Archives-Trails History

By Suzanne Webel This trail had been on my bucket list, for just about ever. It was reported to be enormous and gorgeous, with dinosaur tracks, prehistoric rock art, a Spanish Mission, and a historic ranch….. But it was always a bit too far, too remote, and too … well, just too unknowable. And then there was the small matter of the US Army declaring it wanted to expand its Fort Carson Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site (PCMS) by taking over the entire 400,000 acre Comanche National Grassland — including Picketwire Canyon — and turning it into a bombing range. Starting in 2003, the plan would have condemned an additional 6.4 million acres of land owned by private citizens, making the total project area three times larger than any other military base in the United States, larger in area than the states of Maryland and Massachusetts combined, and displacing more than 17,000 residents. Sight unseen, I figured that was a pretty bad idea, so I joined up with other trail advocates, geologists, archaeologists, and ranchers to oppose the Army’s expansion plans. After a decade of pitched political battles, on 25 November 2013 the U.S. Army announced that its plan to expand the Piñon Canyon Maneuver site had been cancelled. So, naturally, by early spring of 2014 I had organized an equestrian expedition to check it all out. Warnings: Picketwire is a very long drive from Boulder County, approximately 5 hours. The area is next to a bombing range There is no designated horse camping and no water […]

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

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