Happy Trails – Doudy Draw
By Suzanne Webel They did it! They finally did it! Thanks, Open Space and Mountain Parks! Lest anyone think that the only news I ever report is bad news, here’s some great news: the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks has just expanded, and reopened, both trailheads at Doudy Draw and Flatirons Vista – and they now contain designated horse trailer parking. Ta da! These parking areas are the result of many years of patient (and sometimes not-so-patient) negotiating with OSMP over equestrian access to some of our favorite habitat: the Eldorado Mountain/Doudy Draw area south of Boulder. This area has provided, for me, countless hours of wonderful riding both on the existing trails and off them. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the solitary experience of exploring the old haunts of miners and ranchers, railroad workers and road builders, dinosaurs and bears. Like almost everything else, the world at Doudy Draw has changed. Gone is the old trail at the bottom of the valley – too close to the babbling brook, too close to the bushes where a variety of birds chirp merrily year round – gotta protect some bushes and some birds. Gone is the fun access to the Lindsay Pond, the old railroad watering hole where our horses could get a much-needed drink – gotta protect some frogs. Gone is the privilege of riding off-trail through meadows and woods on Spring Brook Mesa, Bull Gulch, and the Sound of Music Saddle – gotta protect, well, something up there. Gone is the old bridge across […]
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