The curious Elf Lane – Gnome Road in Red Feather Lakes, Colorado~

In the area of Red Feather Lakes, Colorado there is a dirt road where, if you pay close attention to the bushes and trees, you will find that you are surrounded magical woodland creatures. Or, at least their kitschy thrift store equivalent.
The wilderness of the mountain trail in the quaint village of Red Feather Lakes is the true draw in the area, but it seems that some locals have added an attraction of their own.
Known alternately as Gnome Road or Elf Lane, depending on which handmade road sign you end up seeing first, the dirt lane is flanked by little toys in the scrub on either side. Hikers wandering or cars cruising the scenic path will find ceramic elves and gnomes as well as faces among the trees, boulders and bushes, but also trolls in mushroom caps, chintzy plastic figures that climb the trees, and little fairy doors built into the sides of the trunks.
In addition to gnoms and elves, its seems that the wilderness has also become a sort of home for any type of smiling, homeless toy like Spongebob Squarepants, a pink flamingo or fake spiders lurking in the woods.
The trail is a quarter-mile long between Lake Hiawatha and Lake Apache and holds a number of semi-hidden creatures that seem as though they may have simply been left on the wayside by a naughty child, even though the Elf Road sign warns, “ PLEASE do not take us, break us, or relocate us as we live here on ELF Lane to watch over children and all the little animals.”

Author’s note: Red Feather Lakes is also home of the Shambhala Mountain Center, a Buddhist retreat with the Great Stupa of Dharmakaya, an ornate Buddhist commemorative monument housing sacred relics associated with the Buddha.

Images from web