Front Range
Adams County
22 Porch Notes tied to Adams County — the local details that change from one part of Colorado to the next.
Places in this county
Money and taxes (1)
Home and property (2)
Home and property
In Adams County, radon and shifting soils are normal home questions
Radon and expansive or settling soils are routine things to check on a Front Range home in Adams County, before you buy rather than after.
Read note ->Home and property
Near the South Platte in Adams County, check the floodplain before you buy
Low ground along the South Platte and its tributaries in Adams County can sit in a mapped flood zone, which affects insurance and what you can build.
Read note ->Water and land (2)
Water and land
Along the South Platte in Adams County, irrigation water is its own question
Many older parcels in farming Adams County carry canal or ditch irrigation water that is separate from the household water that comes out of the tap.
Read note ->Water and land
Riverdale Regional Park ties the fairgrounds to the South Platte River Trail
Riverdale Regional Park near Brighton is the county's main fairgrounds and open-space hub, with golf, disc golf, and a link to the South Platte River Trail.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire (5)
Outdoors and wildfire
Barr Lake near Brighton is one of the Front Range's best birding spots
Barr Lake State Park in Adams County is a Colorado state park known for birds, with a parks pass and a few simple access rules to plan around.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The Rocky Mountain Arsenal is a national wildlife refuge with a cleanup history
An urban national wildlife refuge in Commerce City sits on former Army and industrial land that went through a major federal cleanup before opening to the public.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
The South Platte runs right through Adams County as an urban river
The South Platte River crosses Adams County as a warmwater urban river with trail and fishing access in places, and fishing rules can change by stretch.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
Two Ponds is a small, free wildlife refuge just outside Adams County
Two Ponds National Wildlife Refuge in Arvada — in neighboring Jefferson County, a short drive from western Adams County — is a small urban refuge with free trails, managed alongside Rocky Mountain Arsenal refuge in Commerce City.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire
You can watch wild bison from your car at the Arsenal refuge
Rocky Mountain Arsenal refuge in Commerce City has a bison herd and an 11-mile Wildlife Drive, with a firm rule to stay in your vehicle near the bison.
Read note ->Cars and driving (1)
Local rules (2)
Local rules
Adams County packs in many small cities, and the lines zigzag
Adams County holds many separate cities, including some that share names with neighbors in other counties, so city limits can zigzag block to block.
Read note ->Local rules
In unincorporated Adams County, new oil and gas sites need a county permit too
New oil and gas facilities on unincorporated Adams County land go through the county's own Oil and Gas Facility permit review, in addition to state approval from the Energy and Carbon Management Commission.
Read note ->History and culture (9)
History and culture
A free summer-only museum keeps Strasburg's railroad story alive
On the Adams County plains in Strasburg, the seasonal Comanche Crossing Museum gathers a 1917 depot, two relocated one-room schools, and thousands of everyday artifacts on a couple of landscaped acres.
Read note ->History and culture
Bromley Farm in Brighton: a Japanese American family's farm you can walk
A preserved Brighton farm carries two stories at once, and a fall festival lets families walk the same ground its Japanese American owners worked for sixty years.
Read note ->History and culture
Commerce City was built around industry, and that still shapes it
Commerce City grew up as an industrial town near Denver, home to a refinery and heavy industry, which still shapes its land use and air-quality monitoring.
Read note ->History and culture
How Adams County got its name and its start
Adams County was created in the early 1900s from Arapahoe County and named for Governor Alva Adams, with Brighton rancher Emmet Bromley behind the bill.
Read note ->History and culture
Mile High Flea Market: Colorado's original open-air market in Henderson
A weekend institution in Henderson that has run since 1976, spreading 80 acres of vendors, food, music, and kids' rides across Adams County.
Read note ->History and culture
The Adams County Fair and county museum keep the farm story alive
The Adams County Fair and the Adams County Museum at Riverdale Regional Park carry the county's farming and ranching heritage into the present.
Read note ->History and culture
The neighbors on the wall: stories at Adams County's veterans memorial
At the Adams County Veterans Memorial in Riverdale Regional Park, a battleship replica draws your eye, but a story wall of accounts submitted by county residents is what tends to hold you.
Read note ->History and culture
Thornton and Northglenn were built as planned postwar suburbs
Several Adams County cities, including Thornton and Northglenn, grew from planned subdivisions laid out by developers in the postwar boom, not from old town centers.
Read note ->History and culture
Why Brighton sits where it does: railroads, the river, and sugar beets
Brighton, the Adams County seat, grew up where a railroad met South Platte farmland, and sugar-beet and truck farming shaped the county for generations.
Read note ->