BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — Boulder Falls, a beloved destination west of Boulder, remains closed nearly a year after a catastrophic rockslide severely damaged its trail infrastructure.
For Terri Pryor, Boulder Falls evokes fond memories.
“I went there probably 25 years ago with my kids, when they were, like five and seven,” she said. “[It's a] great place to take kids, because, you know, you can climb around, and back then it was safe and accessible, so it was pretty cool.”
The trail to the falls, located about 11 miles west of Boulder, is a short walk off the north side of Boulder Canyon Drive. It is popular with both locals and tourists due to its accessibility.
Now, the fate of Boulder Falls is on the rocks.
In November, Denver7 told you about the rockslide, which heavily damaged the trail to Boulder Falls.
The slide damaged key trail infrastructure that was designed to capture rocks and sediment from the hillside, according to Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) at the time.
“It is not a safe site for the general public to be at,” said Boulder’s senior manager of visitor infrastructure, Hilary Dees.
Fences and signs block the entrance nearly a year after what the City of Boulder called a "catastrophic rockfall," which left the area in "a very unstable and dangerous condition," according to OSMP.
Denver7 reached out to OSMP in July to follow up on the progress and heard back from Jeff Haley, deputy director of visitor experience and infrastructure for OSMP.
Haley said the agency had a consulting engineering team on site to assess the situation and that the department is currently reviewing the report.
We now know what potential solutions they’ve identified based on those findings.
“They range from a full closure, unfortunately, just because we may not be able to actually manage the risk in the rockfall in a meaningful way,” said Dees. “There are two other alternatives we're considering where you can still see the falls — one is much closer to the road, and then one is maybe halfway down the trail.”
However, according to Dees, reopening won't be a simple fix — as the city weighs mitigation and long-term management costs.
“A lot of the mitigation that was proposed through these consultants and the geotechnical analysis is what you see on like roadways, like through the mesh that goes up, big, long bolts that are drilled in – and those are all extremely technical and will need helicopter support – so not inexpensive,” she said.
The City of Boulder hopes to decide by January.
“I don't know how much it would cost, but if it was going to be safe, I think it's worth opening back up again,” said Pryor.
For now, the City of Boulder urges visitors to obey signs and stay off the trail due to the potential for more rockfalls.
“Look for the opportunity to go see other parts of the [trail] system, and maybe you'll find a new favorite place,” added Dees.
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