Chimborazo Park and Chimborazo Medical Museum

The grounds of Chimborazo Park are on a high bluff with an expansive view of the city. The Chimborazo Medical Museum, run by the National Park Service, lies on an area of manicured lawn along with benches, paths, and a miniature Statue of Liberty. From here, several paths descend to walking trails traversing the hillside, which is covered in open forest and meadow.

Familiar urban birds, like American robins and northern mockingbirds, predominate above, but a trek down the hill is rewarded with woodpeckers, sparrows, and finches. Photo Credit: Lisa Mease/DWR

The first trail below the bluff parallels a flowing seep that is home to the seepage dancer, a spotted, small, black and blue damselfly of the Eastern Seaboard. The seepage dancer shares this habitat with several other species of dragonflies. Butterflies are also plentiful along the trail due to the weeds and wildflowers growing along the seep.

The trails continue through open oak groves that throng with northern flickers, blue jays, northern cardinals, and other passerines. The bluff is an excellent spot from which to look down on swallows foraging over the oak woodlands, and it can also provide some opportunities to view raptors. The very lucky visitor might spot one of the Riverfront Plaza building’s peregrine falcons out hunting.