Explore Windsor: five places in walking order

Windsor sits between Fort Collins and Greeley on Colorado 392, about twenty minutes from either. Leave the car at Boardwalk Park, 100 N 5th Street, a block north of Main Street: the lake, the old town hall, the shops and Main Park are all within a few blocks, and only the river trail at the end needs the car again.

01 · Boardwalk Park and Windsor Lake

Boardwalk Community Park wraps the south shore of Windsor Lake at the foot of 5th Street, with a playground, a stage, restrooms and three shelters. The Windsor Lake Trail leaves from here and circles the lake, 2.25 miles around by the Town’s measure and flat the whole way, past the swim beach and the boat-rental stand to the dog park on the north shore, the one place on the loop where dogs may be off the leash and in the water. The beach is open in daylight hours from mid-May through September with no lifeguard; the rental stand has closed for 2026 and reopens Memorial Day weekend 2027. Shore fishing is allowed year-round when the lake is not frozen, with a Colorado license.

The five relocated buildings of the Windsor History Museum, among them the 1882 depot and the 1885 schoolhouse, stand on the park grounds. Admission is free, but they open only in summer: the 2026 season ran May 22 to September 6, Thursday and Friday 9 am–1 pm, Saturday 9 am–4 pm and Sunday 9 am–1 pm. Outside those dates they can be seen from the park paths. Plan on going inside only on a date the Town’s museum page confirms.

Getting there: the park lot at 100 N 5th Street; park hours are 5 am–10 pm. Best for: the lake loop before or after everything else, the beach in summer, and the museum buildings on a confirmed open day.

02 · The Art & Heritage Center

A block south on 5th Street is Windsor’s 1909 town hall, the two-story building with the old fire truck out front, which held every town office and the fire station until it was restored after the 2008 tornado as the Art & Heritage Center. It is the Town’s gallery for art and local history, with rotating exhibitions and free admission. The Town’s page gives its hours as Friday to Sunday, noon–4 pm; its facility listing has also shown Thursday afternoon and evening hours, so check the current exhibition page before counting on a Thursday. It is closed Monday to Wednesday.

Getting there: 116 5th Street, a two-minute walk from the park lot. Best for: a free half hour indoors between the lake and lunch, Friday to Sunday.

03 · Main Street, 5th to 3rd

The downtown blocks begin at the corner of 5th and Main. High Desert Chocolates at 430 Main is the coffee stop, open from 7:30 am on weekdays and Saturdays and 8:30 am on Sunday; Missy Kay’s Sweet Shoppe is across the corner. On the 500 block are Four & Twenty Blackbirds for gifts, Monday to Saturday, and Dandelions & Rust for vintage, which does not publish its hours; Manweiler Hardware, on Main since 1946, is closed on Sunday.

For lunch, Peculier Ales in the rebuilt Windsor Mill at 3rd and Main opens at 11 am every day with its own kitchen and a patio. Hearth Restaurant and Pub, a few steps off Main on 4th, opens at 11 am only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday; on weekdays it opens at 3 pm for dinner. Who else is downtown.

Getting there: on foot from the park, one block south. Best for: coffee, a present, and lunch or dinner at whichever kitchen is open that day.

04 · Main Park

Two blocks south of Main on Locust Street, past Town Hall at 301 Walnut, is Main Park, the town’s original park under its cottonwoods and maples: a playground, pickleball and basketball courts, restrooms and three reservable shelters with grills. It is the end of the walk.

Getting there: 300 Locust Street, about five minutes on foot from the corner of 3rd and Main. Best for: a picnic from Main Street, and the playground.

05 · The river option: Eastman Park

The separate half-day is the Poudre. Eastman Park, at 7th Street and the river south of downtown, is Windsor’s trailhead on the paved Poudre River Trail, with a big lot, indoor restrooms, a playground, a skate park, an 18-hole disc golf course and a fenced dog park. Distances in each direction, the e-bike rule and the other trailheads are in the trail guide from Eastman Park rather than repeated here.

Getting there: a drive, 7025 Eastman Park Drive. Best for: a longer walk or a ride along the river; the park’s own river mile for tubing in summer.

A simple first visit

1. Park at Boardwalk Park, 100 N 5th Street.
2. Walk the lake loop, or as much of it as the day allows.
3. Have coffee or lunch on Main Street at a kitchen open that day.
4. Stop in at the Art & Heritage Center if it is Friday, Saturday or Sunday, and finish at Main Park.
5. With time left, drive to Eastman Park for the river trail.

Getting here

Drive times are estimates for normal conditions and vary with traffic, weather and construction; check a live routing service before you set out. From Old Town Fort Collins it is about twenty minutes on Harmony Road, from Greeley about twenty on Colorado 392, from Loveland about twenty up County Road 17, and from Denver about an hour on I-25.

The Town’s park rules apply at every park on this page: open 5 am–10 pm, dogs leashed outside the designated off-leash areas, and posted signs override anything written here.

Accessibility: what we can confirm

The Town lists Boardwalk Community Park as ADA accessible, with restrooms, and says all three of its shelters are ADA accessible. It lists Main Park as ADA accessible, with restrooms. Of the History Museum it says the historic nature of the buildings may make it difficult for those in mobility devices to enter and exit, and asks that staff be told of accommodations beforehand.

The lake trail’s surface, the sidewalks and curb ramps on Main Street, step-free entrances to the shops and restaurants, and designated accessible parking have not been confirmed on the ground and are not claimed here; contact a business directly before relying on it. Corrections and additions to this section are welcome and published with their date.