Things to Do in Berthoud This Fall: Parks, Museum and Carter Lake

Fall in Berthoud brings an Oktoberfest in Town Park and an all-day holiday festival with a parade of lights. The rest of the season belongs to Berthoud's town parks, a bike park, a pioneer museum on Mountain Avenue and Carter Lake, a reservoir in the foothills west of Loveland.

Town parks and fishing ponds

The Town of Berthoud Public Works Parks Department runs parks with amenities that range from playgrounds and athletic fields to pavilions and trails. Among its developed parks, the Town of Berthoud has two skate parks. The Town of Berthoud has two neighborhood ponds that are open for fishing. Fickel Park has a bear statue and trees.

Berthoud Bike Park

The Berthoud Bike Park opened at 1223 Meadowlark Drive. It has one mile of XC mountain bike trails. The park also has a bicycle playground, two extensive jump/flow lines and a quarter-mile dual slalom track. The Town closes Berthoud Bike Park trails when wet/muddy or snowy/icy conditions are present, and riders are directed to the Berthoud Bike Park Facebook page for trail conditions and closures.

Little Thompson Valley Pioneer Museum

The Berthoud Historical Society was established in 1977 and works to discover and preserve the history of Berthoud, the Little Thompson Valley area, Colorado and the surrounding region. The society maintains the Little Thompson Valley Pioneer Museum and the McCarty-Fickel Home. The museum is housed in A.G. Bimson's historic blacksmith shop and Elmer Carlson's garage building, at 224 Mountain Avenue. The Bimson Stone Shop building was put up in 1893 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Local residents saved the stone shop in 1976, and the historical society opened it as the museum in 1978.

The Little Thompson Valley Pioneer Museum includes the 1867 Charles Meining Cabin and the Bunyan Observatory. A.J. Bimson's Barn, originally built in 1902, was moved to the Little Thompson Valley Pioneer Museum in 2001 and is the backdrop for the Pioneer Stage. The Pioneer Courtyard, the museum's event space, has seven historic buildings and many historic artifacts arranged around a community-focused courtyard. A new exhibit features a 1909 Maxwell Runabout car, a model like the ones Berthoud's Floyd Clymer was selling at age 11.

Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for seniors and youth (12-18); children 11 and under get in free, and members are always free.

Breweries on Mountain Avenue and 8th Street

City Star Brewing first opened in 2012. Its tasting room at 321 Mountain Avenue in downtown Berthoud has an outdoor beer garden and a barrel house that is also an event space. The brewery won Gold and Bronze medals at the Great American Beer Festival in 2013 and a bronze medal in 2015. Patio beers can be enjoyed year round in the beer garden. Hours are Mon 3-8pm, Tue-Thu 3-9pm, Fri 3-10pm, Sat 12-10pm and Sun 12-8pm, with last call 30 minutes before closing. RTD Flex runs north and south between Fort Collins and Loveland and Longmont and Boulder, stopping at Mountain and 3rd in Berthoud, less than a block from City Star Brewing.

Berthoud Brewing, listed among downtown's places to eat and drink, is at 450 8th St and is a family owned brewery with deep roots in Americana culture.

Art studios and games downtown

Glass of Art, at 316 Mountain Ave in Berthoud, is a paint and sip studio with a full bar. Wildfire Community Arts Center is Berthoud's local nonprofit art studio. B-Rad's Arcade & Family Fun Center in downtown Berthoud offers arcade games, axe throwing and a beer garden.

Carter Lake

Carter Lake is a 1,100-acre reservoir in the foothills west of Loveland, at an elevation of 5,760 feet. It is three miles long and about one mile wide. The lake is part of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project, operated by the Bureau of Reclamation and the Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, and its recreation is managed by Larimer County Natural Resources. Carter Lake is open year round.

Amenities include mountain biking, a playground, picnic shelters, a reservable group pavilion, a swimming beach, scuba diving, water skiing and windsurfing/sailboarding. The Sundance trail runs along the west side of Carter Lake, which has many foothills wildflowers. The trail has a dirt surface with large rocks and is rated moderate.

At the lake, frost-free spigots have water year round, but from September through March (tentative) all other spigots are turned off. Online or phone reservations for Skyview Campground must be made at least 1 day in advance from March through October and 3 days in advance from November through February.

Oktoberfest in Town Park

Berthoud Oktoberfest is an annual fall festival hosted by the Berthoud Area Chamber of Commerce in Town Park. The festival has German beer, Bavarian food, live music, contests and family fun. The Berthoud Oktoberfest event website is associated with the Berthoud Area Chamber of Commerce. Local vendors make classic Bavarian dishes such as bratwurst, pretzels, schnitzel, sauerkraut and hearty potato salads. Drinks at Berthoud Oktoberfest range from traditional German beer to locally crafted mead and wine. Breweries, traditional German food trucks, fun and games are part of the festival. An Artisan & Craft Vendor Market carries handmade jewelry, artwork, clothing, woodwork and other work by local makers and small businesses. The festival is open 11AM-6PM, with activities for the entire family.

Downtown events through the holidays

At Berthoud Trick or Treat Street, kids trick or treat along Main Street with Berthoud's downtown businesses. The Berthoud Homecoming Parade is a downtown parade hosted by the Berthoud High School Athletic Booster Club. The Berthoud Community Library District holds the Berthoud Literary Festival at locations across Berthoud, where people can meet local authors.

For Small Business Saturday, local businesses in Downtown Berthoud put on exclusive promotions, special events and community engagement initiatives. A Very Merry Berthoud is an all-day holiday festival across the Berthoud community, with Cowboy Christmas, a downtown lighting and a parade of lights.