Genesee Mountain's high altitude (8284 feet) in Genesee Mountain Park provides excellent foothills Ponderosa Pine habitat for ponderosa species. It boasts several nesting pairs of Williamson's Sapsuckers. On a 2007 DFO field trip, nesting pairs were seen and heard between the Picnic Shelter and the mountain peak. Other nesting species include all three Nuthatches, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Violet-green Swallow, Western Bluebird, Vesper Sparrow, Gray-headed Junco, Mountain Chickadee, and Broad-tailed Hummingbird. Warblers are rare, except for Yellow-rumped. Red-Crossbill and Cassin's Finch are common in the winter. The lower slopes of Genesee Mountain to the west can be birded by driving from the Shelter back a short distance to a sharp near-180-degree right turn, onto Genesee Avenue. A Dusky Grouse was seen more than 20 years ago near here. Stop at Elk Pasture, with good habitat for nesting Mountain Bluebird, and an excellent view for raptors. The road extends to the Bison Pasture and the Chief Hosa entrance to I-70.

Habitat: Ponderosa Forest, Mountain Meadow, Foothill Shrub

Directions: From I-70 take Genesee Exit 254 only 20 miles west of Denver, turn left (south) at the stop sign, cross over I-70, turn right on the road marked Genesee Park. In about a mile you come to a parking lot on the right; you can walk up the hill from here or stay on the road, keeping always to the right, to a large parking lot for the reservations-only large stone Picnic Shelter. Small picnic tables, parking places, and the Protected Historic Nesting Tree are on the left side. The road continues up to the dead end parking lot at the Genesee Mountain peak, marked by the historic 1911 Daughters of the American Revolution Flagpole. The Genesee Mountain Park developed for picnic, birding, and recreational use is only a small part of the 2400-acre Genesee Park purchased by the City of Denver in 1912, whose boundaries are shown on the Evergreen topographic quadrangle map (1997 USGS Evergreen Quadrangle, Colorado-Jefferson County 7.5 Minute Topographic Map Series). It is mostly north of I-70, extends three miles to Clear Creek, and is mostly closed to the public except for named trails; the north part has no birding records.

Acknowledgments: Hotspot information was originally compiled on Birding Colorado, a service of Colorado Field Ornithologists. CFO thanks all the original contributors.