Erie

Last checked: August 8, 2026

Erie has three things worth driving from Boulder for, and they're properly good: free balloons in July, free flights for children at the airport, and purpose-built singletrack. They're first on this page. The rest of what Erie has is decent neighborhood infrastructure, genuinely useful if you live nearby and not worth the drive, and we'd rather tell you that than pad the list and waste your Saturday.

The three reasons to actually come

The Erie Balloon Festival, and it's free

Completely free, including parking and a free shuttle. A mass hot air balloon ascension in the early morning, a Saturday night balloon glow where grounded balloons are lit after dark, a paramotor display, walk-through balloons and tether rides. The 2026 edition ran July 10 to 12, and there was independent news photography of it the day after, so this isn't a website that has been left up. No pets on the launch field, and the whole thing is weather-dependent.

Free flights for kids at the airport

The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) runs Young Eagles, which gives free introductory flights to children aged 8 to 17, flown by volunteer pilots out of Erie Municipal Airport, once a month from March to October. Remaining 2026 dates were August 15, September 19 and October 17. Registration is required, online, and slots fill within days with waitlists. This is the best thing on this page, and it stays surprisingly under the radar.

The Erie Singletrack at Sunset Open Space

Just over three miles of purpose-built mountain bike singletrack across green, blue and black grades, with rollers, jumps and tabletops, on 49.5 acres. Free. Class 1 and 2 e-bikes are allowed, class 3 aren't. Dogs on leash. The clay soil means trails can look dry and still be closed, closures are posted and enforced with fines, so check before you drive.

Erie Lake isn't itself right now

The town's own notice, dated July 24, 2026, is blunt about it. The lake is down to about three feet of water after drought plus a dam leak repair. The Highway 287 entrance and its parking lot are permanently closed. The pedestrian path reopened on July 25 after construction, but additional parking wasn't expected until late August, and in the meantime visitors are asked to park in the neighborhood. Anglers are being asked to hold off entirely while the lake refills, likely through the rest of 2026, to protect the fish.

Plenty of older roundups list Erie Lake as a normal fishing and walking spot. That's exactly the kind of stale listing this site exists to catch.

Old Town, with a caveat

The original coal-town main street runs along Briggs Street, now a few blocks of brick storefronts with restaurants and a brewery. Free to walk. Businesses the town itself confirms are open include Echo Brewing at 600 to 620 Briggs, Piripi at 615 Briggs, Birdhouse at 526 Briggs, and the Erie Social Club at 105 Wells. The Old Mine, a cider and pizza pub in a former mercantile building at 500 Briggs, has been running since 2013.

⚠️ Briggs Street is under active construction. The town has a streetscape and infrastructure project running and asks for patience on its own project page. Worth checking before you plan a pleasant afternoon wandering a historic street.

Free, and useful if you're nearby

Coal Creek Park at 575 Kattell Street has a custom butterfly-shaped playground built as a memorial, a seasonal splash pad free to use from Memorial Day weekend to late September, a seasonal ice rink and trails. The Coal Creek Trail runs 14 miles from Superior through Louisville and Lafayette to Erie, free, dogs on leash. Thomas Reservoir at 2000 N 119th Street has a 0.8 mile loop and fishing with a state licence, though no swimming or boats, since it's drinking water. There's a free 18-hole disc golf course next to Coal Creek Open Space, currently with changes in progress on two holes.

The Erie Community Library at 400 Powers Street is free to use and has a makerspace with laser cutting, sewing and 3D printing. Note it's run by the High Plains Library District rather than the town.

The rec center, and the visitor premium

The Erie Community Center at 450 Powers Street has an indoor pool with a lazy river, a hot tub and a two-story slide, a full gym, racquetball, and an indoor playground. Residency here means paying an Erie water bill or property tax, so a Boulder reader pays the standard column.

• Adult day pass $6 resident, $7 standard
• Youth or 60-plus $4 resident, $5 standard
• Family day pass $15 resident, $20 standard
• Annual adult $384 resident, $480 standard, which is where the gap really shows

A day pass gap of a dollar is nothing. An annual gap of nearly a hundred is the number that matters, and only if you were somehow considering an annual membership in a town you don't live in.

History, if you're the sort

Erie was founded on coal: the Briggs Mine opened in the early 1870s and the town incorporated in 1874. The Old Town streets are named after early residents. The Wise Homestead Museum at 11611 Jasper Road is an 1869 farmhouse, one of the oldest frame houses in Boulder County, run by volunteers, open Saturdays in summer and otherwise by appointment on 303-828-4568. We couldn't confirm whether it charges. It's very likely free or donation-based, but likely isn't confirmed, so ask.

The town fair

The Erie Town Fair ran its 29th year in 2026, on Saturday May 16, with craft and food vendors in Old Town, kids' activities and music at Coal Creek Park, a car show and a beer garden. No admission fee is stated by the organizers. A free shuttle runs so you don't have to fight for parking.

What we couldn't confirm

The Wise Homestead's admission. The exact price of a discovery flight with Vector Air, the flight school at the airport, which describes the flight (a briefing plus about thirty minutes in a Cessna 172 with you in the pilot's seat) without publishing a figure; a directory quotes $99 but that isn't theirs, so call 303-664-0633. Current addresses and status for a couple of the Old Town breweries. And when Erie Lake will actually refill.

One thing that isn't a visitor attraction, despite the name: the Erie Air Park is a private residential fly-in neighborhood with homes and hangars, not somewhere you can go. It explains why a town this size has such a strong aviation streak.

Live in Erie and think we've been unfair? Tell us. We would genuinely rather add something real than pad the list.