COSights
Charles A. Lory State Park entrance sign stands in tall prairie grass under a pale, overcast sky, with a winding path leading into the foothills beyond. Low red rock ridges and rolling green hills frame the open landscape.

Lory State Park

Fort Collins, CO

A 2,479-acre state park on the western shore of Horsetooth Reservoir featuring foothills, hogbacks, and valleys. Arthur's Rock at 6,780 feet provides panoramic views of Fort Collins, the reservoir, and the Great Plains. The park's varied terrain supports diverse habitats from grasslands to dense forests.

Photography Guide

Best Time
golden hour
Crowds
Quiet
Shot Types
widelandscapedetail
Best Seasons
springsummerfall
Practical Tips
The Arthur's Rock Trail (3.4 miles round trip) is the most scenic hike. A Colorado State Parks pass is required; arrive early on weekends as the lot at Arthur's Rock trailhead is small.

Is it a good day to go?

7-day outlook

Mild, dry days with light winds are the most comfortable for a visit.

Forecast by Open-Meteo. Verdicts weigh the forecast against the conditions that suit this spot.

Author's Comments

Lory does not announce itself. You drive in past the entrance station, past the meadow where the deer are usually working through the grass at the edge of the trees, and the hogbacks rise on your left in that particular way the Front Range has of suggesting more country than it shows you at first. The park sits in a transitional zone, geologically and visually. Grasslands give way to ponderosa, ponderosa gives way to rock, and the rock gives way to sky. Arthur's Rock is the obvious destination and I will not pretend otherwise. The trail climbs through a small canyon, switches up through scrub oak, and delivers you to a granite shoulder where Horsetooth Reservoir spreads out below and the plains run east until they stop being plains and start being weather. Late September is when I prefer it. The oak goes rust and copper, the air sharpens, and the golden hour up there lasts longer than it has any right to because the western ridge holds the light and throws it back across the water. What I keep coming back for, though, is not the summit. It is the middle distance on the way up, where the trail levels for a stretch and you can see the hogback in profile against the reservoir, the layers reading clearly: stone, water, plain, sky. A wide lens does the work but a longer one finds the better picture, compressing the ridges into something almost geological in its honesty. Come on a weekday if you can. The lot fills early on Saturdays and the trail loses some of its quiet when it does.

Gallery

Charles A. Lory State Park entrance sign stands in tall prairie grass under a pale, overcast sky, with a winding path leading into the foothills beyond. Low red rock ridges and rolling green hills frame the open landscape. Photo: Jeffrey Beall / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 4.0
Snow-covered foothills and a narrow trail lead through a valley toward red sandstone hogbacks under a clear blue sky. Bare trees, windblown grasses, and patches of exposed rock add texture to the winter landscape. Photo: KimonBerlin / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0
A frozen reservoir stretches across the foreground under a clear blue sky, with red rocky foothills and snow-dusted slopes rising on both sides. Thin tracks cross the ice, and a small rock pokes through the snow near the lower right edge. Photo: KimonBerlin / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0
Snow blankets the open grassland below a line of rust-red sandstone hogbacks, with scattered shrubs and a lone tree in the foreground. A clear blue sky with a few small clouds brightens the winter landscape. Photo: KimonBerlin / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0
Snow blankets the frozen reservoir and open foreground at Lory State Park, with red sandstone hogbacks rising on both sides. Sparse pines and bare shrubs dot the white landscape beneath a clear blue sky with thin clouds. Photo: KimonBerlin / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0
Red sandstone hogbacks rise behind a frozen, snow-covered foreground scattered with rocks, with a small stacked stone cairn near the center. Pale blue sky and thin clouds give the winter scene a clear, crisp feel. Photo: KimonBerlin / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0
Snow patches dust red sandstone hogbacks and boulders in Lory State Park, with pale winter grass and leafless shrubs in the foreground. A deep blue sky with a few clouds fills the upper half of the frame, making the rocky ridge stand out sharply in bright daylight. Photo: KimonBerlin / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0
Red sandstone hogbacks rise above a snowy foothill slope, with a leafless tree and a small evergreen in the foreground. A deep blue sky with scattered white clouds and the pale moon gives the winter scene a crisp, open feel. Photo: KimonBerlin / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0
Close-up of weathered plant stalks or seed heads poking through soft white snow, with one dark, textured stem sharply in focus against a blurred winter background. Thin dried grasses arc through the frame, and the low sunlight highlights the rough bark-like surface and sparkling snow. Photo: KimonBerlin / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0
A single red berry or seed pod stands out from the snow in the foreground, with thin dried grass stems crossing the frame. In the background, a sunlit, reddish hogback rises softly beneath a clear blue winter sky. Photo: KimonBerlin / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 2.0

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