Project Description

The Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch is a historic site that currently hosts a working ranch, as well as the Heart-J Center for Experiential Learning, a hands-on learning organization working to engage local youth and community members in history, arts, leadership, agriculture, and environmental conservation. The 2013 flood resulted in loss of the Ranch’s main lodge and several cabins, severe impacts to infrastructure and operations, and significant damage to several county roads at the mouth of the Big Thompson canyon. The purpose of the restoration activities conducted at the Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch and the City of Loveland Water Treatment Plant, located just downstream, was to implement several techniques at a small scale, and use the project as a demonstration site to showcase the diverse suite of methods utilized in a project that aimed to address multiple river improvement and flood recovery objectives.