Bailey

Forty miles west of Denver on US 285, Bailey is a small, unincorporated community serving numerous residential subdivisions.  This area of the county is collectively known as Platte Canyon, which also contains the small towns of Pine Junction, Shawnee and Grant.  Because Platte Canyon is within commuting distance to Denver, it is now experiencing dramatic bedroom community' growth.  Although the population of Bailey proper is nominal, subdivisions in the surrounding hills account for about 65 percent of Park County's estimated 13,4000 residents. 

Retail businesses are increasing in the Bailey area, supported by the construction boom and nearby subdivisions.  Deer Creek Elementary, Fitzsimmons Middle School and Platte Canyon High school are near Bailey and serve a large region comprising the RE-1 School  District.  Five guest resorts attract visitors year-round to the Platte Canyon area. 

Guanella Pass has been designated a state and national scenic and historic byway and connects Platte Canyon to Georgetown, 22 miles north of Grant.  www.clearcreekcounty.org/gpass.html

Businesses in the Bailey area include five general stores, several service stations, a vehicle-rental business, gift shops, a lumber yard, Crow Hill Dental Clinic, Silverheels Health Center, two printers, the Park County Republican and Fairplay Flume newspaper and eleven restaurants.  The Park County Library is located in the Park County Office building, 5 miles east of Bailey on US 285 (at the top of Crow Hill).

http://www.clearcreekcounty.org/gpass.html

Shawnee

Five miles west of Bailey on US 285, Shawnee has an art gallery, general store, community center and US Post Office.  The US Forest Service is currently developing a recreation facility on the AG Ranch and several other public facilities around Shawnee, including a new trailhead for the Colorado Trail, a public campground and a highway rest stop.  Fitzsimmons Middle School and Platte Canyon High School are located one mile east of town.

Park County

Park County is approximately 45 miles wide from east to west, and 60 miles long, encompassing 2,166 square miles.  Within its borders are two national wilderness areas, two state parks, nine state wildlife areas and more territory above 9,000 feet altitude than any other county in the state of Colorado.

Federally-owned lands managed by the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management comprise 51 percent of Park County's land mass.  Notable features in the 644,00-acre Pike National Forest include Jefferson Lake, Eleven-Mile Canyon, Lost Park, Bristlecone Pine National Scenic Area, Wilkerson Pass Visitor Center and the Colorado Trail.  State-owned land accounts for about 8 percent of Park County and privately-owned land for about 41 percent.

Several named mountain ranges define the perimeter of Park County, including the Mosquito Range above Fairplay.  This spectacular range includes four of Colorado's peaks higher than 14,000 feet, as well as 25 named summits above 13,000 feet.  Other ranges in the county include the Buffalo Peaks southwest of Fairplay, the Park Range north of Jefferson and Como, the Front Range north of Bailey and Grant, the Tarryall Range which extends from Kenosha Pass south to Lake George, and the Thirtynine Mile Volcanic Field surrounding the town of Guffey.

Within this ring of mountain ranges is South Park, a high-altitude park 900 square miles in area located in the geographic center of Colorado.  At an elevation of 9,000 feet, the short grass prairie of South Park supports herds of elk, deer, bighorn sheep and antelope, as well as beaver, raccoon, bobcat, mountain lion, black bear and migratory waterfowl.  Communities in South Park include Fairplay, Alma, Como, Jefferson and Hartsel.

The northeastern third of Park County is known as the Platte Canyon Area.  This densely forested area is bisected by the North Fork of the South Platte River which parallels US Highway 285 through the communities of Bailey, Shawnee and Grant.

This portion of the county is lower, with an average elevation of 8,300 feet above sea level.

The southeastern third of Park County includes the communities of Lake George, Guffey and Hartsel.  At the southern end of South Park, this area of remnant volcanoes has been etched by the South Platte River and its tributaries.  At a result, dramatic land forms such as Eleven-Mile and Tarryall River Canyons have been created.  Four water storage reservoirs (Antero, Eleven-Mile, Tarryall, and Spinney) in this region have become important aquatic recreation and wildlife areas, attracting a half-million people each year for boating, hunting, fishing and camping.

US Highways 285 and 24, Colorado Highway 9, numerous county roads and National Forest roads provide automobile access throughout the county.