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| The naturalist setting of the Betty Ford Alpine Garden in Vail |
The Betty Ford Alpine Garden near the ski resort of Vail, Colorado is a lovely place for an early morning or late afternoon stroll. Not interested in climbing
Mt. Flora to see Moss Champion, a ground hugging tundra flower, you can do so at the garden with Fifi or an aged P in tow. If you are of the fur coat, Lexus-with-a-bow set then lunch in Vail and you will have an outing.
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| The garden gift shop |
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| The entrance to the Garden. Like most great things in Colorado there is no entrance fee! |
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| Trees, flowers and winding paths. Each route reveals something new. |
There are four main gardens constructed between 1989 and 2002. Don't expect to see just Colorado flowers, however. The garden have collected alpine and high-altitude plants from around the world. Visitors can wander between the Mountain Perennial Garden, the serene Mountain Meditation Garden, the Alpine Rock Garden, and the latest Children's Garden.
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| Columbine actually comes in many colors. |
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| Another path |
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| This could be a shot of manicured path in Rocky Mountain National Park |
I confess that botanical gardens can be overly neat for my tastes. I once went on a vacation to Vancouver Island Canada and visited the Butchart Gardens. The formality, rigidity and never ending structure of that garden were a harsh contrast to the wild, chaotic, moss-coated old growth forests north of the city. The Alpine Garden has some of that and you won't think for a moment you are ogling the wildflowers on
Shrine Mountain, but the organizers have done a good job of adding waterfalls, rough hewn steps, and large shrubs of I'll-grow-as-I-please Columbine...enough to give visiting New York socialites a Disneyland-ish taste of wild Colorado.
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| Ok Alpine curators, what is this flower? |
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| An American Red Squirrel was chattering away in the tree above this bench but declined to have his picture taken. |
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| One of the many water accents |
The garden is located at exit 176 in Vail near the Ford Amphitheater. Follow the frontage road east to a large parking lot near some baseball fields and tennis courts (Ford Park). Follow the path that leads to the amphitheater, go past its entrance until you see a small green cottage. The entrance to the garden will be on the right.
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| Several artistic tree trunks watch over visitors. |
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| Looks like another type of Columbine |
So, if you are in Vail or just passing through, stop for a moment for a breath of fresh mountain air and a dose of vibrant color at the Betty Ford Alpine Garden. You will learn something about the unique adaptations plants make to high-altitude while soothing the soul. If you are a hiker like me, remember that returning to civilization every once in a while is a good thing, so take a shower, put on something besides sweat stained hiking pants, and use the gardens as a means of easing yourself back into the real world. It will be less jarring than the traffic through the Eisenhower tunnel!
