Nearly a mid-point between Denver and Colorado Springs, Larkspur is a small town with some unique offerings.
The Douglas County town of nearly 200 people is located eleven miles south of Castle Rock and sits at an elevation of 6,680 feet.
Named after the abundance of larkspur-- a purple perennial flowering plant -- near the town’s original location, the Larkspur community has been around since 1871.
The home of the Colorado Renaissance Festival
Come June 10, Exit 173 (South Spruce Mountain Road) on Interstate 25 will be a bit more crowded than usual.
That's because it's the start-date of one of the most popular festivals in Colorado, the annual Renaissance Festival, which is held each summer in Larkspur.
This year marks the 41st anniversary of the event that draws thousands from across the state and beyond.
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The Renaissance Festival includes a host of entertainment options, like jousting tournaments, magic shows, jesters and comedy shows, dancers — even hypnotists, fortune tellers and tarot card readings.
Attendees can also chow down on food common during the Renaissance era, like turkey legs and corn-on-the-cob, or browse through the wares of the hundreds of artisans who set up shop there.
The eight-weekend event is one of Larkspur's biggest draws of the year, but it's certainly not all the tiny, 1.5-square-mile town has to offer.
PHOTOS: A look at Larkspur
Outdoor recreation
It's also home to Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park, a family-oriented, pet-friendly private RV park and campground that acts as a gateway to Pike National Forest nearby.
The park offers attractions that include a pool, playground, archery, hiking and biking trail tours, wagon rides, horseshoes, fishing ponds, baby goat feeding, pedal carts and more.
Besides the nearby mountains, Spruce Meadows Open Space (13415 Spruce Mountain Road) is a great spot to get in some year-round hiking.
Over 8.5 miles of trails offer a variety of scenic landscapes, from rocky overlooks to grassy meadows.
For a moderate hike, take the Spruce Mountain Trail to Windy Point. You’ll be treated to views of Pikes Peak, Spruce Mountain and an abundance of wildflowers along the way.
Outdoor enthusiasts can also enjoy Greenland Open Space. There's a trailhead just south of East Perry Park Avenue on Douglas Boulevard.
The easy gravel trail connects to the Kipps loop, a beautiful hike with views of the mesas and buttes surrounding Douglas County.
Families who don't want to venture quite so far can try Larkspur Community Park, which includes a large playground, plenty of picnic-friendly grassy areas and horseshoe pits.
Top choices for dining
Larkspur also offers a couple of great dining options. Spur of the Moment Bar & Grill (8885 Spruce Mountain Rd.) is a family-owned business offering American fare (most famously hamburgers and buffalo burgers), plus beer and cocktails.
Larkspur Pizzaria & Cafe (8815 Spruce Mountain Rd.) is an Italian restaurant serving all the classics — pastas, calzones, pizzas, garlic bread, you name it.
And for Mexican food, we hear Charito's House (9080 Spruce Mountain Rd.) makes some pretty darn good piña coladas.
If small-town living is your thing, you can scoop up a one-bedroom home in Larkspur for a median sales price of about $302,000, although the median price for all-size properties is $410,000, up 2.5 percent from 2016, according to real estate website Trulia.com.
A first of its kind farm in Colorado
About 25 miles southeast of Town Hall, you'll find Fruition Farms Dairy and Creamery.
Over six years ago, Alex Seidel bought 10-acres of Larkspur farmland and with help from cheesemaker Jimmy Warren, started Colorado’s first Artisanal Sheep Dairy and Creamery.
“We just took a trip out to Hudson Valley and started learning a little bit here and there,” Warren said, “We did interning and I guess you could say volunteering on a large dairy in Nebraska. And we’ve been buying our sheep’s milk from them, and the rest is history.”
These days, the farm focuses on making sheep milk cheeses while still finding time to grow microgreens.
“This year we have taken a completely different route,” Warren said. “We are increasing production four-fold in order to have new avenues of distribution to produce more cheese.”
Some of that cheese (about 25 percent, according to Warren) will make its way to Seidel’s two Denver restaurants -- Fruition Restaurant in Capitol Hill and Mercantile Dining & Provisions in LoDo.
“Starting the farm was mainly for education purposes for the restaurant, for the employees, anybody in the community, the chef community we have as friends,” Warren said.
Some specialties include Sheep’s Milk Ricotta, Cacio Pecora and Shepherd’s Halo. Most recently, they’ve been dabbling in sheep-milk feta.
Two hoop houses on the property grow vegetables and other greens used primarily at the restaurants.
“Over the course of the years, we’ve brought in different growers and things, and now Ilsa, she’s out here and focused primarily on produce. Micro greens are very much a side project in a way. Lots of produce, lots of root vegetables and things like that.”
Chefs at the two restaurants spend one shift a week working on the dairy -- doing everything from planting greens to helping with the cheese-making process.
“They get to work with their hands, get their hands in the milk, process it the next day, go through the entire process. We get them in the cellar scrubbing wheels and flipping cheeses, and packaging and wrapping for sales. They do everything, which I think is awesome,” Warren said.
Their endgame? Produce the best sheep's milk cheese they possibly can.
“Starting the farm was mainly for education purposes for the restaurant, for the employees, anybody in the community, and for the chef community we have as friends,” Jimmy Warren, cheesemaker at Fruition Farms Creamery said.
It’s a farm to table approach that many in Colorado can appreciate.
“If you look around and talk to chefs and people in the industry, the biggest thing we find it that everyone wants to know where their food comes from, and get their hands involved and get to it.”
Larkspur Clippings by 9news on Scribd
Larkspur. Douglas County History by 9news on Scribd
