Colorado Porch

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Outdoors and wildfire

Hunting and fishing rules, trails, rivers, camping, winter sports, dark skies, and wildfire risk and defensible space — the public-land side of Colorado life.

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Local notes

More outdoors and wildfire notes

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Outdoors and wildfire

Mount Zirkel Wilderness is the high, roadless country east of Steamboat

Mount Zirkel Wilderness rules generally bar motors, bicycles, and wheeled carts, with a wheelchair exception and narrow official-use exceptions.

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Outdoors and wildfire

On the national forest around Steamboat, dispersed camping has rules

Much of the high country around Routt County is national forest, where free dispersed camping is allowed in places but is not the same as camping anywhere you like.

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Outdoors and wildfire

Pelican Ponds is a South Platte open-space stop in Thornton

Pelican Ponds is a 200-acre open space on the South Platte's west bank in Thornton, with trails, fishing, nature play, and disc golf.

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Outdoors and wildfire

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.

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Outdoors and wildfire

Pineries Open Space protects Palmer Divide forest and meadow

Pineries Open Space spans 1,070 acres of Black Forest ponderosa and Palmer Divide meadow, with ponds, wildlife, and nine miles of single-track.

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Outdoors and wildfire

Public bird hunting here runs through walk-in access and state wildlife areas

In Kit Carson County, much public bird hunting happens on Walk-In Access fields and at spots like Flagler Reservoir State Wildlife Area, each with its own rules for who may enter.

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Outdoors and wildfire

Richmil Ranch keeps a windmill and prairie edge near Deer Trail

A half mile northwest of Deer Trail, Richmil Ranch Open Space keeps 352 acres of prairie, soft trails, and a restored windmill from its ranching days.

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Outdoors and wildfire

Rocky Flats refuge trails sit just west of Broomfield

A federal wildlife refuge with public hiking trails sits just west of Broomfield, and it has its own access rules set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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Outdoors and wildfire

Some Jeffco trails switch who can use them by the calendar date

Apex Park alternates bike-only and hiker/horse days by even or odd date, while Mount Galbraith is hiker-only, so check the trail-use rule before you go.

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Outdoors and wildfire

Spring booming grounds: greater prairie-chickens in the Yuma County sandhills

The sandhills of northern and central Yuma County hold greater prairie-chickens that gather on spring leks to perform a booming courtship display.

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Outdoors and wildfire

Stratton Open Space is the soft edge before North Cheyenne Canon

Stratton Open Space packs 318 acres, five ecosystems, and miles of trail into the edge between Colorado Springs and the mountains.

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Outdoors and wildfire

Sylvan Lake State Park is up Brush Creek Road, with limits on motors

Sylvan Lake State Park sits south of the town of Eagle up Brush Creek Road, with year-round trout fishing and a lake limited to non-motorized boats and small electric trolling motors.

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Outdoors and wildfire

The Flat Tops Wilderness has different rules than a regular trail

Part of the Flat Tops Wilderness reaches into northern Garfield County, and designated wilderness comes with its own access and use rules that differ from ordinary national forest land.

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Outdoors and wildfire

The Leadville National Fish Hatchery is a working piece of 1800s history

The Leadville National Fish Hatchery, established in 1889, is one of the country's oldest federal fish hatcheries and is open to visitors near Leadville.

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Outdoors and wildfire

The Weminuche Wilderness fills much of San Juan County's high country

The Weminuche is Colorado's largest designated wilderness, spreading across San Juan County's peaks with strict no-motor, no-bike rules and a 15-person group limit.

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Outdoors and wildfire

Ute Valley Park protects a rocky hogback on the northwest side

Northwest Colorado Springs holds a rocky hogback at Ute Valley Park: tilted rock spines, wildlife habitat, and trails for hiking, biking, and running.

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Outdoors and wildfire

Winter in Chaffee County's high country means checking the avalanche forecast

The Sawatch Range above Chaffee County is avalanche terrain in winter, and the state's avalanche center publishes a daily forecast for this zone that backcountry travelers should read first.

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Outdoors and wildfire

A lot of Park County is national forest, and the rules vary by ranger district

Much of Park County's public land falls under the Pike-San Isabel National Forest's South Park Ranger District, where camping and access rules are set locally rather than statewide.

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Outdoors and wildfire

Above La Veta and Cuchara, forest land turns into wilderness

Much of the high country around the Spanish Peaks in Huerfano County is San Isabel National Forest, and part of it is designated wilderness where the rules change.

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Outdoors and wildfire

Alderfer and Three Sisters give Evergreen its close-in rock-and-forest park

Alderfer/Three Sisters Park gives Evergreen ponderosa forest, granite outcrops, and a town-edge trail system.

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Outdoors and wildfire

At Fishers Peak State Park, the summit trails close in spring for nesting raptors

Fishers Peak State Park sits just south of Trinidad, and its upper trails close part of each year so peregrine falcons can nest undisturbed, so the day you can reach the top depends on the calendar.

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Outdoors and wildfire

At Lake Pueblo, boats get checked for aquatic hitchhikers

Lake Pueblo State Park requires boat inspections to keep aquatic nuisance species out, so trailered boaters should plan for that step before launching.

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Outdoors and wildfire

Bear Creek Lake Park is Lakewood's foothills-and-water park

A large Lakewood park where reservoirs, Bear Creek, trails, camping, and foothills views sit minutes from the west metro.

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Outdoors and wildfire

Blodgett Open Space shows the northwest foothills recovering

Blodgett Open Space borders Pike National Forest on the northwest edge of Colorado Springs — 384 acres still recovering from the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire.

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