Tours
River Basin Tour 2025 – Southwest River Basin
Registration for the 2025 Tour of the Southwest River Basin will open in 2025! Please click here to sign up for a notification list to be alerted to registration opening.
Annual River Basin Tour
Each year, these fun and informative multi-day tours draw attendees statewide. Water Education Colorado takes lawmakers, water managers, attorneys, engineers and members of the public on a tour of a different river basin in Colorado to learn about the history, water-management practices and challenges of the area. Participants can also take part in extra-curricular activities, such as rafting or fly-fishing, dine at area ranches or open-space parks, and network among peers.
Thank you to everyone who participated in WEco’s 2024 River Basin Tour focusing on the Upper Arkansas River Basin. Stay tuned for more information on the 2025 Annual River Basin Tour.
It’s so critical to get out and experience places firsthand. Policy making, or urban growth, or the like can’t happen effectively if they happen in a bubble.”
– WEco tour participant
“As an “interested citizen” not associated with any water-related organization, I came away with a much greater appreciation of the scope, history and importantce of the water “industry” in Colorado.”
– WEco tour participant
“It was FUN, intellectually stimulating, rejuvinating, informative, great networking, well-planned.. I am going to tell everyone even slightly interested in water to attend these. I was expecting it to be great, but it blew my expectations out of the water, it was wonderful..”
– WEco tour participant
Mini-Tours
Water Education Colorado’s mini-tours change each year to expose water professionals, decision-makers, teachers and the interested public to new areas of water use and management. Hop on the bus for an engaging day of exploring, learning and networking, and return home better informed—and with friends and connections. Past mini-tours have included everything from land use and water efficiency to agricultural viability, the bottled beverage industry, and Colorado’s vineyards. Have a great idea for an upcoming tour? Let us know.
Water ’22 Mini-Tours
Throughout Summer 2022, Water Education Colorado coordinated a series of “mini-tours” across the state. The tours hosted 15-45 people in the course of a day to learn about the state’s river basins’ water management. They were held in conjunction with the Water ’22 campaign
to bring increased awareness to local water challenges, priorities and projects, the role of the Basin Roundtables, and the Colorado Water Plan update. The tours were filmed and condensed into 8-10 min. snapshots of the tour experience and are availalbe for anyone interested in learning more about the unique water characteristics, challenges and opportunities of Colorado’s diverse river basins.
Past Urban Water Cycle Tours
Water Education Colorado has partnered in the past with local organizations to host Urban Water Cycle Tours as an active, hands-on educational opportunity for community members to learn about the river that runs through their own community. Some of these tours were captured on film and are archived here.
2021 Denver-Thornton Urban Water Cycle Tour
Join in and ride the Urban Water Cycle Bike tour from Globeville Landing to Thornton! We invite you to experience the South Platte River up close and on your schedule by walking, riding, or wheeling portions of this year’s self-guided tour. The tour is open to the public and free. Learn more and view the virtual tour.
2021 Colorado Springs Urban Water Cycle Tour
On June 11 and 12, 2011, Water Education Colorado along with a host of local partners, led this fun, free waterway bike tour along Cottonwood Creek in Colorado Springs. This in-person tour connected community members to local water and recreation resources through an approximately 9-mile (mostly downhill) ride. We thank our supporters at Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment, Colorado Springs Utilities, El Pomar Foundation, and Fountain Creek Watershed District. In addition, our partners at the Trails and Open Space Coalition and the City of Colorado Springs Stormwater Enterprise (SWENT) and Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services made this tour possible.
The 2020 Denver Urban Water Cycle Tour went virtual! Learn more, watch the video, and ride the route!
