Poudre River Trail in Timnath: Your Guide to Fall Rides
October 8, 2026
October 8, 2026
"This trail is a gift to the community, protecting the Poudre River while providing an unmatched way to experience the heart of northern Colorado."
Meegan Flenniken, a division manager at Larimer County Natural Resources, said that in May. The county had just announced it was done with a project that took five decades. The Poudre River Trail had one gap left, between south Timnath and north Windsor, and the county and the Town of Timnath had closed it. The trail now runs 45 miles from Bellvue to Greeley, and you never have to leave it.
Most coverage of that news focused on the full 45 miles. For Timnath, the more useful fact is the location of the last gap. The final piece went in here, so Timnath is now the joint between two trails that had been built, mapped and written about separately for years. The concrete is continuous. Most of the information about it still isn't. That changes how you plan a fall ride from home.
The new segment is about a mile of 10-foot-wide concrete trail. It includes a bridge over the Greeley No. 2 Canal. Connell Resources built it for $2.4 million, paid for by Great Outdoors Colorado plus grants from Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization and the Colorado Department of Transportation.
Timnath's part of the trail goes back further. According to Larimer County's timeline, the town and the county built a half-mile segment near I-25 and Harmony Road in 2015. A later phase ran the trail from Arapaho Bend Natural Area to an underpass beneath I-25. With help from a $2 million Great Outdoors Colorado grant, the partners closed the remaining gaps along the corridor between late 2024 and early 2026. The Timnath-to-Windsor mile came last.
The town celebrated the finish at home. On June 13, partners met at Timnath Community Park for a 9 a.m. ceremony. They connected pieces of ribbon instead of cutting one, and public festivities ran from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Timnath's in-between position shows up in the published guides. In August, the Cache la Poudre River National Heritage Area posted curated bike itineraries for the trail. They are split in two:
Neither route starts in Timnath. The trail-condition updates are divided the same way. The Poudre River Trail Corridor organization posts alerts for just one 22-mile stretch, from Island Grove in Greeley to River Bluffs and Kyger Reservoir in Windsor. For Timnath, Fort Collins and Larimer County sections, it links out to each government's own page.
The Heritage Area doesn't publish a mileage figure from Timnath to Old Town, Eastman Park or Greeley, and neither do the county or the town. Treat the two itinerary distances as segments that start elsewhere, not as trips from your driveway.
The Town of Timnath's trails page describes a community trail network and links to the state's COTREX trail map and Poudre River Trail resources. It doesn't name a specific neighborhood connector that feeds into the river trail.
Timnath Community Park, 5500 Summerfields Parkway. This is the town's best-known gathering spot for the trail, since it hosted the June celebration. It's open dawn to dusk and has restrooms. The town's park page doesn't call it a trailhead or list trail parking, so plan your route to the river on COTREX before you go.
River Bluffs Open Space. If you're driving to the trail, this is the most clearly documented start nearby. The Heritage Area lists a shaded parking lot, restrooms and a water fountain. If the lot is full, Sheep Draw Trail has more parking. Larimer County notes that the paved path at River Bluffs is part of the Poudre River Trail.
West of Timnath, the trail goes under I-25 and through a series of Fort Collins natural areas.
Arapaho Bend Natural Area has about four miles of paved and natural-surface paths. The city says more than 80 bird species use the habitat, including American white pelicans, prairie falcons and cormorants. Fort Collins also reported minor construction there in September. The work is gathering information for a river restoration project planned for 2027.
Kingfisher Point Natural Area has about 0.8 miles of wheelchair-accessible paved Poudre Trail. The city lists kingfishers, wood ducks, pelicans, western tanagers and great horned owls as possible sightings.
Past that is the Heritage Area's Fort Collins route. Its stops include Old Town Square, Silver Grill Cafe, Buckingham Park and Lee Martinez Park, and it continues toward Lions Open Space. The same guide suggests Restaurant 415, New Belgium and Ginger & Baker as Old Town stops. Some of those are a short ride off the paved trail.
Fort Collins' own natural areas plan describes autumn in the Poudre River zone as a season of yellow cottonwood leaves and people biking and walking along the river.
This direction is the bigger change for Timnath. Before May, a ride east from Timnath hit the gap. Now the new canal bridge connects straight into the Windsor trail.
River Bluffs has river pools and riffles that attract ducks and other waterfowl, wading birds, red-tailed hawks and great horned owls. Farther east, the trail runs along the south side of Eastman Park, a 25-acre park in Windsor with parking, indoor restrooms, drinking fountains, a play area and a picnic shelter. The Heritage Area suggests Windsor Lake Coffee for a break. It serves locally sourced ice cream, coffee and house-made treats.
If you keep going east, the trail crosses Signature Bluffs Natural Area, with a large pond, stands of cottonwoods, cattails and meadows. It ends at Island Grove Park in Greeley, a former Arapahoe and Ute site that's now a multi-use park and event complex.
You can plan a ride around a few scheduled events near the corridor.
Since several agencies manage the trail, check conditions in more than one place. When the county announced the finished mile in May, fence construction next to the trail was still going on, and the county warned of temporary closures. No public update has said that fence work is done.
The Corridor organization's latest alerts, posted July 20, still list possible limited access through the Narrows "through the summer of 2026." They also flag an active construction zone west of the Poudre Learning Center and a closed Island Grove trail spur return. As of October 4, Larimer County's trail-conditions page showed zero closed trails. The county, Fort Collins and the Corridor organization all point to COTREX as the most current source.
Timnath's 2026 Capital Improvement Plan budgets $335,000 for "Poudre River Trail Connections" in fiscal year 2026. The project page describes this as a small portion of the trail that Timnath needed to finish, connecting to the Larimer County section, with an estimated start of January 30, 2025, and an estimated completion of November 28, 2025. It adds that the work could include a wayfinding sign project the town hadn't completed yet.
At Todd Sledge, we live and work along this corridor and pay attention to how projects like the trail connection change daily life in Timnath. If you'd like to know which Timnath streets are closest to the river trail, or what the trail might mean for your home's value, ask us for a free, no-pressure home valuation.
Stay up to date on the latest real estate trends.
I believe in being a “no pressure” Real Estate Agent who will work within your time frame to achieve your real estate goals. I work hard to provide the best service possible for my clients so that they will consider me not only their friend but their Real Estate Agent for life.