Colorado buffalo are cool, and we’re not talking about the university’s sports teams.
The real things — brown, shaggy and weighing up to 2,000 pounds — are equal parts old West icon and symbol of contemporary kitsch. Many people travel the state this time of year to look at the changing aspen and bugling elk, but it’s also prime time to catch a glimpse of buffalo grazing. Here are 10 ways to get buffaloed in and around Denver. — Suzanne S. Brown, The Denver Post1. Denver owns a herd of 25 buffalo that roam a 2,400-acre habitat at Genesee Park, 20 miles west of Denver via Interstate 70. View the bison from the scenic overlook along I-70, or as you drive through the park on the south side of I-70 on Genesee Mountain Road. Take Exit 254 (Genesee Park) or Exit 253 (Chief Hosa). Hiking trails, picnic shelters and camping are available. There’s also a preserve with about 25 bison at Daniels Park, 21 miles south of Denver.
Information: , click on Genesee Park or Daniels Park.
2. A must-stop just two exits west of the bison herd is the stone gravesite of Buffalo Bill Cody, the Wild West showman, and the Buffalo Bill Museum on Lookout Mountain. Find kitschy souvenirs at the gift shop.
Information: Open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through the end of October, 987½ Lookout Mountain Road, Golden; 303-526-0744; .
3. If you’ve worked up an appetite after seeing the buffalo, museum and grave, drive 18 miles west to the old mining town of Idaho Springs. With abundant Western- themed art and articles on the walls and buffalo burgers on the menu, the Buffalo Restaurant & Bar is a popular hangout.
Information: 1617 Miner St., Idaho Springs; 567-2729; .
4. The University of Colorado football team is, of course, called the Buffaloes, but what’s really worth seeing is Ralphie, the bison mascot, running downfield with the team and her buff handlers before kickoff and at the start of the second half of each home game. The tradition started in the 1930s; the past two bison have come from one of Ted Turner’s ranches. Ralphie V, age 2, debuted Sept. 6. Her predecessor, Ralphie IV, did the season-opening honors and then retired at age 11. Next chance to see V: Oct. 4, when CU plays the University of Texas.
Information: .
5. The Denver Art Museum has a number of works on display featuring American bison. In the second-floor Western gallery in the Hamilton Building, gaze upon “The Buffalo Hunt,” an 1878 oil painting by James Walker; “Herd of Buffalo,” a 1862 oil by William Jacob Hays; and a 1921 bronze sculpture by Charles M. Russell, “The Buffalo Family.”
Information: 100 W. 14th Ave. Parkway; .; 720-865-5000
6. Dance to live music at The Buffalo Rose, a watering hole in Golden that offers specialty nights with dance lessons; patio open during summer and fall.
Information: 1119 Washington Ave., Golden; 303-278-6800; .
7. At The Fort, prickly-pear cactus margaritas, peanut butter-stuffed jalapeños and thick, grilled buffalo steaks are just a few of the unusual items on the menu. The adobe restaurant was built in 1962 and modeled after Bent’s Fort, the 1830s eastern Colorado fur trade center on the Santa Fe Trail. A trading post sells jewelry and gifts plus bison steaks and burgers.
Information: 19192 Colorado 8, Morrison; 303-697-4771; .
8. The Buffalo Exchange doesn’t really have anything to do with the beast, but it’s cashing in on the buffalo allure with resale of hip men’s and women’s clothes and is worth a look. Featuring vintage fashion, designer jeans and accessories, it’s the ultimate green shopping experience.
Information: 230 E. 13th Ave., Denver; 303-866-0165; .
9. Terry Bison Ranch is a place where you can not only see a buffalo but take a ranch tour, stay overnight in a cabin or bunkhouse room, throw a picnic or wedding and park your RV. The ranch is 7 miles south of Cheyenne and nudges up to the Colorado state line. Get off at Wyoming Exit 2 on I-25. Information: 307-634-4171; terrybison ranch. com
10. Buffalo Groves is a buffalo breeding operation in Douglas County, where you can learn to be a bison rancher, get educational materials and even buy your own buffalo “starter herd.” They also sell buffalo robes (winter hides with buffalo fur). The website lists recipes, too.
Information: Buffalo Groves Inc., Kiowa; 303-621-1111; .
Suzanne S. Brown: 303-954-1697 or sbrown@denverpost.com
