Getting your player ready...
On one of the first really nice Sundays of summer, you can mark National Trails Day (it was yesterday) by taking the family out to explore seven miles of private trail that BackCountry residents get as part of their outdoor amenity package. When you step from the trailhead at BackCountry’s Sundial House community center, you’ll see the vast, grotto-style pool that opened for the season last week, where residents of Highlands Ranch’s most outdoor-oriented neighborhood spent a ‘Red, White & Blue’ Memorial Day, with kiddo games and live music.
BackCountry residents get this proactive outdoors approach all year along, encouraged by their very own Lifestyle Director Britany Chambers (she’s hosting a kite festival today with stunt kite demos and more for BackCountry families, and arranges hikes, swimming events, and concerts at BackCountry’s own amphitheater. The place to start your exploration (yes — bring your mountain bikes) is from BackCountry’s Discovery Center, just outside the gate on Broadway south of Wildcat Reserve Parkway. You’ll get a quick orientation, see where Shea Homes, Richmond American, Paragon Homes and custom builders offer designs from the mid-$300s to the $6s and up – and you’ll sign up to receive a copper tin of BackCountry goodies – lantern, mugs, trail mix, munchies and more.
Then you can explore the wilderness that’s BackCountry’s core amenity: 467 private acres rising through arroyos past 6,000 feet onto the South Rim bluffs. You can pick a short family loop or a longer one reaching into 20 miles of trail through 8,200 acres beyond, all with 180-degree views of the back ranges. “BackCountry residents enjoy this year-round without leaving their neighborhood,” says Cheryl Haflich, marketing director for Shea, Highlands Ranch developer. “This is an exceptionally appealing area, but it’s no surprise the families coming here really want the outdoors as part of their lifestyle.”
She adds that Highlands Ranch ranks in a Harris Survey as second most desirable place to live in the nation – the very best place to raise kids, according to a Businessweek study. At BackCountry, the most magnificent natural setting Highlands Ranch offers and a rare chance for a gated community, you can tour models of two Richmond series from the $3s; three Shea collections (including low-maintenance villas) from $4s to $6s, semi-customs by Paragon from $1 million; and see where Toll Brothers is coming to BackCountry with its own designs.
Check in for a pass card at the Discovery Center, on Broadway just beyond Wildcat Reserve. From 470 take Broadway south 2.8 miles.
Free trail pass today at BackCountry, Highlands Ranch; private clubhouse along 8,200-acre wilderness; 5 home collections by some of Denver’s finest builders; ranches, main-floor masters, walk-outs, custom sites; copper tin of BackCountry goodies. Begin at BackCountry Discovery Center; from 470 take Broadway south 2.8 mi., past Wildcat Reserve Pkwy
PRICE: Luxury homes from mid-$300s-$700s; semi-custom from $1M, custom from $1.2M
WHEN: Discovery Center, trails & models open today 11-6
PHONE: 720-344-9600
WEB: www.BackCountryCO.com
Mark Samuelson is president of Samuelson & Associates, a homebuilding/real estate communications firm. You can e-mail him at mark@samuelsonassoc.com.
