Archives-Trails History

Nod from Boulder board blazes way for western connector trail to Joder Ranch

Nod from Boulder board blazes way for western connector trail to Joder Ranch By Alex Burness Camera Staff Writer Boulder’s Open Space Board of Trustees have given the nod to the construction of a trail connecting north Boulder to the Joder Ranch. At consecutive study sessions on Wednesday and Thursday, Boulder’s Open Space Board of Trustees sifted through close to 10 hours worth of details that they will use to inform a recommendation to the City Council in March about the North Trail Study Area Plan. Late Thursday night, a straw poll of board members suggested support for a plan that favors, among other things, the hotly debated construction of a trail on the west side of U.S. 36, connecting north Boulder to Joder Ranch. The plan, referred to as the North TSA, represents the ongoing development by Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks of a vision for a 7,700-acre portion of the city north of Linden Avenue and northwest of the Diagonal Highway. OSMP’s trustees are tasked with directing a plan that improves experiences for hikers, bikers, equestrians and other visitors, while increasing the sustainability of trails and conserving natural resources. They are expected to offer guidance to the City Council on the North TSA March 9, in a conversation that will continue March 10 if necessary. Between now and then, OSMP staff will return to the drawing board to refine the plan supported by straw poll Thursday, but that takes into account a host of smaller recommendations made throughout the two-day session. The trustees […]

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Happy Trails – Devil’s Backbone

By Suzanne Webel One of the newest and most exciting properties of the Larimer County Parks and Open Lands system opened to the equestrian public during the spring of 2002: the Devil’s Backbone. Although the trail within the park is only about 3.5 miles long, the scenery is forever. It’s absolutely worth the drive. Take Highway 34 west of Loveland. About four and a half miles west of Hwy 287, turn right at the sign for this park. (The former access, from Wild Lane just past the convenience store, has been eliminated). Restroom facilities and water (a drinking fountain and a hydrant for horse water buckets) are available here. The horse trail leads from the southwest corner of the trailer parking area (P-1) around a small meadow and then to the main trail. The trail will then cross the Louden Ditch, a large old irrigation canal built in 1878 to irrigate 12,000 acres of fields including a large hops farm. Other cultural features include several gypsum quarries, a plaster mill, and kilns in which fire clay was made into bricks. The trail passes gracefully from an easement across private lands to the public property at the south end of the cliffs. The Devil’s Backbone itself is a nearly vertical outcrop of 100 million year old Cretaceous Dakota Sandstone. Other, older rock units in the park include the Triassic Lykins Formation (red siltstone, pink limestone and white gypsum) and the Jurassic Morrison Formation (dinosaur-bearing mudstones). During the gypsum mining process several Cenozoic (much younger) mammal fossils were

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Happy Trails – Jack’s Gulch

By Suzanne Webel Having looked for some time for a campground designed for horses in the Roosevelt National Forest, I was rewarded to find a great one up north: Jacks Gulch.  There are five clean camp-sites in the horse loop, each with a pull-through to park your trailer, a picnic table, a flat space for your tent, and four pipe corrals for your horses.  Water and clean restrooms are nearby.  The cost is $31 per equestrian site at the time of this writing — per night, reservations accepted for two equestrian sites recreation.gov, 1-877-444-6777, additional fees and discounts may apply, after that it’s first-come, first-served.  We went during the week and had no problem getting a site; weekends might be a challenge. The campground is open from approximately May 26-November 6. Only certified weed-free hay is allowed (a list of certified hay producers is available from the CO Department of Agriculture). Dispersed camping with horses is also possible. From Longmont plan on taking two hours to reach the campground.  Travel 10 miles northwest of Ft. Collins on US Highway 287 to the junction of CO 14, at Ted’s Place. Proceed west 26 miles to the Pingree Park Rd (CR63E). Turn left and proceed another 6 miles (in first gear in many places) to the turnoff to Jacks Gulch. The horse-camping loop will be on your right, with other campgrounds to your left. After setting up camp, you can ride some old 4WD roads east of 63E, with lots of camp sites for, and heavy use by, four

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Happy Trails: Eagle’s Nest Open Space

By Suzanne Webel Imagine, if you can, an enormous new open space property… one at the scenic junction between mountains and plains, with a river running through it… one that contains a variety of wildlife including nesting golden eagles and Preble’s Meadow Jumping mice… one that was purchased in 2001 and opened to the public less than four years later, with more than five miles of new trails… one whose managers solicited equestrian expertise before building the trail system… one whose managers are carefully protecting wildlife habitat while simultaneously welcoming the public to experience its wonders. Yep, it’s probably hard for Boulder County residents to imagine, because things just don’t ever seem to play out that way in the People’s Republic. Indeed, most of our recent public land acquisitions are squirreled away quietly or were never intended for public access in the first place. Elsewhere, of course, public land managers have figured out how to balance preservation and recreation without subjecting the matter to endless and acrimonious debate, and they believe that the public is entitled to reasonable access to the lands it purchased. So, yep, you guessed it –you’ll have to head on up north of the border into Larimer County west of Ft. Collins to experience their latest sensation, the Eagle’s Nest Open Space. Proceed northwest through Ft. Collins on Hwy 287 to Livermore. Turn west on the Red Feathers Lakes Road (CR 74E), 0.3 mi to the Eagle’s Nest entrance road (after the fire station). The trailhead is about a mile down the

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French Creek Horse Camp: Custer South Dakota

If you have never been, this horse-only campground in Custer South Dakota is a must. A group of us reserved space at this stunning campground in 2014, and had to reschedule last year (VS outbreak) to go in 2015. Yes that’s right, if you want a space for your rig and/or a small cabin with bunks you need to think ahead at this lovely campground. You can arrive into the campground from two directions, and it is about a 6 hour drive from Boulder County. We headed up I-25 to Lusk and then North to South Dakota— it’s a pretty easy haul. Having had a late start we came in at dark. Winding through Custer State Park we passed a couple of buffalo off to the side of the road—they a big fellas. The stone work on the winding bridge roads is magical. We arrived at the campground around 9 PM got the horses quickly settled and tucked ourselves in, all excited about the next days adventure. French Creek is one of the loveliest places I have camped with horses. There is power to all sites, vaulted toilets throughout the camp, and one of the cleanest bath houses I have ever been in. Horses have pen groups placed near the rig sites and how easy is this—shovel your manure out the back side and they come by with a backhoe and place the manure in a large disposal carrier. Weed free hay is required and a water trolley is a good idea for moving water from the spigots or your trailer.

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Happy Trails – Gordon Gulch

By Suzanne Webel Here’s another “diamond in the rough” – a series of elegant stacked-loop trails in Roosevelt National Forest just north of Nederland. The reason I say it’s “rough” is that a bulldozer had coincidentally just preceded us, grading the old roads and clearing trees, to make this trail system work. When the dust settles it will be a spectacular place to ride! Even now, the trails and roads can be combined to make several loops, and they connect all the way up to the Switzerland Trail system. Some day, we might even be able to get from Gordon Gulch across the Peak-to-Peak Highway and onto the northern portion of Caribou Ranch. Park at the newly-renovated Gordon Gulch Trailhead (P-1), about 4.7 miles north of Nederland. There is room for several trailers here, with a kiosk that has a map showing designated campsites. There are more campsites than I can show on the trail log map, and some of them could be fine equestrian camping opportunities, but there is no water or other amenities so plan on bringing in everything you might need. Do not try to park at other access points to this trail system such as at Sugarloaf Rd or at Sunset – there just isn’t room, and please respect private property. From P-1, proceed along FS 226 for a short distance, then take the first right – on 314E. This old road makes a long descent through the piney woods. A short distance after the road enters a meadow, look left for

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Mt. Shavano and Raspberry Gulch

There are so many wonderful areas to ride here in the Salida area and we have been blessed with some outstanding local guides to show us around. This trip has been truly amazing. On Thursday we rode with a charming local gal, Kate and her wonderful mule on Friday. Kate showed us the Raspberry Gulch area and later on in the trip the Mt. Shavano area with her friend Elise. Raspberry Gulch is located in the foothills of Mt. Antero and Mt. Princeton. The terrain includes pine, piñon and meadows filled with wildflowers, simply breathtaking. On Friday Cheri arranged for us to accompany a local foxhound group. I have never been around foxhounds so I was really thrilled to have this experience and meet other local riders. We met in an area near Mt. Shavano, unloaded and tacked up. The hounds arrived soon after in the back of a horse trailer, they were radio-collared and released as we rode out. There were 17 foxhounds (two wanna-bees), the Master, three Whips and a Drag Rider. The hunt master let the dogs take care of their business and sniff around. Then they were gathered into a fairly tight back and any stragglers rounded up, it reminded me a bit of rounding up cattle. There were thoroughbreds and Irish warmblood crosses along with our Arabians, Azteca, and Quarter horse. Our position was at the end of the group. Mt. Shavano rose above us, and the sky was clear blue as we trotted across wildflower meadows and down dirt two tracks. We later meandered through aspens forests and rested with  the hounds as the horses sipped clear

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Half Finished: 24 New Equestrian Jumps in Place, Course Open to Public

Lory State Park is a great destination for trail riding, jumping or hiking. Plan a visit and have some fun! Plus…mark your calendars, the grand reopening and official dedication of the course is now scheduled for Saturday, September 19, 2015! I hope you will make plans to attend and ride with your equine friends! LindaP By Mick Syzek, Volunteer Coordinator In January of 2014, the Friends of Lory State Park with Lory Park staff and volunteers began to rebuild the more than 50 wooden equestrian jumps in the South Valley Loop area of the Park that were destroyed by the Galena Fire of March 15, 2013. Equestrians are already taking advantage of the new jumps! The Foundation for Colorado State Parks bestowed grant funds of $8,000 towards the reconstruction efforts. This allowed the Park to hire James Atkinson out of San Diego, a course designer and equestrian jumps builder with international experience, to help us construct portable replacement jumps according to specifications from the United States Eventing Association (USEA). Lory State Park was able to purchase finished and raw log lumber material from insurance monies received as a result of the fire. James and NOCO local Dan Michaels led several workshops throughout the year, culminating in placing the last of 24 finished jumps onto the field course in late August 2014. Volunteers organized and scheduled by the Friends of Lory State Park devoted many afternoons and weekends to construct, assemble, stain the jumps, help place them in the field, and weed-whack the approaches to the jumps. Key Volunteer Glen Akins kept track of

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Bobcat Ridge: A lovely place to ride

Now that Spring has sprung I have made it my goal to explore more trails outside of Boulder County. I have to say Larimer County Open Space is doing a much better job then Boulder County with their trailheads and trails that are horse-friendly. Not only do they provide adequate parking for horse trailers, but some locations have water spigots (wow), along with very nice mounting areas and even a ramp for handicapped riders. This past Sunday we joined some Larimer County friends and rode Bobcat Ridge, about 45 minutes to 1 hour from the Boulder area. This trailhead is located just North of Highway 34, look for the sign that says Masonville and make a right. The trail head is about 5 miles further down a lovely rural, paved road. Note: they have a wildlife web cam on line too! There are lots of loops on this system, very nice footing, bathrooms (one even midway down the trail), a spring on one of the loops, and beautiful views with red rock cliffs. I hope you can make it part of your 2015 plan to visit more then Boulder has to offer this year. Visit our neighbors Larimer and Jefferson County Open Spaces and tell Boulder County what you think! Linda P

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Local Winter Rides

Winter is here in Boulder, Colorado and I find myself a bit off my usual schedule—riding after work (darn that daylight savings time) is down, and weekend trailering to local trailheads too. I just pulled my front shoes to give Nico’s feet a break. I think it is important for the hoof to make contact with the earth for a few months, so this is the time I do that too. As my body grows a bit stiffer, I stay on my Pilates schedule to keep my lower back moving, my inner thighs in shape and my body flexible. I also like to experience other fun winter activities like Nordic Skiing, Alpine and snowshoeing in these winter months. The woods are filled with so much magic all season long…I hope to see you out there soon! Here is a list of some of my favorite local winter rides: Heatherwood: The trailhead is accessible in from the Heatherwood neighborhood off 75th Street in Gunbarrel. Most users of this trail system access the trails from Valmont or Arapahoe, but I love the convenience of the wide street for parking and less bikes from this Northwest access point. The soft footing does not require hoof protection, and the grasslands and undulating terrain allows you to get in a few good gallops and also work your horses hind end climbing up and down the small canyons. There are no bathrooms here, you can find one at the Arapahoe trailhead, and no water sources. Also as a courtesy to the neighbors

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