Bellvue in Larimer County, Colorado — The American Mountains (Southwest)
Poudre Pioneer Tourism
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 29, 2025
1. Poudre Pioneer Tourism Marker
The Poudre Canyon once boasted a number of late-19th century hotels for the first tourists in the canyon.
John and Maria Zimmerman and their three children arrived here from Minnesota by covered wagon, building their first home near the Zimmerman Lake Trailhead in 1881. By 1884 they had moved down canyon near Home Moraine to avoid the harsh high-mountain winters.
In 1890 they opened the first hotel in the Poudre Canyon. It was destroyed in the Chambers Lake flood of 1891.
Undaunted, they built a new hotel the Keystone with rough cut lumber from their own sawmill, and made bricks by hand for the molding. To help promote the hotel, the family ran their own stagecoach line to bring tourists to the hotel from Fort Collins.
The hotel was in operation by the Zimmerman family until 1946. It was purchased by the Colorado Game and Fish Department, and demolished to make way for the Poudre fish hatchery.
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Topics. This historical marker
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Location. 40° 32.356′ N, 105° 52.936′ W. Marker is in Bellvue, Colorado, in Larimer County. It can be reached from the intersection of Poudre Canyon Road (State Highway 14 at milepost 66.5) and Forest Road 143, on the right when traveling north. The marker is located at the Zimmerman Lake Trailhead (#977) parking lot. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 56903 Poudre Canyon Road, Bellvue CO 80512, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Colorado’s Front Range. It is also in the American Mountain West. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Louisiana Purchase.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 9 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Joe Wright Reservoir (here, next to this marker); Get to Know your Native Greenback Cutthroat Trout (here,
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 29, 2025
2. Poudre Pioneer Tourism Marker
Looking north across the Zimmerman Lake Trailhead parking lot and Poudre Canyon Road (State Highway 14) in the left background. This historical marker is rightmost of two interpretive panels on the kiosk.
Also see . . .
1. Poudre City, Colorado (Wikipedia).
Excerpt: In the late 1800s, it was suspected that there was gold in Larimer County and in the hills of the Poudre Canyon and many prospectors moved to the area. John Zimmerman built a 5 stamp gold reducing stamp mill in 1890 to process the ore being brought out of the area. Shortly after the mill's construction, it was determined that the ore bore very little gold, and Zimmerman sold it to pursue other endeavors in the area.(Submitted on September 8, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
In 1891, Zimmerman inspected the dam at Chamber's Lake and had determined it was severely undersized and likely to give way. On the morning of June 10, 1891, the dam gave way. Poudre City, being on the banks of the Poudre River, and directly downstream of Chamber's Lake was in a very vulnerable position. Zimmerman rode into town to warn the residents to move to higher ground. The flood waters destroyed the entire town and left nothing behind, save for the chimney of the stamp mill, which survives to this day.
2. John McNabb: A Man to Match the Mountains (HistoricLarimerCounty.org).
(by Sue Abbott Schneider) Excerpt: John McNabb arrived in the Poudre Canyon in 1880 at the age of twenty-one along with his friend John Zimmerman and Zimmermans family. Zimmerman had had some success seeking his fortune in California and in Austin, Nevada where he ran a stamp mill and sold his mining interests for $14,000 in the early 1860s when he was in his 20s. McNabb would show interest in mining, but whether they grew to be friends over their desire to strike it rich or they met in some other capacity, they were good enough friends that they headed west together, with Zimmermans family in tow. Upon their arrival in the Poudre Canyon McNabb helped the Zimmermans homestead near the top of Cameron Pass(Submitted on September 8, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
Credits. This page was last revised on September 8, 2025. It was originally submitted on September 8, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 113 times since then and 39 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on September 8, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
