Entry No. 35 — the Fort Collins file — filed under: outdoor-weird
Gnome Road (Elf Lane)
Somewhere between Lake Hiawatha and Lake Apache, a hand-lettered sign warns you not to take, break, or relocate the residents — which is your first hint that this quarter-mile dirt lane is doing something. Ceramic elves peer out of tree roots, trolls wearing mushroom caps cling to bark, fairy doors are mortared into trunk hollows, and a plastic SpongeBob holds his position in the scrub like he's been there forever. Nobody organized this. Decades of anonymous mountain-town contributions just kept accumulating, and the lane absorbed all of it without comment.
The story
No city planning commission signed off on this, and nobody got a county grant to build a tourist trap. Somewhere along a quarter-mile stretch of mountain dirt squeezed between Lake Hiawatha and Lake Apache, someone set down a ceramic gnome decades ago, and the forest took it from there. Over time, cabin owners, day-trippers, and anonymous locals kept adding to the understory without asking permission or coordination.
What you get today is a strangely dense forest inventory. Fairy doors are mortared directly into trunk hollows, resin trolls crouch under pine-bark overhangs, and a faded plastic SpongeBob maintains his position in the scrub like he’s been on guard duty since the late nineties. A hand-lettered sign near the turnoff sets the ground rules—don't take, break, or relocate the residents—which is about as close to official management as this place will ever get.
What it's like
Drive up County Road 74E into Red Feather Lakes and pull off along the dirt edge of the lane. While you can technically roll through in a vehicle, you’ll miss three-quarters of what’s actually there; park carefully and walk it. The vibe is quiet, low-tech, and mildly surreal as dozens of tiny eyes track you from the root flares. Visit during dry months unless you want to fight spring mud, and bring a thermos to drink down by the water when you're done searching the tree bark.
The move: Drive up to Red Feather Lakes, walk the lane slowly enough to catch what's hiding in the roots and low branches, then grab a thermos stop at one of the lakeside pullouts on the way back.
📍 Before you go Dirt lane between Lake Hiawatha and Lake Apache, navigable by car or on foot. The road into Red Feather Lakes (County Road 74E) can be rough after spring thaw or heavy snow — high-clearance or AWD is helpful in shoulder seasons. No formal trailhead or parking lot; pull off at the lane.
- 📍 Red Feather Lakes
- 💸 Free
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Outdoors
Hours: Added 2026-06-21 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Great Stupa of Dharmakaya — Pair this roadside folk oddity with a visit to North America's tallest stupa, sitting just six miles deeper into the same high-altitude pine forest.
- Manhattan Ghost Town & Cemetery — After scanning the tree roots for ceramic figures, head five miles west to hunt down the scattered remnants of an 1880s gold rush boomtown.
- Deadman Fire Lookout Tower — Trade low-to-the-ground scavenger hunting for 360-degree mountain views from an active 10,710-foot lookout tower.
- Mishawaka Amphitheatre — Stop for lunch on a river deck cantilevered over the Poudre Canyon on your way back down the mountain toward Fort Collins.
Good to know
Where exactly is Gnome Road?
It's a quarter-mile dirt lane situated directly between Lake Hiawatha and Lake Apache in the mountain village of Red Feather Lakes.
Is there parking or an entrance fee?
No fees, no check-in, and no formal trailhead or parking lot. You simply pull off safely along the side of the dirt lane.
Do I need four-wheel drive to reach it?
In mid-summer dry conditions, a standard car is fine. During spring thaw, late fall, or winter, County Road 74E and the local dirt lanes get rutted and muddy, making high-clearance or AWD strongly advised.
Can I leave something behind or move things around?
The hand-lettered wooden sign at the road explicitly requests that you do not break, take, or relocate anything already installed.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: northfortynews.com · lifeonpawsandwheels.com · 95rockfm.com · random-times.com · cpr.org · 999thepoint.com
last checked: 2026-06-21