50,000+ Visitors

14,000+ Program Participants

(includes Field Trips, Bird Walks, Outreach Events, and more!)

In 2019, we began tracking our daily visitors for the first time and found that our previous yearly estimate of 30,000 visitors was off by nearly 20,000. We had over 50,000 daily visitors in 2019. While we are thrilled to see the impact Bluff Lake is having on the community, we also know that an increase in site visitors means an increase in site maintenance costs like trail restoration, signage, and security. Look for many new updates in 2020!

776 Volunteers

2146 Hours

$54,573 Value of Volunteer Time

We partnered with many organizations to host volunteer days in 2019 including:

Xcel Energy

Mile High Youth Corps

Groundwork Denver

Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado

JLL

Parks Project

Hispanic Access Foundation

Denver Law School

Ken Caryl Ranch Teen Summer Camps

SingerLewak

Sand Creek Regional Greenway Partnership

Environment Colorado

And a BIG thanks to our loyal Weed Warriors who meet every Wednesday April through October, and our education volunteers who helped facilitate programs for over 7,000 students!

Learn about volunteer opportunities in 2020!

7550 Students

6235 Students Visited for FREE

$25,704 Value of Free Field Trips Provided by BLNC

70% of Field Trip Program Materials Translated into Spanish

7550 students participated in school programming including field trips and after school programs

6235 of these students were from Title 1 schools and came for FREE.

Thank you to our education volunteers: Barb, Kora, Jim, Carolyn, Emily, Julien, Sarah, Charlotte, Aidan, Ignacio!

"[Our students] don't often get to go on field trips and this was a great opportunity to learn about their community, it is very close to our school!"

When my students are at Bluff Lake they feel...

"Happy" "Curious" "Excited" "Exhilarated"

Learn more about our school programs!

233 Scouts on Field Trips

2 Eagle Scout Projects

30+ Free Family Programs

4 Major Events

Our new Girl Scout programs were incredibly successful. We helped 233 scouts get new badges while at Bluff Lake!

Our free family programs included Fireside Chats, Family Days, Bird Walks, Qigong and Mindfulness Walks, and a Moon Viewing Night.

Our major events included Bird Day at Bluff Lake, the Summer Solstice Celebration, Wine and Cheese on the Bluff, and Boo on the Bluff!

We partnered with a number of great organizations this year including Boys and Girls Club, Downtown Aurora Visual Arts, The Urban Farm, Nature's Educators, and many more.

Learn more about our 2020 events!

233 Campers

33 Junior Counselors

20 Full Scholarships Awarded

233 campers participated in summer camp and 33 middle school students gained valuable experience as Junior Counselors! Thanks to donors we were also able to award 20 full ride scholarship spots, helping us achieve our mission of making the outdoors accessible.

"My daughter LOVED her Bluff Lake camp! She loved it so much that I took her back the following week so that she could give me a personal tour of the area. We even found frogs together!"

"Thank you so much for such a fantastic, healthy, natural camp experience."

Learn more about Bluff Lake Summer Camp 2020!

3 Capital Projects Competed

25% of Trails Restored

20 Acres Restored/Revegetated

20+ Volunteer Groups Managed

50 Hours of Mosquito Management

12 Week Paid Internship

Capital projects include: updates to Welcome Building including an expanded roof and a window, and renewable energy units installed to provide power, and a portopotty shelter.

Note from the Executive Director

Our small but mighty staff is so thankful for all of the support we have received in the past year in terms of mentoring, funding, and volunteer time. There is no way we could serve over 60,000 people a year without this support. We had a great year in 2019 but are already looking towards 2020 and beyond. We are working to increase awareness about who we are, what we do, and how we need the community's support to continue fulfilling our mission! We are looking at "what's next" for Bluff Lake, and are excited to present many new site improvements and programs in 2020. See you at Bluff Lake!

Staff

Rachel Crouch - Executive Director

Maggie Willden - Director of Operations

Jacob Reta - Site Manager

Heidi Pfeiffer - Education Manager

Craig Jackson - CPA

Annie Fehr - Summer Intern

Julie and Noah Stutzbach - Gatekeepers

Joe Koch - Former Site Manager

Matt Hebard - Former Gatekeeper

Board of Directors

Jonathon Fitzpatrick - President

Britta Blodgett - Vice President

Amy Hezel - Secretary

Luke Galli - Treasurer

Jennifer Thurston - Former President

Steve Lundt

Harold Skramstad

Doug Young

Dave Santucci

Steve Norris (through April 2019)