Why visit Laporte
Townapedia lists 3 museums and landmarks, 5 parks and trails, 4 places to eat, 1 place to stay and 3 attractions in and around town.
Highlights include Goat Hill, Pleasant Valley School and Fort Collins Municipal Railway Birney Safety Streetcar No. 21.
Weather in Laporte
Forecast from the National Weather Service. Full forecast
About Laporte
Laporte (originally spelled La Porte and alternatively spelled LaPorte) is an unincorporated town, a post office, and a census-designated place (CDP) located in and governed by Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The CDP is a part of the Fort Collins, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Laporte post office has the ZIP Code 80535. At the United States Census 2020, the population of the Laporte CDP was 2,409.
From the Wikipedia article Laporte, Colorado (this version), under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Things to do3
Museums and landmarks3
Pleasant Valley School
Monument and historic site · National Register of Historic Places · 2.3 mi
Listed on the NRHP in Bellvue, Colorado, United States
Fort Collins Municipal Railway Birney Safety Streetcar No. 21
Monument and historic site · National Register of Historic Places · 4.0 mi
Parks, trails and playgrounds5
Restaurants and cafes4
Howling Cow Cafe
Cafe · Yogurt, Bagel, Sandwich, Coffee Shop · 2.2 mi
5821 West County Road 54E, Bellvue
Mo 07:00-16:00; Tu-Su 07:00-18:00
Vern's Place
Diner · American · 0.7 mi
4120 County Road 54G, LaPorte
History
The town was first settled by French-Canadian fur trappers and mountain men. It was the gateway to all the mountainous region lying north of the South Platte River and extending from the Plains to the Continental Divide. The trappers built cabins here along the Cache la Poudre River as early as 1828, making it the first settlement in Larimer County. According to legend, a group of fur traders had earlier stashed supplies (including gunpowder) in a cache along the river near Laporte, and that is how the river got its name. It became the home of Antoine Janis in 1844, who is often noted as the first permanent settler north of the Arkansas River. A band of mountaineers, hunters and trappers made Laporte their headquarters for fur catching and trading operations. The settlement increased in numbers, including 150 lodges of Arapaho Indians who settled peacefully along the river and in the valley. The town was named by the fur trappers, many with Native American wives, who settled in the area in the mid-19th century. The name la porte means "the door" in French.
From the History section of Laporte, Colorado on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where to stay1
Churches and places of worship2
LaPorte Presbyterian Church
Church · Presbyterian · 0.6 mi
3820 County Road 54G, LaPorte
Shopping1
Gas and EV charging1
Schools, colleges and libraries16
Harris Bilingual Elementary School
School · 5.9 mi
501 East Elizabeth, Fort Collins
Polaris Expeditionary Learning School
School · 4.5 mi
1905 Orchard Place, Fort Collins
Map of Laporte
36 places. The map loads OpenStreetMap tiles when you open it.
People and cost of living
American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020-2024, U.S. Census Bureau. Estimates have margins of error, larger for small towns.
Disaster history
Larimer County has had 23 federal disaster declarations since 2000, most often for fires.
- 2024-07-31: Stone Mountain Fire (Fire)
- 2024-07-31: Alexander Mountain Fire (Fire)
- 2021-01-15: Wildfires (Fire)
- 2020-09-06: Cameron Peak Fire (Fire)
- 2020-03-28: Covid-19 Pandemic (Biological)
- 2020-03-13: Covid-19 (Biological)
OpenFEMA disaster declarations summaries.
Getting there and nearby towns
Northern Colorado Regional Airport (FNL) is the nearest airport with scheduled flights listed in OpenStreetMap, 15 miles away.
- Fort Collins 7 mi southeast, about 12 min by car
- Wellington 8 mi northeast, about 13 min by car
- Loveland 16 mi south, about 26 min by car
- Windsor 16 mi southeast, about 26 min by car
- Severance 17 mi southeast, about 28 min by car
- Ault 21 mi east, about 35 min by car
- Eaton 24 mi east, about 38 min by car
- Greeley 25 mi southeast, about 40 min by car
- Johnstown 26 mi southeast, about 42 min by car
- Berthoud 26 mi south, about 42 min by car
Drive times are estimates from straight-line distance, not routes.
Local news
Headlines from INDB, the NEMICO news database.
Reviews, tips and questions
Loading what members have shared...
Sources and licences
- NCES EDGE (Public domain): public schools
- OpenFEMA (Public domain): disaster declarations
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0): places, airports, map data
- U.S. Census Bureau (Public domain): population, income, housing, education, commute
- Wikidata (CC0 1.0): elevation, founding date, time zone, website, landmarks and historic places
- Wikimedia Commons (see each image): photos
- Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0): overview and history text
Photo credits
- La Porte, Colorado, looking westward, Decumanus at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Cache la Poudre at Lions Park - Poudre River Trail, Laporte, Colorado, USA - panoramio, Walter Powers, CC BY 3.0
- FortCollinsBirney streetcar MountainAve, cropped, Steve Morgan, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Provost Homestead-Herring Farm Rural Historic Landscape, Chris Whitted, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Bingham Farm & Pleasant Valley, Ron Sladek, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Jacob & Elizabeth Flowers House, Chris Whitted, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Evening Storm (Powerlines) - Fort Collins, Colorado - Flickr - gregor y, Greg Younger from Parker, Colorado, USA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Farmland in Fort Collins Colorado, Tony Webster, CC BY 2.0
- Barn with a Broad Side - panoramio, Walter Powers, CC BY 3.0
- Goat Hill (Larimer County, Colorado), Jeffrey Beall, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Firefighters at High Park Wildfire June 10, 2012, U.S. Forest Service, Public domain
- Historic Pleasant Valley School, ForgottenColorado, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Pleasant Valley School, Bellvue, CO, 25or6to4, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Echinocereus viridiflorus viridiflorus 8, marek, CC0
- Larimer County, Colorado - panoramio, Walter Powers, CC BY 3.0
_-_Fort_Collins,_Colorado_-_Flickr_-_gregor_y.jpg){kind=link}
.JPG){kind=link}
Page built October 30, 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us or suggest a place.