Boulder Scenics

March 27, 2007 7:58 AM

Boulderites - what would be scenic, unique or picturesque to film?

Let's say that I need to film some street scenes, scenics and the like in the Boulder area. What would be some good spots to include?

posted by jazzkat11 to society & culture (6 comments total)

Pearl Street Mall
The Hill
Anywhere around CU
Boulder Public Library

Chataqua
NCAR
Hwy 93 looking north into town
US-36 looking West into town

Any shot of the flatirons
posted by jazon at 9:13 AM on March 27, 2007

I am not a Boulderite but was just there last summer. There is a stream that runs through town. In the summer there's an entrepreurial genius renting tubes at the side of the road (the one that goes into the mountain pass from town) near the "put-in" point. It's all gorgeous: the people walking up the road with their tubes, putting in, floating downstream through this gully park (with great, low-key facilities - bbq pits, swings, open fields - under a beautiful boreal canopy of trees) and getting out near a bridge closer to the downtown.
posted by Mrs Hilksom at 9:48 AM on March 27, 2007

I am not a Boulderite but was just there last summer. There is a stream that runs through town. In the summer there's an entrepreurial genius renting tubes at the side of the road (the one that goes into the mountain pass from town) near the "put-in" point. It's all gorgeous: the people walking up the road with their tubes, putting in, floating downstream through this gully park (with great, low-key facilities - bbq pits, swings, open fields - under a beautiful boreal canopy of trees) and getting out near a bridge closer to the downtown. Very Boulder.
posted by Mrs Hilksom at 9:48 AM on March 27, 2007

I always wanted to see the annual break-up of the ice on Boulder Falls, (if there is one; I only surmised there must be) but never got to when I lived there.

Also, I always used to try to walk up the road into Chataqua Park on icy nights after a little bit of a thaw when the moon was really bright to stare at the immense, glittering Flatirons in order to get those shivers which start in the body but go way down into those other places. That would be hard to capture on film, though. I wonder about a time-lapse.
posted by jamjam at 10:12 AM on March 27, 2007

mrs H is referring to the tube rental at 4th and Canyon.

for cool street scenes, i'd stick to the Hill and areas around CU. the pearl st. mall is a good area, but it's overrun with tourists and yuppies. there are some interesting buskers but for the most part i find the mall rather banal and tourist-trappish. the boulder creek path / bikeway and areas around the library offer more of the genuine student/outdoorsy folk mix that i find more unique to boulder.

mountain sun (just east of the walking mall) and the surrounding area is still fairly reminiscent of boulder-before-the-yuppie-invasion scene. west of the walking mall, too.

the mapleton historic district, along and up to sunshine canyon, is a beautiful old boulder neighbourhood (along mapleton ave, west of broadway).

chataqua park and/or sanitas offer huge rock formations that are typical of the area. the royal(?) arch hike is a leg-buster but take your dv cam with you as it offers unbeatable panoramic views of the city - ditto for the top of sanitas.

NCAR (the fortress on the Hill) is a fairly iconic boulder landmark.

for long scenic views of the front range, you can't beat the lookouts on top of gunbarrel hill and up in waneka park (lafayette)
posted by lonefrontranger at 10:43 AM on March 27, 2007

Try the El Dorado Canyon on your way in to Boulder if you are looking for scenic beauty.
posted by goml at 2:35 PM on March 27, 2007