park is particularly inviting because, through Labor Day, you can reward yourself with a meal at the colony's gracious turn-of-the-century Chautauqua Dining Hall (440-3776). It doesn't take reservations, and weekend waits can be long, but food and setting are charming. Another good perch from which to enjoy a view and good food (dinner only) is Flagstaff House, halfway up Flagstaff Mountain overlooking the city (for reservations, call 442-4640). Hotel Boulderado (2115 13th St.; 800/433-4344), a beautifully restored 87-year-old brick palace a block off Boulder's lively downtown mall, is a good place to spend the night.

A useful guide to the open-space district is Boulder Hiking Trails, by Ruth Carol and Glenn Cushman (Pruett Publishing Co., 1995; $18.50, paper). Also helpful is the Colorado Mountain Club's "Boulder Mountain Park Trail Map," $4 at the Chautauqua Park's Ranger Cottage. For general park information, call the Ranger Cottage at 441-3408.