Boulder County Public Lands & Trails

It's encouraging to recreational enthusiasts that more than 2/3 of the land in unincorporated Boulder County is in public ownership (more than 60% of all the county land). The multiplicity of our public land management agencies and the diversity of the various rules and regulations can lead to confusion. Hopefully the following discussion will help clear things up.

The federal government is the largest public land manager with more than 1/3 of the county under Forest Service, BLM, National Park Service, or Department of Commerce control. The Boulder County Parks and Open Space department and Boulder City Open Space and Mountain Parks department are the next largest public land agencies (managing, respectively, more than 16% and 10% of the county). Other, significantly smaller, public land managers include Denver, Boulder, and Longmont utility departments and Eldorado State Park. Each of the land management agencies operates with it's own set of objectives and rules (and within it's own political and budgetary constraints). The table below contains some specifics of agency properties and trails.

The Forest Service manages the largest amount of Boulder County public land and trails (137,000 acres and 136 miles of trails). 80% of the Forest Service acreage is National Forest. The remaining 20% is the Indian Peaks Wilderness. Trail regulations for these areas are quite different. Hikers, equestrians, bikers, and dogs off leash (but under control) are all allowed in most of the National Forest. In the Wilderness bikes are banned and dogs must be on leash. There are also more than 150 miles of Forest Service and County 4-wheel drive and unmaintained dirt roads that are open to recreational use (including motorized users).

In general, the Forest Service is supportive of recreational activities. Unfortunately, major congressional budget cuts throughout the '90s have made it extremely difficult for the Forest Service to manage the existing network, much less construct new trails. The Forest Service has not been able to fund a regular trail crew since 1989 and relies heavily on volunteers (and the occasional hired contractor) for maintenance and repair. New construction is complicated by a bewildering array of federal rules and regulations requiring extensive, expensive studies and evaluations before any new actions can be taken.

Bureau of Land Management

The BLM is in the process of transferring all it's property (about 5,000 acres) in Boulder County to other agencies or to private owners. The Forest Service, Boulder County Parks and Open Space, Ward, and Gold Hill are the primary public applicants for BLM properties.

National Park Service

There is a significant portion of Rocky Mountain National Park in Boulder County (over 27,000 acres and almost 30 miles of trails). The park bans bikes and dogs and limits equestrian use of some trails. Like the Forest Service the Park Service has major budget and regulatory constraints and is struggling to maintain the existing facilities.

The Boulder County Parks and Open Space department is the second largest and fastest growing of the land management agencies (presently controlling about 77,500 acres and 81 miles of trails). Much of the land has been acquired and many of the trails have been built in the last decade. The majority of the County's trails are open to hikers, equestrians, bikers (on designated trails), and dogs on leash. A few properties are closed to dogs (the Hall Ranch and Heil Valley Ranch, aka the North Foothills Open Space) and a few trails are closed to bikes (primarily at the Hall Ranch).

The County has been seeking to find balances between different Open Space uses. Thus many agricultural properties are closed to the public and mixed-use properties (such as the Rock Creek Farm, the Hall Ranch, the Heil Valley Ranch, and Rabbit Mountain) combine recreational trail corridors with closed conservation areas. While closing some areas to the public, the County has also created more than 40 miles of new trails in the last ten years and is continuing an active trail construction program.

The Boulder City Open Space department and Boulder City Mountain Parks department were recently merged into one Open Space and Mountain Parks department (essentially under the previous Open Space organization). The resulting department is the third largest of the land management agencies (controlling 36,000 acres and 78 miles of trails on Open Space properties and about 6,500 acres and 52 miles of trails in Mountain Parks). The Open Space and Mountain Parks properties are open to hikers and equestrians. Dog are allowed off leash (under voice and sight control) on most of Mountain Parks and much of Open Space. Bikes are banned on all Mountain Parks and a majority of Open Space trails.

The primary focus of Open Space and Mountain Parks department is the preservation and restoration of the environmental qualities of the managed properties. The large number of recreational users on the mostly historical trail system presents major management difficulties. The properties are fenced and signed to aid in user control. Although the managed properties have more than doubled in the last ten years, only 6 miles of new trails have been constructed. Due to budget constraints and other priorities no new trail construction is presently planned. Future construction will probably focus of rerouting of existing trails and a few new connections.

Last Updated on 11/11/03