Tag
blm
41 Porch Notes tagged “blm,” from counties across Colorado.
Outdoors and wildfire - Chaffee County
Browns Canyon National Monument is public land with dirt-road access
Browns Canyon between Buena Vista and Salida is a national monument run by the BLM and Forest Service, with unpaved access roads and some seasonal closures.
Read note ->Home and property - Moffat County
In Moffat County, the map is mostly public land
A large share of Moffat County is federal and state land managed by agencies like the BLM, the Forest Service, and the National Park Service, which shapes what you can buy, build, and reach.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Hinsdale County
The Alpine Loop is public land, and camping rules vary along it
The Alpine Loop backcountry byway out of Lake City crosses BLM and Forest Service land, and camping rules differ by stretch and can change, so check current agency rules.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - San Miguel County
Around Telluride, dispersed camping has rules that change by agency
Public land near Telluride is managed by the Forest Service and BLM, and dispersed camping rules differ by unit, so 'camp anywhere' is not the rule.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Delta County
Delta County is ringed by public land, and the rules change with the unit
National forest and BLM lands, including a national conservation area, surround much of Delta County, with a national park nearby, and each manages camping and access under its own rules.
Read note ->History and culture - Montezuma County
Canyons of the Ancients protects a landscape full of ancient sites
West of Cortez, BLM-managed Canyons of the Ancients National Monument holds many archaeological sites, and visiting them comes with stewardship rules.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Moffat County
Sand Wash Basin is wild-horse country, and it has its own rules
West of Craig, the BLM manages the Sand Wash Basin as a wild horse area, which is public land for viewing and recreation but not a developed park.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Costilla County
Costilla County reaches from the Rio Grande to the Sangre de Cristo crest
Public land in Costilla County runs from valley floor near the Rio Grande up into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, managed mostly by the BLM and the Forest Service with their own access rules.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Rio Grande County
Penitente Canyon, just over the line in Saguache County, is BLM rock-climbing country
Penitente Canyon sits in Saguache County near La Garita, a short drive north of Rio Grande County's Del Norte and Monte Vista. It is a BLM recreation area known for sport climbing, mountain-bike singletrack, and volcanic rock, with its own public-land rules.
Read note ->Cars and driving - Fremont County
The Gold Belt Tour byway near Cañon City is part pavement, part old wagon and rail grade
The Gold Belt Tour National Scenic Byway loops north from the Cañon City area toward Cripple Creek over historic gravel routes, so parts of it are slow, narrow back roads rather than easy highway.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Montrose County
Montrose County has a lot of BLM land, but it comes with rules
Much of Montrose County's open country is BLM public land managed by the Uncompahgre Field Office, where seasonal closures and travel rules apply even though the land is public.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Dolores County
The Dolores River Canyon is public land with its own rules
Below McPhee Dam the Dolores River cuts a deep canyon on BLM-managed public land that includes a wilderness study area, and how you can use it is set by the agency, not by general access.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Montrose County
The Gunnison Gorge near Montrose is wild water reached on foot
North of Montrose, the BLM-managed Gunnison Gorge holds a wilderness and a Gold Medal trout river, reached by hiking in from Peach Valley Road trailheads.
Read note ->History and culture - Rio Blanco County
Canyon Pintado: a thousand years of rock art on the road to Rangely
A 16,000-acre stretch of public land along Highway 139 south of Rangely holds Fremont and Ute rock art panels, some close to a thousand years old, reachable from marked pull-offs.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Grand County
Gore Canyon and Pumphouse: pick the river stretch that fits you
Just southwest of Kremmling, the Colorado River runs two very different stretches—steep Class IV-V whitewater in Gore Canyon and mellow floats below at BLM's Pumphouse—so the trick is matching the water to your skill.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Gunnison County
Hartman Rocks is BLM land with free dispersed campsites and a spring closure
Hartman Rocks Recreation Area south of Gunnison is BLM land with trails and free first-come dispersed campsites, but part of it closes each spring for sage-grouse.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Alamosa County
Zapata Falls: a short hike, a rough road, and slick rocks
Zapata Falls is a waterfall tucked in the Sangre de Cristo foothills south of the Great Sand Dunes, reached by a rough gravel road and a short hike that ends with wading over slippery rocks.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Fremont County
Garden Park near Cañon City is public fossil land, not a free-for-all
The Garden Park Fossil Area north of Cañon City is federal public land with protections, so visiting it comes with rules about digging for and collecting fossils.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Hinsdale County
Handies, Redcloud and Sunshine sit on BLM high country south of Lake City
South of Lake City, several 14ers rise on land the Bureau of Land Management protects as wilderness study areas, including Handies Peak, often called the highest BLM-managed land outside Alaska.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Mesa County
McInnis Canyons and Black Ridge: BLM land with its own rules
The red-rock canyons west of Grand Junction are a BLM National Conservation Area, and the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness inside it limits land travel to foot and horseback.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Montezuma County
Phil's World and Boggy Draw are the county's big bike-trail systems
Montezuma County has two named mountain bike networks, Phil's World east of Cortez on BLM-managed and leased state trust land, and Boggy Draw on Forest Service land near Dolores, each with its own manager and rules.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Rio Blanco County
Rangely Rock Crawling Park is a natural slickrock playground
A few miles southwest of Rangely sits a BLM-designated natural rock-crawling park, free to enter and laid out in graded sections from easy to extreme.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Fremont County
Shelf Road north of Cañon City is a rock-climbing area on BLM land
The Shelf Road Recreation Area north of Cañon City is BLM public land known for sport climbing on limestone cliffs, with small campgrounds bookable through Recreation.gov and back-road access along the Gold Belt Tour byway.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Montrose County
The Uncompahgre Plateau is Montrose's big backyard, with travel rules
The Uncompahgre Plateau west of Montrose is mostly BLM and national forest land where dispersed camping and off-road travel follow designated-route rules, not 'drive and camp anywhere.'
Read note ->History and culture - San Juan County
Animas Forks is a real ghost town, kept by the BLM
Animas Forks above Silverton is a preserved mining ghost town on the Alpine Loop, managed by the Bureau of Land Management, where the standing buildings are protected and meant to be left as found.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Fremont County
Beaver Creek near Penrose is rugged canyon country with bighorn sheep
The Beaver Creek canyons northeast of Cañon City include a BLM wilderness study area and a state wildlife area near Penrose, with wildlife that includes Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep.
Read note ->Water and land - Moffat County
Irish Canyon: a short drive through deep time on the way to Browns Park
A narrow red, green, and gray canyon off Highway 318 packs layered rock and Fremont-era petroglyphs into one easy stop before Browns Park.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Saguache County
Penitente Canyon is a BLM rock-climbing and trail area west of La Garita
Penitente Canyon, west of La Garita in Saguache County, is a Bureau of Land Management recreation area known for sport climbing, singletrack trails, and a small reservable campground.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Garfield County
The Roan Plateau is the high wall of cliffs above Rifle and Parachute
The Roan Plateau and Roan Cliffs rise north of the Colorado River near Rifle and Parachute, a deeply cut BLM landscape with waterfalls, box canyons, and habitat for elk, deer, and native cutthroat trout.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Fremont County
Tunnel Drive Trail near Cañon City follows an old water pipeline through three blasted-rock tunnels
Tunnel Drive Trail is a gravel out-and-back west of Cañon City that runs along a retired irrigation pipeline bed through three granite tunnels above the Arkansas River.
Read note ->Water and land - Dolores County
Rafting the lower Dolores River depends on a short, flow-driven season
The whitewater run on the lower Dolores River below McPhee Dam only comes alive when enough water is released, so the boating season can be brief and unpredictable from year to year.
Read note ->History and culture - Saguache County
Penitente Canyon carries a name from valley religious history
The BLM-managed Penitente Canyon near La Garita is named for a Hispano Catholic brotherhood, and the surrounding area holds Indigenous rock art best treated with care.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Hinsdale County
The Powderhorn Wilderness protects a vast stretch of flat alpine tundra
Northeast of Lake City, the Powderhorn Wilderness spreads across the Cannibal and Calf Creek plateaus, holding one of the largest stretches of gentle alpine tundra in the Lower 48.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Mesa County
Rabbit Valley: real dinosaur bones you can visit, but not collect
Off I-70 near the Utah line, the Trail Through Time and Mygatt-Moore Quarry let you see Jurassic dinosaur fossils in place on BLM land, where collecting vertebrate fossils is prohibited.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Montrose County
The Dominguez-Escalante NCA carries the Gunnison River past Montrose
The lower Gunnison River north of Montrose runs through the BLM's Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area, a red-rock float and hiking area that spans Montrose, Delta, and Mesa counties.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Mesa County
Wild horses live in the Little Book Cliffs, northeast of Grand Junction
The Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range is BLM land a few miles from Grand Junction where free-roaming wild horses share canyon country with elk, deer, and bears.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Garfield County
Hubbard Mesa near Rifle is BLM land set aside for off-road riding
Hubbard Mesa just north of Rifle is a BLM off-highway-vehicle area with dozens of miles of trails and is also used for target shooting, with rules about where you can ride and how to shoot safely.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Hinsdale County
Mill Creek Campground is a developed base on the Lake Fork
The BLM's Mill Creek Campground sits along the Lake Fork of the Gunnison southwest of Lake City, with a short season, bear-aware storage, and access to the high peaks and byway.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Delta County
The Adobe Badlands near Delta are a clay moonscape best seen in dry weather
The Adobe Badlands northeast of Delta are eroded Mancos Shale with fossils and big views, but they have no trails or water, and the BLM warns the clay soils are difficult to cross when wet.
Read note ->Outdoors and wildfire - Mesa County
The North Fruita Desert (18 Road) is a BLM mountain-bike area with a real campground
North of Fruita, the BLM's 18 Road trail system draws mountain bikers, and its campground is a designated, fee site rather than free camp-anywhere land.
Read note ->History and culture - Mesa County
The wild horse range north of Grand Junction
The Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Range near Grand Junction is one of a small number of areas set aside under federal law specifically to protect wild horses.
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