Front Range Trail Changes

Sombrero Mars

As hundreds of thousands of people hike the trails of the Front Range; they enjoy the access, the natural beauty of the mountains west of Boulder County. The public may not know that changes are in the wind in regards to these trails. 

Who Is the CCG?
18 months ago a study was commissioned by the Community Collaborative Group (CCG) to evaluate the expansion of the trails of western Boulder County. The result was the West Trail Study Area (TSA). The report is finished and is in the public meeting phase. The CCG is a 15-person volunteer organization tasked with researching and presenting this information to the public. Each volunteer represents a different faction in the outdoor world; there is Peter Bakwin who represents equestrians and trail runners and Karen Hollweg who is a representative of the conservationalists. For a complete list of trustees and their roles, visit the OSMP TSA page.

The Feb. 10 meeting was the second meeting in two days; the first was on Feb 9 2011. The second meeting was open to the public, but no comments from the public. This meeting was an open discussion between the trustees of issues about the report, this provided transparency to the public and demonstrated the thought processes involved in the writing of the report. The meeting was held at the Boulder East Country Recreation Center at 5600 Sioux Drive, Boulder, Colo. The meeting was attended by 40 people (not including the trustees), and was presided over by Patricia Billig.

The Night's Agenda

Phoca

As Billig started reading the night’s agenda, the most important points were the cost of upgrading trails, closing historic trails, and the inclusion of mountain bikes on the trails. The trail upgrades were general about widening the trails, expanding parking access or having people ride their bikes to the trailheads and hiking from there. The most interesting topic on the agenda was the addition of mountain bikers to trails. Mountain bikes have been banned on a majority of trails in the area since 1987. The two main reasons they have been banned is because of bad interactions between bikers and hikers and the environmental impact. These bad interactions range from not enough space on a given trail or bikers not controlling their bikes on the trails.

Meeting Keith Jimmerson
I talked with one of the audience members, and his name is Keith Jimmerson. He was in attendance as a representative of Save Open Space Boulder (SOS Boulder), and they are opposed to the inclusion of mountain bikes on the trails. He has lived in Boulder and hiked these trails since 1977, and believes the beauty and tranquility would be spoiled. SOS Boulder is not the only group opposed to this proposal, The Board of Directors of the Colorado Chautaugua Association and the Sierra Club are also against mountain bikes on these trails.

I did write the Boulder Mountain Bike Alliance to get their opinion about the proposal; there has been no response as of this time. The meeting concluded after this discussion, with another meeting to be schedule after 16 of Feb.