The Southern Gateway to Grand Mesa 

Cedaredge offers outdoor adventure, natural beauty, and a colorful history. In 2007, the community celebrated its 100^th birthday with special events throughout the summer, including an art exhibit in the Heritage Room of the Apple Shed. The beauty of Grand Mesa and the Surface Creek Valley was the focus of the exhibit sponsored by Delta Fine Arts during the month of July.

The town of Cedaredge was officially formed on March 25, 1907, when 440 acres at “the edge of the cedars” were incorporated. Today, Cedaredge covers over 3,200 acres and is home to about 2,300 residents. While the area has grown, the feeling of community remains. Cedaredge is still the gateway to Grand Mesa, the largest flat-top mesa in the world. Grand Mesa Drive (Highway 65) and Main Street are lined with a variety of specialty shops, gift stores, art galleries, and restaurants. Antique stores are scattered throughout the quiet side streets. Three motels, several B&Bs, and nearby campgrounds serve the need of overnight visitors. Cedaredge Town Park provides shaded picnic areas, a children’s playground, a tennis court, and restrooms. Cedaredge is a warm, friendly community with excellent schools and outstanding recreational opportunities.

A creek that flows from the abundant waters of Grand Mesa lends its name to the picturesque Surface Creek Valley. The area is surrounded by apple, peach, and apricot orchards. Fresh fruit, in season, is available at area produce stands and ranches. Several Wineries offer samples and tours.

Pioneer Town is a unique museum and historical village located just off Highway 65 two blocks south of Main Street in Cedaredge. It is readily recognizable by three distinctive wooden silos standing next to the byway Welcome Center. The silos are the last remaining structures of the Bar I Ranch, established in the early 1880s as a cattle ranch.

As your tour of Pioneer Town continues, the next stop is the Peterson Cabin, built by Otto Peterson in the early 1880s.

Otto and his wife raised nine children to adulthood in the small one-romm, two-story cabin. The Sandy Creek Schoolhouse is our next stop. The one-room schoolhouse was used by the first through eighth graders from 1929-30. It was later converted into a home for farm workers and another room was added.

A replica of an old main street comes next with buildings lining the narrow street. Here’s is where you’ll find the Lizard Head Saloon, named for Lizard Head Pass. The saloon came from Crested Butte, along with a card table, piano, potbelly stove, and empty alcohol bottles. Water played a vital part in the history of the area. One building is devoted to displays documenting how domestic and irrigation systems were developed for this arid, high desert valley. Another houses the First State Bank. Girling Mercantile contains vintage items from the 1880s to the 1930s. Visit the town jail, and stop in at the creamery. Another building is filled with old printing machines like those used to produce the Surface Creek Champion, the newspaper which served Cedaredge from 1904 through the 1940s. On the upper level of this building, fossils and rocks are displayed in glass cases. The Colby Store is next, completing the Main Street section of the tour.

Pioneer Town is also home to the Chapel of the Cross. The chapel hosts concerts on most Sunday afternoons and Thursday evenings during the summer months, and is apopular spot for weddings. The Stolte Shed is a big part of Pioneer Town. It’s a popular site for receptions, parties, reunions, and dances.

The first weekend in October, you’re invited to Cedaredge for AppleFest. A growing celebration of the area’s fruit-growing heritage. The event starts the first Thursday in October with a five-alarm chili cook-off hosted by the Cedaredge Volunteer Fire Department. This popular event, which offers plenty of great, homemade chili, takes place at the firehouse. AppleFest continues with the Surface Creek Valley’s biggest formal event of the year, the Golden Gala, which will be held on Friday. The festival continues over Saturday and Sunday and includes music, entertainment, booths, and activities along Main Street and in the town park.

The Western Slope Little Britches Rodeo - the longest continuous Little Britches rodeo in the country - is scheduled for July.

Clean, clear water flows from the springs on Grand Mesa, and that was the reason Orchard City was incorporated in 1912. Prior to that time, ditch water was the primary source of drinking water for the orchardists raising, peaches, apricots, cherries, and apples in the area. Entire families were falling ill from drinking the unclean water. To combat the spread of disease, a domestic water pipeline was constructed to bring mountain water down from Grand Mesa.

Orchard City is comprised of three growing communities - Austin, Cory, and Eckert - each of which has its own post office. Orchard City comprises an 11-square-mile area, in which nearly 3,100 residents make their homes. In July, a town picnic brings neighbors together for old-fashioned fun. Fruitgrowers Reservoir, one mile east of Eckert, is a popular gathering spot for bird watchers, particularly in March when the majestic sand hill cranes stop at Fruitgrowers on their journey north. The occasion is marked by Eckert Crane Days. The town’s website is located at www.orchardcityco.org.