2025 Colorado – Lekking Grouse and Rocky Mountains

Today will be jammed packed as we work our way out of Denver towards Steamboat Springs in the northwest. The morning will kick off with some birding at Genesee Mountain Park on the edge of Denver. Some of the targets here include Cassin’s Finch, Pygmy Nuthatch, Steller’s Jay, Clark’s Nutcracker, and Williamson’s Sapsucker. As we cruise through the mountains towards Loveland Pass, we will be sure to watch out for species like Mountain Bluebird, Townsend’s Solitaire, Two-barred (White-winged) and Red Crossbills. We will also keep our eyes peeled on the fast-moving rivers and streams for American Dipper. Eventually, we will make it to the Guanella Pass, our first stop in search of White-tailed Ptarmigan, before retreating from this high elevation back to the small town of Georgetown. If we do not have any luck here, we’ll take Route 6 over the summit of Loveland Pass (weather permitting) to give us another chance for the elusive White-tailed Ptarmigan. We’ll descend down the mountains to the town of Silverthorne where we will drive the roads, searching for feeders and seeds in hopes of spotting great birds including all three species of rosy-finches, Black, Grey-crowned and Brown-capped Rosy-Finch. Along Highway 9, towards Kremmling, there are some good bodies of water for ducks and open areas to scan for Prairie Falcon. We’ll have a brief stop at some of the open water areas along the way, which could yield the stunning Barrow’s Goldeneye and other great waterfowl species. Finally, we will arrive in Steamboat Springs, our home for the next two nights.

Overnight: Steamboat Springs, Colorado

This morning we will get up early, grab a quick breakfast and head east to look for (Greater) Sage Grouse on their lek in the Coalmont area. Leaving early is critical to ensure we are set up before sunrise, when the birds come onto the lek. From our vehicles we’ll be able to watch the spectacle of these amazing birds strutting around, inflating air sacs, and fanning tails to attract a female. From here we’ll continue north to Walden, visiting the Delaney Butte Lakes and the Walden Reservoir in search of some wintering water birds. In the afternoon, we’ll retrace our steps west, birding to Hayden for our first chance to spot Sharp-tailed and Dusky Grouse. After dinner, it is back to the hotel for the evening in Steamboat Springs.

Overnight: Steamboat Springs, Colorado

We’ll start the day with a check of the Sharp-tailed Grouse lek. We should be able to park off the road and get a good look at these birds lekking away in the morning. From here, we’ll head north of Craig to Black Mountain in the Routt National Forest, checking for American Three-toed Woodpecker and Dusky Grouse lekking in the road. We’ll continue south from Craig onto Route 13, looking for waterfowl along the way, especially Cinnamon Teal. At Meeker, we’ll head west towards Rio Blanco Lake to check for loons and other waterfowl, and then drive south along Route 5 through this wonderful wilderness area, checking for birds along the way. Just north of Rifle, we’ll rejoin Route 13 and make a quick stop at the Fravert Reservoir to look for Pinyon Jay, Juniper Titmouse and Bewick’s Wren. There is a good pond here that hosts a variety of waterfowl and both Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds. We might see White-throated Swift flying about as well. At Coal Creek Canyon, we’ll pass the Cameo power plant and head into open juniper country, where we get a chance to look for Chukar Partridge, Say’s Phoebe, Rock Wren, and Black-throated Sparrow. We’ll make it to Grand Junction for dinner and our hotel for the evening.

Overnight: Grand Junction, Colorado

We start the day with the breath-taking views from Colorado National Monument. Just a few of the target birds here include Gambel’s Quail, Juniper Titmouse, Western and Mountain Bluebirds, and a possibility for American Grey Flycatcher. We’ll check a few of the local reservoirs near Delta for Western and Clark’s Grebes along with a bevy of ducks, and we’ll also scout the cattails for rails and Marsh Wren. Then we proceed to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park’s Rim Drive road. Here, we have another chance to find Dusky Grouse, sometimes seen displaying atop picnic tables! This road offers outstanding views of the canyon. We’ll make our way on the South Rim Drive to the visitor center for some great looks at the canyon. While we may have already seen these species elsewhere, other possibilities here include Golden Eagle, Woodhouse’s Scrub Jay, Violet-green Swallow, Clark’s Nutcracker and Green-tailed Towhee. We’ll also need to keep our eyes open for some amazing mammals such as Mule Deer, Bobcat, Grey Fox and Yellow-bellied Marmot. Our final main destination for the day is the Blue Mesa Reservoir. This area may hold lots of waterfowl, some gulls (American Herring and possibly California Gulls), shorebirds, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Sage Thrasher, and Vesper Sparrow. Get to bed early tonight in preparation for our early start to Day 6!

Overnight: Gunnison, Colorado

Today we will head for the Endangered (IUCN) Gunnison (Sage) Grouse lek. Things you need to know: we will be departing the hotel around 4:45 a.m. as we must be parked and set an hour before sunrise, as the birds get there quite early. Once at the viewing area, there is no leaving the cars (no bathroom breaks!) until the birds are finished with their displays, perhaps three hours after sunrise. No morning coffee! There is a simple bathroom at the site, and we should be able to use it upon initial arrival and at the end. Also expect cold temperatures. Over the past years, low temps have ranged from 22 to 33 degrees Fahrenheit (-5 to 0 Celsius). We’ll be going back to the hotel after we leave here – you may want to sneak out a blanket or two. Hand and foot warmer packets are always a good idea as well. No flash photography is allowed here either. Other species we may see while enjoying the grouse are Swainson’s Hawk, Horned Lark, Western Meadowlark, Brewer’s Blackbird and maybe a Gunnison’s Prairie Dog. After a late breakfast, we’ll drive to Crested Butte to check for rosy finches. These rosy finches are all based on snow. If it is snowing in the mountains, it will bring the finches down to the feeders. Otherwise, there is only a low chance of seeing them, so, we will keep an eye on the weather forecast. We’ll spend a couple of hours up here checking local feeders and have some lunch before driving back to Gunnison. In Gunnison there are a few areas to check for Great Horned Owl, Black-billed Magpie, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Townsend’s Solitaire and others, before retiring back to our accommodation for the night.

Overnight: Gunnison, Colorado

If we had no luck with the Gunnison (Sage) Grouse the day before, we can rise early and try again, but if we did have luck we will head east towards Pueblo. On the road to Pueblo, we will stop for birding at Monarch Pass to look for more mountain bird species. There is a parking lot from which you will see some unbelievable scenery. As we descend the east side, we will keep an eye out for Clark’s Nutcracker and Band-tailed Pigeon. Other stops along the route will be where there are open rivers – to look for American Dipper. Bighorn Sheep are a possibility as well. Next, we will make a couple of nice stops on Cañon City Tunnel Drive for a chance at Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Rock Wren, Canyon Wren, and Black Phoebe. Cañon City River Walk has some nice riparian habitat for a large variety of birds like Western Bluebird, Lesser Goldfinch and the red-shafted morph of Northern Flicker. This is a great place to eat if the weather is good. After lunch, we’ll continue east to a dry scrub area and the Pueblo Reservoir. Some of our target birds include Scaled Quail, Burrowing Owl, Loggerhead Shrike, Juniper Titmouse, American Bushtit, Curve-billed Thrasher, and Canyon Towhee. We could also see some species of gulls and water birds at the reservoir before settling into Pueblo for the night.

Overnight: Pueblo, Colorado

Now we leave behind the Front Range and enter the Eastern Plains, going all the way into Kansas with Oakley, Kansas being our final destination. First, we will drive through stellar grasslands with Prairie Falcon, Swainson’s and Ferruginous Hawks and Long-billed Curlew. A few planned stops near the town of Lamar will hopefully net us a few nice species such as Lark Sparrow, American Avocet, Snow Goose and American White Pelican. Finally, we will cross the state border and start ticking birds for our Kansas state list (if you’re into that sort of thing) before we settle in for the night in Oakley.

Overnight: Oakley, Kansas

This morning we will be up and at it early again, this time to get on site for the incredibly special Lesser Prairie Chicken leks. This species has been decreasing at an alarming rate but luckily a few populations are still maintaining in this area, and, with support from the local folks, hopefully they can begin increasing again. We may encounter other nice species while enjoying the leks including Horned Lark and Burrowing Owl. From here we will head north, back into Colorado. We may arrive in the Wray area with enough daylight to search the Wray State Fishing Unit for a variety of migrants and we may potentially hit the lekking area for a shot at Greater Prairie Chicken to hopefully enjoy their evening performance.

Overnight: Wray, Colorado

This morning we will visit the Greater Prairie Chicken lek for another chance to see these amazing birds do their display. From here, we will head to the amazing habitat of Pawnee National Grasslands. This area of grassland is mixed with short buffalo grass, which is good for Thick-billed Longspur and Mountain Plover, and the taller grass for Chestnut-collared Longspur. There is also a possibility for Long-billed Curlew, a late Lapland Longspur or a flock of Sandhill Cranes. Ferruginous Hawk, Prairie Falcon, Say’s Phoebe, Burrowing Owl and Golden Eagle are often found here, and while traversing the rolling hills and prairie dog towns we’ll keep an eye out for Pronghorn (Antelope) too. Eventually we will call it quits and head back towards Denver and the airport.

Overnight: Denver, CO

Today marks the end of our journey. We will head to the airport for our departure and the conclusion of an amazing tour. To continue the fun, be sure to check out our Florida Peninsula and Specialties Tour which follows this one or perhaps you will enjoy our Texas Spring and Whooping Cranes Tour immediately preceding Colorado.

Please note that the itinerary cannot be guaranteed as it is only a rough guide and can be changed (usually slightly) due to factors such as availability of accommodation, updated information on the state of accommodation, roads, or birding sites, the discretion of the guides and other factors. In addition, we sometimes have to use a different international guide from the one advertised due to tour scheduling. 

Yes! We have birding planned if time allows and everything is on schedule.

Check the weather for the destination as close to your departure date as possible, and dress accordingly for your comfort level. You can also review our What to Bring page for more information.

There are many items the will be useful to you while on a Bird Treks tour. We have put together our list of recommendations on the What to Bring page.

Our tours are all conducted in English, but we do have some experience working with client that don’t speak English well – Some English would be needed for safety reasons. In locations where another language is predominately spoken, a native guide may accompany the tour.

Yes, we will always try our best to help with anything at all! We’re here to serve you. However, it is usually easier if you book your flight through your own travel agent as we can’t always get the best deals from your particular country. But we will help whenever needed!

While Day 1 is usually a travel (arrival) day, and the last day of the tour is usually also a travel day (departure), many people do like to arrive early and/or leave late. We can indeed book extra nights before and after the trip, and we in fact recommend you let us book them, as it avoids confusion and allows us to book the accommodation that is most convenient for the tour.

NOTE: Most often it is the same hotel or lodge that you use on the first night of the tour, but in some instances, it could be an airport hotel or an accommodation establishment where the guide is staying.

No, we do not. We find that it is better for trip participants to purchase their own medical, trip cancellation, and baggage insurance through their own insurance provider in the country they reside in. We expect all tour participants to have comprehensive insurance, and we encourage everyone to send us a copy of their insurance documents.

For most tours, meals are included in the tour price. This may include a hotel-provided breakfast, or guide-provided box lunches. For dinners, we strive to find interesting and delicious local restaurants – this allows us to give back to the local economy, and find exciting new place to eat.

Most people will not get sick, although you should take precautions if you are prone to motion sickness, as the weather can dictate how rough the ride will be. There are various remedies sold at local pharmacies which can help relieve motion sickness and will make your trip more enjoyable.

You may participate in the 5-day extension with the regular 15-day tour or take either tour separately. Simply tell us your preference: 5 days, 15 days, or the full 19 days.