Welcome back, TundraCam

tundracam
Wednesday, 9 pm. Looking north, Longs Peak is just visible on the far right, beside the zoom slider.

My favorite webcam for a very long time has been the remotely controllable TundraCam run by several research groups at the University of Colorado. It’s located 17 miles west of Boulder at a research station (elev. 11,600 ft) on Niwot Ridge. I’ve watched many a sunset and thunderstorm with the cam, not to mention hikers passing through the area, wildlife browsing, wildflowers nodding, etc.

Over the years the webcam has been available intermittently, often shut down by winter weather or factors I could not fathom. It’s been several years since I last found it operable or even thought to look for it. But thanks to a search term I saw in my stats (somebody looking for it), I just discovered it’s up again.

Check out the TundraCam. It pans, zooms, tilts, and expands to full-screen size, and the view will only get more interesting as summer progresses. Click “control now” in the lower right corner to activate the controls, which are rather clumsy and slow to respond. I find it easier to just double click the screen where I want the camera to point.

tundracamboulder
Looking east at 9 pm, one can see the lights of the Boulder-Denver metroplex. The camera stays on at night and you can see the lights if you pan to the right place. Note the position of the top slider.

11 thoughts on “Welcome back, TundraCam

    1. It really is, isn’t it? What will really cap the experience is the day you watch some hikers make their way across the meadow, stopping to point at things, or chat, or have a snack, up there at almost 12,000 feet …

... and that's my two cents