40.471194, -104.935333
The Whitney ditch, constructed by Fred Whitney in 1862, was among the earliest irrigation ditches constructed on the Poudre River and has water right priority #7. The 8 mile long ditch irrigates about 2,500 acres of riverbottom farmland on the north side of the Poudre River near Windsor, Colorado. In 1940 there were about 25 farms irrigated from the Whitney ditch. As with most ditches on the Poudre river, the ditch is owned and maintained by a mutual ditch company composed of the water shareholders.
Fred Whitney was among the first settlers in the Windsor area. He partnered with George Briggs and Charles McKelvey to maintain the ditch and use its waters. George Briggs nicknamed the Whitney the “dead beat ditch” because water flowed through it so slowly that it took a long time to reach his farm at the lower end of the ditch.
Accessibility
View from trail.
Wayside Sign
View from Poudre Natural Area / Poudre Pooch Park in Windsor – access via parking area at 31723 Eastman Park Dr, go north to dog park, sign is where trail crosses the Whitney Ditch.
Sign GPS: 40°28’02.6″N 104°54’45.5″W
Directions
The closest Poudre Trail trailhead is located at 32554 CR 13, Windsor, CO. Park at the trailhead and walk .7 mile miles east to the view the Whitney Ditch headgate (which diverts water north of the river) which is upstream from the B.H. Eaton heagate that is adjacent to the trail (and diverts water south of the river). A Heritage Area wayside sign about the Whitney Ditch is located in Poudre Pooch Park off of Eastman Park Drive in Windsor.
