Larimer County secures inholding and trade with conservation buyer at Chimney Hollow Open Space

LOVELAND - Larimer County is acquiring a 41-acre inholding within Chimney Hollow Open Space, located at the southern end of the county, from an adjacent landowner. An inholding is a parcel of private land surrounded by a publicly protected area. At the same time as the acquisition, the county will sell a 197-acre parcel, encumbered with a conservation easement, to the same adjacent landowner. The transaction ensures perpetual protection of the viewshed and important wildlife habitat.

Larimer County acquired the 1,847-acre Chimney Hollow Open Space in 2004.  A conservation easement on the open space is held by Great Outdoors Colorado and the City of Loveland. The easement encumbers all the property except for a long, skinny 197-acre “tail” at the southern end of the open space.  At the time of acquisition, excluding the tail from the conservation easement was intentional given the orientation of the parcels and uncertainty if retaining the tail as part of the open space would match long-term management goals.

Following the development and adoption of the Chimney Hollow Open Space management plan in 2025, it was determined that retaining fee ownership of the tail by the county was not necessary to meet its management goals.

The conservation and land management outcomes of this transaction will result in Larimer County’s fee-simple acquisition of the 41-acre parcel, permanently conserving the property and preventing the development of a homesite in the Chimney Hollow Open Space viewshed.  Transferring property ownership of the 197-acre “tail” to Oxbow Land, LLC, subject to a conservation easement, permanently protects the unencumbered portion of Chimney Hollow Open Space and avoids management challenges associated with the long and narrow “tail” parcel.

“We are pleased to have been able to work with our neighbor to secure the inholding at Chimney Hollow Open Space and perpetually conserve the southern portion of the property,” stated Daylan Figgs, Natural Resources Department Director.

Development of public access facilities at Chimney Hollow Open Space is currently paused pending Northern Water's uranium findings and mitigation recommendation and plan.

For more information, please visit larimer.gov/naturalresources/