Hey neighbors,

I'm writing this with my windows open in early April, which still feels wrong. Denver hit 87 degrees on March 25 (an all-time March record) and we strung together four straight days of 80+ for the first time ever recorded. My lawn is confused. I'm confused. But here we are.

Welcome to the very first issue of the Hogback Post. More on what this thing is at the bottom. First, let's get into it.

It's Easter weekend, and there's no shortage of egg hunts around 80127. Here's what I've found:

Jared's Nursery 19th Annual Easter Egg Hunt (Saturday April 4, 10 AM, Jared's Nursery Gift & Garden Center, Littleton). This one's a neighborhood institution. Get there early. It gets packed.

Roxborough Easter Egg Hunt, 4th Annual (Saturday April 4, 11 AM, Roxborough Softball Field). Great option if you're on the south end.

Ascension Lutheran Church Easter Egg Hunt (Saturday April 4, 10 AM to 12 PM, 1701 W Caley Ave). For ages 2 through 2nd grade. Two hours of egg hunting plus activities.

Egg Hunt + Games + Breakfast Burritos (Saturday April 4, 10 AM, 4997 S Miller Way). Had me at breakfast burritos.

Breckenridge Brewery Farm House Easter Egg Hunt (Sunday April 5, 9:45 AM, Breckenridge Brewery, 2990 Brewery Ln, Littleton). Free. Close to 1,000 eggs hidden in the beer garden, sectioned by age group. Get in line early, it kicks off at 9:45 sharp and goes fast.

Grace Farm & Gardens Baby Bunny Photo Session & Adoption Event (April 4-5, gracefarm.co). Book a session with baby Lionhead and Holland Lop bunnies. Bunnies available to take home after 5 PM Easter Sunday. You don't have to adopt to do the photo session, but good luck saying no.

Not an egg hunt but free and worth knowing about: The Bemis Library Spring Fling Book Sale wraps up Saturday April 4. Fill a bag for $10 or grab individual books for $1. And the Foothills Art Market (Saturday April 11, 9 AM - 5 PM, Foothills Fieldhouse, 3606 S Independence St) has 100+ Colorado artisans, free admission.

Feed the City - Littleton (Saturday April 11, 8:15 AM, Chili's at 8454 S Kipling Pkwy). Bring supplies to make 25-30 lunches, pack them together, and they go out to people in need that same day. Runs every second Saturday. Kids welcome. Details and sign-up at tangocharities.org/feed-the-city-littleton.

Littleton is For Locavores (Friday April 25, downtown Littleton). Local makers, artisans, and builders showing off what they do. Still looking for a few more vendors. Contact juniperseedmercantile.com if that's you.

Always free: Littleton Museum (6028 S Gallup St) never charges admission and spring is baby animal season on the living history farms. Great for grandkids. Hudson Gardens (6115 S Santa Fe Dr) is 30 acres of gardens and trails along the South Platte, open dawn to dusk.

Also worth your time: The Wiz is running at Town Hall Arts Center through April 19. Tickets are $32. And if you need a midweek thing, Music Bingo at Denver Beer Company Littleton happens every Tuesday.

The big one: Costco, In-N-Out, and Portillo's are all targeting Mineral Ave.

The former Qwest campus at 700 W Mineral is becoming Mineral Place, a 45-acre mixed-use development with a 159,100 sq ft Costco (with a 32-pump gas station), 370 luxury apartments called "The Sullivan," and nine retail stores. Costco and the first residential units are projected to open later this year.

In-N-Out has filed plans for a 3,887 sq ft restaurant with a 30-car drive-thru queue at the corner of Mineral and Southpark Terrace. The pre-application is under review by city staff.

Portillo's is also officially planned for a different pad at Mineral and Elati, a 6,250 sq ft "Restaurant of the Future" with dual drive-thru lanes. The company slowed national expansion to eight openings in 2026, and the lot is still empty, so the timeline is fuzzy. But the project hasn't been scrapped.

If you've been driving to the Superior or Sheridan Costco, your days are numbered. And Costco, In-N-Out, and Portillo's all at the same intersection? The Mineral corridor is going to be a different animal traffic-wise. I'll be tracking this closely.

Also worth knowing: Cellar 36, a new Italian red sauce restaurant from the team behind Bistro 36 on Belleview, is opening soon in Littleton. And Ziggi's Coffee is under construction at 8020 Sangre De Cristo Rd with a summer opening.

New trail alert: (The trail previously mentioned here is for Ken Caryl residents only)

Mountain lion warning. Please read this. Jeffco Sheriff issued a warning after two confirmed and one suspected attack on pets near South Deer Creek Road and Pleasant Park Road since January. A mountain lion was also spotted in Ken Caryl guarding a deer carcass behind a home. Keep pets on leash. Don't hike alone at dawn or dusk. Be loud. Make yourself big. This is real, not the usual "be aware" boilerplate.

Spring conditions: Trails are drying out way faster than normal thanks to the low snowpack and record heat. Mud season was basically a long weekend. Most Ken Caryl and Deer Creek trails are in good shape. Enjoy it, but read the drought section below and think about what this means for summer.

Cycling season is here. High Line Canal Trail, Waterton Canyon, and C-470 Trail are all in good shape. For group rides, check out Littleton Social Cycle (casual Sunday rides from Sterne Park).

Denver Water declared Stage 1 drought restrictions on March 25, the first mandatory restrictions since 2013. Snowpack is at 38% of normal statewide, the worst in over 40 years. Here's what you need to know:

This isn't a suggestion. First violation gets a warning, second is a $250 fine, third is $500.

County Line Road is still closed for the 100-day widening project, but the end is near. The closure started January 6 and reopening is expected mid-April. Belleview and Bowles are your detour friends until then. The Santa Fe and Mineral intersection is also under active construction through 2027. Basically, avoid that whole quadrant if you can.

Front Range Passenger Rail got a little more real. Littleton City Council backed Mineral Station over the Downtown Littleton option ($13.75M vs $999M, not a typo). Initial service on the northern segment (Denver to Fort Collins) is targeted for 2029, with Mineral Station potentially coming online in the early 2030s. Still. Imagine hopping a train at Mineral to get to DIA or Fort Collins.

The 80127 market in one sentence: homes are moving fast. Median sale price is in the $685K-$710K range depending on the source. Homes are getting about 2 offers and selling in roughly two weeks. Prices are roughly flat year over year, with listing prices softening slightly while sale prices hold steady.

New construction: Toll Brothers is selling at Ken-Caryl Ranch (from mid-$700Ks, sales center at 7200 S Wright Way). They're calling it the "last opportunity to build" in the community. The 370 Mineral Place apartments won't deliver until fall.

You already know. Denver hit 87 on March 25, the hottest March day ever recorded. Four straight days above 80 in March has literally never happened.

NOAA's spring outlook: above-normal temps, below-normal precipitation through May. April is usually Colorado's second-snowiest month, but the top five least-snowy winters on record weren't bailed out by late-season storms. Keep your sprinklers off until mid-to-late May. When you do turn them on, Stage 1 rules apply (see above).

Why "Hogback Post"? If you've driven C-470 or hiked Dakota Ridge, you know the Dakota Hogback, that tilted ridge of red sandstone running along the foothills. Dinosaurs left footprints in it. You can see it from most of 80127. Felt like the right name.

I'm Joey. I live in 80127 and I started this because I was tired of piecing together neighborhood news from five Nextdoor threads, three Facebook groups, and a stack of HOA emails. It shouldn't be that hard to know what's going on where you live. The Hogback Post goes out every Friday morning.

What do you want covered? Just hit reply. I read every one.

Thanks for being here for Issue #1. Tell a neighbor.

Joey

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