The inaugural Yampa Valley Crane Festival takes place September 16-19 in Steamboat Springs and Hayden, plus a pre-festival screening of the International Wildlife Festival award-winning film Born To Fly on Thursday, Sept. 13 as part of the library's ongoing Wild Films series.

Monday's Crane Festival programming focuses on outreach to school children and seniors.  Please click on the links below for detailed festival schedules for each day.

All events are FREE.

Sunday, Sept. 16
Tuesday, Sept. 18
Wednesday, Sept. 19
Keynote Speaker, Dr. George Archibald
Schedule for Monday, Sept. 17 is below...

All Day
Elementary school programs led by Yampatika naturalists.

10 a.m.– 5 p.m.
Photographer Don Tudor's crane photos on display at Sleeping Giant Gallery, 601 Lincoln Ave.

10 a.m.–7 p.m.
Crane artwork by local artists on display at The Artists' Gallery of Steamboat, 1009 Lincoln Ave.

10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Photographer Thomas D. Mangelsen's crane photos on display at Mangelsen's Images of Nature, 730 Lincoln Ave. Manglesen's 48-minute  DVD  Cranes of the Grey Wind  will screen upon request. Mention you are attending the Yampa Valley Crane Festival to receive a 25% discount off any gallery purchase.

12:30 - 1:15 p.m.
Program for seniors at the Steamboat Community Center: A brief talk followed by a screening of Raising Kid Colt, a film by Nina Faust and Edgar Bailey about a Sandhill Crane family at the Kachemak Crane Watch in Homer, Alaska.

2:30 – 3:15 p.m.
Program for seniors at The Haven in Hayden: A brief talk followed by a screening of Raising Kid Colt, a film by Nina Faust and Edgar Bailey about a Sandhill Crane family at the Kachemak Crane Watch in Homer, Alaska.

6 – 7 p.m.
Young Writers Group gathers in the Teen Project Room Bud Werner Memorial Library, where BookTrails will lead  a story writing activity about cranes.

6  p.m. 
Crane viewing activity for Steamboat’s Over the Hill Gang members.

6:15 p.m.
Board shuttle at the Stockbridge Transit Center (1505 Lincoln Ave.) for crane viewing in Hayden. A $5 donation is suggested to cover the cost of fuel for the shuttle.

7 p.m.
View cranes near The Nature Conservancy’s Carpenter Ranch in Hayden.

Maps to crane viewing sites are available at the Carpenter Ranch (on U.S. Hwy 40 in Hayden), Bucking Rainbow (730 Lincoln Ave. in Steamboat Springs), Off the Beaten Path Bookstore (68 Ninth Street, in Steamboat Springs) and at the Bud Werner Memorial Library front desk (1289 Lincoln Ave. in Steamboat Springs). Or check it out on Google Maps here.

The Yampa Valley Crane Festival is presented by the Colorado Crane Conservation Coalition and co-sponsored by American Kestrel Press, Audubon Rockies, BookTrails, Bud Werner Memorial Library, Colorado State Council of the Humane Society of the United States, The Nature Conservancy, Klauzer & Tremaine, LLC, Mangelsen Images of Nature, Off the Beaten Path Bookstore, U.S. Forest Service,  Yampa Valley Birding Club, Yampa Valley Land Trust and Yampatika.

Questions about the Yampa Valley Crane Festival? Please send us an email.