The Longmont area is a mecca for active sports enthusiasts of all sorts. For both the recreational and competitive athlete, the region boasts unsurpassed sporting opportunities. Longmont has a well-developed network of community, neighborhood and district parks and greenways, as well as a variety of award-winning golf courses, and a state-of-the-art recreation center, with a climbing wall. Residents engage in a variety of outdoor activities including hiking, biking, skiing and fishing.

Historically, Longmont has always been an attractive destination. In 1870, as the West was being settled, pioneering families from Chicago, Illinois, took their dreams and their household belongings to Colorado.

Initially, dubbed "The Chicago Colony," the town had been organized in 1870 by a group of investors in the Kansas-Pacific railroads. These investors encouraged settlement as a way to sell their land in Colorado. In late 1871, the settlers surveyed a one-square mile area along the St. Vrain River, and gave their home a title more appropriate to the surroundings: "Longmont," after Long's Peak, the mountain that dominates the western horizon. Now as you stroll the tree-lined streets of Longmont, you may be saying hello to one of their descendants. Then you will understand why Longmont remains the kind of place you don't want to leave behind.