Bluff and Summit Parks, at the west end of Main Street in Westcliffe, provide sweeping views of the Wet Mountain Valley and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The parks offer a window onto the community’s working ranches and scenic beauty and provides a venue for recreational and cultural events. A steady stream of visitors and residents enjoy the parks, the site of music festivals, night sky viewing parties, weddings and parties, and casual recreational use throughout the year.
The parks are the culmination of years of community work and are protected forever by a conservation easement, which was originally granted over just a portion Bluff Park in 2015 and was recently expanded in May 2024 to include Summit Park and the rest of Bluff Park. The property is enhanced with eco-friendly landscaping, accessible trails, benches and picnic tables, educational signage and other amenities. In 2015, the Smokey Jack Observatory was completed. At the same time, Westcliffe and Silver Cliff earned the International Dark Skies Community designation.
Bluff and Summit Parks are owned by the Town of Westcliffe and Colorado Open Lands holds the conservation easement. An advisory committee, made up of members of local nonprofits and community members, oversees proposed projects for the parks. Recently, a sign with a photograph of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the names of prominent peaks was installed along the western trail. Four more educational signs, showing the natural and human history of the valley and the night skies in summer and winter, are being developed and will be installed in 2025. Additionally, ongoing landscaping projects are being planned, which include establishing drought-tolerant and deer-resistant perennials.
