About the Friends of Barr Lake

Friends of Barr Lake is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that enhances education, recreation, and conservation at the park by providing funds from grants, donations and fundraising events. 

Do you want to join Friends of Barr Lake or renew your membership?  Visit our “Join Our Family or Renew Your Membership” page. 

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January and February Barr Lake Events

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Friends of Barr Lake and the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies are working jointly to build a sensory garden in the grove just west of the Old Stone House at Barr Lake State Park. The funds for the sensory garden were provided through a Legacy Grant awarded to us by City of Brighton. Read all about it here!

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Do you know the Leave No Trace 7 Principles? If you love to spend time in nature, then you probably want to make sure that you and your nature-loving friends take care of the natural places you visit. Leave No Trace principles will help you to understand how you can make sure your favorite natural sites remain natural for many years to come, and provide the same wonderful experiences for you, your children, your grandchildren, and everyone who visits these sites.

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics has a web course that you can take to become more aware of the principles, and possibly even become involved in helping others learn how to take care of our precious natural areas. You can take this online awareness course here: https://lnt.org/get-involved/training-courses/online-awareness-course/ .

If you take and finish the course, please email the certificate you receive at the end to: dnr_barrlake.naturecenter@state.co.us. This will help us in our efforts to achieve “Gold Status” within the Leave No Trace community.

Read more about the Friends of Barr Lake involvement in the Leave No Trace initiative here.

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Fall Harvest Festival Photos are HERE!
It was a great time, even with the scaled-down activities!

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Do you know what the 7 Leave No Trace Principles are? Why they are so important? 
Click here to find out and take our Leave No Trace Survey!

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Bergman Barn Restoration Update

Barr Lake State Park with the support of Friends of Barr Lake received a grant from Adams County to help in the restoration project. With the funds received the barn will have new siding, additional fencing and interpretive signage. 

The Bergman Barn is one of the remaining artifacts on Barr Lake State Park property depicting the rich agricultural history of Brighton and the Barr Lake area. Andrew Bergman and his wife Augusta Carlson were from Sweden and came to Colorado by way of Ohio. The Bergman’s lived in southeast Colorado before arriving in the Brighton area in 1917. They built a small house and barn east of town. Their son Ralph and his wife Nell lived in the small house and had two sons, Edward and Robert. Edward died of spinal meningitis. For a time, 1925-1936, Ralph Bergman owned the Old Stone House (Emil Bruderlin’s home). Some time around 1936, Ralph built a home and barn on the section of land east of the Old Stone house. Robert and his mother lived in the home until the mid-1950s. The home has since been torn down and the barn and part of the corrals are all the that remain.

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More upcoming events: 

• Events are currently somewhat curtailed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. However, Barr Lake State Park is open, and we encourage you to get out in nature and enjoy the peace and quiet that is so restorative in times of crisis. As new events are planned, we will post information on this site and on our Facebook page.