conserving rocky mountain greater sandhill cranes + their habitat through science + education

The Greater Sandhill Crane is an iconic species of the Yampa Valley in Northwest Colorado. Returning in the spring from wintering grounds in New Mexico and Arizona, cranes nest and raise their young in wetland areas throughout the valley.

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2026 Yampa Valley Crane Festival 

Over Labor Day weekend, crane enthusiasts gathered in the Yampa Valley to celebrate the Greater Sandhill Cranes at the 15th annual Yampa Valley Crane Festival. The Yampa Valley weather cooperated wonderfully for festival goers to enjoy guided crane viewings and bird walks, inspiring talks from expert speakers, hands-on workshops, children’s activities, and films. Crane experts representing all facets of crane conservation, along with organizations helped create diverse experiences that made this festival special. CCCC is grateful for all who came out and participated in the 4 day event. CCCC hopes everyone left feeling inspired, empowered, and more connected to cranes and this remarkable community.

CCCC extends our heartfelt appreciation to each and every person who attended, volunteered, presented, guided, sponsored, or otherwise supported the festival and our mission. CCCCC hopes that we will see all of you again for the 16th annual Yampa Valley Crane Festival, September 2–5, 2027!

Nest Camera Update:

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed to our Nest Camera Campaign – we are so close to reaching our fundraising goal!

After a severe wind event destroyed CCCC’s nest camera system near the end of the spring nesting season, generous donor support allowed us to replace the equipment. Special thanks to Yampa Valley Electric Association for donating a utility pole for the camera and to Elevated Line Works in Craig, CO for providing professional installation services. The new camera is currently being programmed, and installation will soon be complete.

Visit us during the Yampa Valley Crane Festival to learn more about this eventful nest camera season and more:

  • Through the Lens: Insights into the Lives of Sandhill Cranes through the Nest Camera
  • Saturday, Sept. 5 from 12:00 PM – 12:45 PM
  • Library Hall, Bud Werner Memorial Library

Want to learn more or watch past coverage? Visit our Nest Camera webpage or catch recorded livestreams and highlights on the Colorado Cranes YouTube channel.

Crane Contest Updates:

Judging for the Crane Coloring and Photo Contests is officially complete, and all winners have been notified! Thank you to everyone who submitted their art, and to our generous sponsors: Wild Goose Coffee at the Granary, Element Print & Design, and PhotoGraphicsArt.

YAMPA VALLEY CRANE FESTIVAL

We want to hear your feedback on your experience at the 15th annual Yampa Valley Crane Festival! Help shape next year’s festival by sharing your thoughts below:

View Crane Nest Camera highlights:

Our appreciation for the crane grows with the slow unraveling of earthly history. His tribe, we now know, stems out of the remote Eocene. The other members of the fauna in which he originated are long since entombed within the hills. When we hear his call we hear no mere bird. We hear the trumpet in the orchestra of evolution. He is the symbol of our untamable past, of that incredible sweep of millennia which underlies and conditions the daily affairs of birds and men.

– Aldo Leopold, Sand County Almanac