PPWGS Pond Tour - 2022

Rob & Robyn Haddock's Pond - Saturday & Sunday

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Pond Description

Sitting high on a bluff at 7,500' elevation on the Palmer Divide and surrounded by 90 acres of rocky steep grades, heavy Ponderosa timber, a creek and open meadows, the pond scape is tastefully integrated with natural surrounds. The pond is home to 25 Koi, ranging in size from 6" to 16" - both butterfly and standard, each one colorful and unique. Native wildlife visits regularly.

Our home was built in 1985 and remodeled in 2009, during which a 4,000-gallon Koi pond was added with one 30’ stream bed and 7’ vertical drop. We recently renovated the pond in 2021, adding a second 25’ stream bed with 6’ vertical drop and expanding the size to 7,000 gallons, with the deepest section being about 4.5’, and wrapping around a 700 square foot patio area. The stream beds feature 11 total waterfalls.

The pond is accented with various water plants and is surrounded by native trees, shrubs, flowers and over 20 tons of moss rock boulders along with a memorable bear and native boy sculpture by Walt Horton. It also has numerous seating areas, stone pathways and bridge plus a 2-story gazebo from which you can view the pond from 60’ of balcony areas above. The setting includes a gas fire pit and two wood-burning fireplaces.

As part of the pond renovation, we added Atlantic fastfalls and upgraded the two waterfall pumps along with upgrading the pond’s filtration using Aqua Ultraviolet’s Ultima II 10,000 biological bead filter, Oase’s Proficlear premium compact pond rotary drum filter with Bitron C 110 UV filter, 3 water jets for better circulation, a Sequence 7800 GPH external pump and two bottom drains.

Light snacks will be served on both days of the tour. Also, our pond setting is awesome to see after dark with backlit waterfalls and other area lighting effects. For that reason, we will also welcome guests from 8:30 p.m. until 10 p.m. on the Saturday evening of the tour (July 30th).

• Pond Gallons: 7000
• Handicap Accessible: No

Pond Address

8655 Table Butte Rd., Colorado Springs, CO 80908

Directions

From CO-83 N, turn right on Hodgen Road, left on Black Forest Road, Right on Walker Road then left at dead-end to stay on Walker Road. Turn right at stop sign to stay on Walker Road, then turn left on Campbell Road. Continue straight onto White Antelope Drive (do not turn on White Pine Lane if your GPS instructs you). White Antelope Drive dead-ends at Moss Rock Road, where you’ll turn right. Then turn right onto Blue Sage Circle and another right on Table Butte Road – we’re the first house on the left, 8655 Table Butte Road.

*Please park along the road so that others aren’t blocked in the driveway.* As you walk up the driveway past the barn, you’ll see the 2-story gazebo and pond by the garage drive. We look forward to seeing you!

Rachel Lentz & Kevin Baylis's Pond - Saturday & Sunday

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Pond Description

Ours is a cozy backyard pond, an example of what can be done to make a small yard into a relaxing retreat.   We had it installed in 2017, but decided to improve the waterfall the following summer.  Our pond is a mere 350 gallons, with an attached waterfall containing a switchback.  We currently have four koi enjoying the pond, in particular enjoying rooting around in the substrate supporting the water lilies!  The pond and waterfall are integrated into the surrounding landscape, which we are continuously adding to and adjusting in order to keep plants, flowers and grasses as natural and pleasing as possible.  

We welcome the opportunity to share our tiny paradise with you!  Enter through the gate to the left of the driveway as you face the house, follow the stepping stones past the vegetable garden, across the small secondary patio, and then head to the larger patio with the purple and magenta clematis.  Feel free to rest a spell at the picnic table, around the fire pit or on the pond wall to watch the koi.  

• Pond Gallons: 350
• Handicap Accessible: No

Pond Address

2648 Emerald Ridge Dr, Colorado Springs, CO 80920

Directions

From I-25 take the Briargate exit and head east.  Turn left at Chapel Hills Drive and continue down Chapel Hills Drive.  At the traffic circle continue straight on Chapel Hills, then turn right on Emerald Ridge Drive.  Our home is the second house on the left.  

Steve & Karen Jones's Pond - Saturday & Sunday

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Pond Description

Our big pond takes up a LOT of our backyard.  It's roundish and has 3 separate streams/waterfalls that feed it.  One of those is our newest addition, a very large bog.  Water is pumped up to it and it's supporting a myriad of plants which help clean the water.  If you're lucky, you may see Myrtle (our RES who lives outdoors year-round) or a bullfrog or two.  We have over a dozen large Koi and a few goldfish in the big pond.  We also have a suspended bridge.  Two more preformed ponds serve as quarantine ponds and decoys for the raccoon and blue heron.  Each have a few plants and a pair of small Koi who will graduate to the large pond in the fall.  

We have a very small water feature in the front yard which serves to give water to the local critters.  

Both our front and back yards are completely xeriscaped with mostly native plants.

• Pond Gallons: 10000
• Handicap Accessible: No

Pond Address

8240 Candleflower Circle, Colorado Springs, CO

Directions

From Woodmen and Rangewood:  Go North on Rangewood one street past Meadowridge (it has a light).  Turn right on Contrails.  Left on Candleflower to our house. 

From Research and Rangewood:  Go South on Rangewood and make your first left (Contrails).  Follow it to Candleflower and turn right.

Enter our yard through the gate which behind the mailboxes to the right of our driveway.

Mike Davis & Jean Susemihl's Pond - Saturday & Sunday

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Pond Description

Our pond was built in 2010. We wanted deep straight sides in our original design plan, only to learn that we live on a ridge of shale that even a jackhammer couldn't get through. The final product is an oval around 20 ft. by 10 ft. The deep part is only 5 ft. by 6 ft. and around 4 ft. deep. The waterfall is 5 ft. high with a short-split drop into the pond. The pond is surrounded by native plants and grasses and includes mostly bare rooted hardy water lilies which winter in the pond. We have 13 large Koi and about 5 babies all born here.

• Pond Gallons: 3000
• Handicap Accessible: Yes

Pond Address

5440 Saphire Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80918

Directions

From the intersection of Academy Blvd and Austin Bluffs Parkway, 1. Head East on Austin Bluffs Parkway .7 miles to the intersection with Barnes Road and Park Vista Blvd. 2. Turn Left (North) on Park Vista Blvd and continue to the stop sign at the top of the hill at Ruby Drive. 3. Turn Right onto Ruby Drive and proceed one block to Sapphire Drive. 4. Turn Left (North) on Sapphire Drive and proceed to the last driveway on the left at the end of Sapphire before it turns into Emerald. You will see a life size steel horse next to the driveway. 5. You've arrived at 5440 Saphire Drive. Please park along the edge of Sapphire or Emerald drive off the edge of the road and walk up our driveway to prevent others from being blocked. Say hello to Rusty our horse on the way in.

Allen & Linda Burbidge's Pond - Saturday & Sunday

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Pond Description

This 20 year old pond is partially raised and fits into a corner of the hillside that is terraced with railroad ties. The waterfall cascades down from the upper-level filter over a quantity of rocks into the pond filled with goldfish. The 4 foot waterfall can be enjoyed by sitting on the raised area, or by walking around the abundance of foliage to the upper level overlooking the pond.

• Pond Gallons: 1200
• Handicap Accessible: No

Pond Address

4314 Meadowview Court, Colorado Springs, CO 80918

Directions

From the intersection of Union Boulevard and North Academy Boulevard travel south to Flintridge Drive. Turn right (south) onto Flintridge for approximately 1/2 mile. Turn right onto Northridge Drive and then left (south) onto Meadowview Court.

Richard Gibson's Pond - Saturday & Sunday

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Pond Description

Hours- Saturday 9 am - 4 pm and 8 pm - 9:30 pm for evening viewing, Sunday 1 pm - 4 pm

Come to 6270 Spurwood Dr. and visit “Fourteen Falls”-- as opposed to Seven Falls- which cascades and meanders 35’ down a natural rock waterfall and mimics the beauty of Colorado mountain waterfalls. At the base of the falls, you will find the irregular shaped “Pike’s Pond” where you find an assortment of Koi and a few gold fish. The falls split along the way into three streams entering the pond. The 3’ deep pond is about 1800 gallons and is nestled in scrub oak and surrounded by Ponderosa pines. Enjoy a climb up some steps and then a rugged path to view incredible vistas of Pike’s Peak, Pulpit Rock, and the Garden of the Gods. Enjoy the numerous flower gardens along the way. Directional signs point the visitor to points of interest such as “Back Forest”, “Garden of the Gibs”, and “Real Gorg-eous Bridge” among others. Stop along the way at various scenic overlooks and sit a spell as you hike to the top of Fourteen Falls. If you overlooked “Hike n’Hunt Falls” when you walked across the deck, don’t miss these separate falls adjacent to the deck on your way down the “Man-or-2 Decline.” Embedded in the deck is the “Dome of the Deck” (a tribute to the owner’s dedication to photographing and telling the stories of the 50 State Capitols and his authorship of the book, “A Celebration of State Capitols.”) The pond is not handicap accessible. Please be careful when ascending steps and paths.

*As an option, a completely different view can be seen when the falls are lit at night along with solar lights. 

• Pond Gallons: 1800
• Handicap Accessible: No

Pond Address

6270 Spurwood Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80918

Directions

Located about a mile west of Academy Blvd. off Vickers. From Academy and Vickers (Chili’s and Kum and Go intersection), go west on Vickers for ½ mile, then turn right on Spurwood Dr. Follow around 3 more blocks to 6270 which is a hillside lot. Spurwood is a loop so you can get to your destination by going in either direction at the corner of Spurwood and Spurwood. Walk up the driveway and follow the yellow duckies in ascending the stairway to the deck above. The main water feature is located behind the house with a second one on the west side.

Bob & Linda Oatman's Pond - Saturday & Sunday

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Pond Description

Our natural looking water garden consists of 4 ponds all cascading from one to the other via waterfalls. Several Koi and goldfish call our ponds home. The garden is built into a natural slope and consists of several large boulders and perennial flowers gone wild. Be sure to check out the view from the upper deck. The upper most pond is actually an under gravel filter, with about 12 inches of pea gravel. There are also two 55-gallon up-flow filters buried within the garden. Please enter from the right side of the front porch. Handicap access is through the double gate to the right of the house.

• Pond Gallons: 4600
• Handicap Accessible: Yes

Pond Address

1263 Shrider Road, Colorado Springs, CO 80920

Directions

From 1-25 and Woodman go east then quickly turn left (north) on Campus Drive.  Get in the right lane and veer to the right onto Vincent Drive.  Turn right (east) on Shrider Road.  I'm on the right in 2 1/2 blocks.

Suzanne Smith's Pond - Saturday & Sunday

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Pond Description

• Pond Gallons: 3500
• Handicap Accessible: Yes

Pond Address

1505 Parkway Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80905

Directions

From I-25, go south on Tejon 2 blocks to Brookside. Turn right, or west, on Brookside. Parkway Drive is a Left off Brookside. 1505 is the 3rd house on the Left.

Joe Genova's Pond - Saturday & Sunday

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Pond Description

More of a fountain than a pond.  It is a work in progress.  Approximate size of the pond is 12’ x 20’ (not counting the filters.). It is about 3’ deep.  The pond is lined with EPDM.  It has two 55 gallon mechanical filters behind a facade.  The mechanical filters empty into biological filters on on either side of facade.  A small waterfall on each biological filter returns the water to the pond. The main waterfall is approximately 4’ wide.  Water is pumped into a cache on top of the facade.  The cache is about 10’ long which includes a 3’ planter on each side. The water in the cache spills over onto main waterfall. The biological filters contain cattails in the back part of the filter with other plants in the foreground.  The pond has shelves on the front and both sides.  The front shelf is full of water lily and lotus plants. The sides have iris and rushes.   There is a stone veneer on the front and both sides of the pond, on the front of the biological filters, and on either side of the main waterfall.  There are about 30 shebunkin and comet goldfish living in the pond. 

• Pond Gallons: 4000
• Handicap Accessible: Yes

Pond Address

27245 Torchey Way, Pueblo County, CO, 81006

Directions

From southbound I-25, take exit 98-A (US 50 E to La Junta). Turn left onto Santa Fe Avenue.  Stay left after you cross the bridge - do not go up the hill here.  Santa Fe Avenue turns into Santa Fe Drive and goes up a hill into the small town of Blende.  Continue on Santa Fe Dr thru Blende. At the east end of Blende, Santa Fe Dr becomes Highway 50 E and the cross streets become numbered lanes.  Continue on Highway 50 E and turn right on 27th lane (La Gree’s Market is on the southeast corner).  After about  1/2 mile, you will come to a stop sign at County Farm Road.  Continue on 27th Lane past the stop sign.  Turn left at the next street which is Torchey Way.  My house number is 27245. It is about the 6th house on the left.   For reference, my house is approximately 6-7 miles from the I-25 exit