The John Denver Sanctuary is nestled in the heart of Aspen, next to the Rio Grande Park. The manmade wet-lands and winding streams work as an innovative storm water filter system, cleaning water before it drains into the Roaring Fork River. The City of Aspen transformed this small ditch, which used to flow through an under-ground pipe, into an environmental masterpiece. They sculpted thousands of cubic yards of earth, found and placed hundreds of boulders, planted groves of native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers and created wetlands, streams and waterfalls into this unique landscape which captures Aspen's beauty but also serves to continuously clean the community's storm water runoff.