Page 10 - Lariat Loop

Introduction
Lariat Loop Scenic & Historic Byway
The Lariat Loop has been a primary route for people to connect with natural splendors, historic treasures, recreation pleasures and geologic wonders since the 1850s. Citizen volunteers initiated land preservation by 1910 and have prevented development of 90% of 150-square-mile designated “Heritage Area” as unincorporated. The Lariat Loop begins and ends in cities that have retained authentic historical identities— Golden and Morrison.
Pioneer settlers began to bene t from visitors who came to sh, hike, and camp by the 1880s. Some investors established summer resorts in Morrison, Lookout Mountain, Evergreen and Indian Hills. During the American Progressive Era (1896-1916), Denver visionaries scouted for conservation of the pristine foothills for scenic treasures to attract tourists. It was “Denver’s chance to open a gateway into the mountains and... make Colorado more attractive to tourists than Switzerland.”
In 1912, Denver voters approved funding for parks and roads for a Mountain Parks system. By the 1920s, Denver had acquired Je erson County land for Genesee, Bergen, Dedisse, O’Fallon, Corwina, Little, and Red Rocks Parks. The Lariat Loop became the most popular Sunday drive.
Golden pioneer William Williams (Cement Bill) built the Lariat Trail, a 4.6-mile switchback road up to Lookout Mountain in 1910-14. The spectacular views of metro Denver continues to attract admiring engineers from around the world. After Colorado state prisoners improved the rugged drive through the canyon west of Morrison in 1911, Bear Creek became known as Denver’s Municipal Trout Stream. An estimated 303,882 motor vehicles brought 750,000 visitors through the canyon to hike, sh, picnic, and camp in 1923.
After World War II, a surge of “settlers” in the 1950s and 60s caused “unmanaged growth.” Je erson County citizens voted to pay 1⁄2 cent sales tax to fund for an Open Space system in 1972. Like Denver’s Mountain Parks Committee 60 years earlier, Je Co leaders fought political and legal battles from 1978 until 1990 to protect Open Space revenues from being raided by county commissioners to build a jail.
6 Lariat Loop Scenic & Historic Byway