BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — Boulder County Commissioners are proposing a pilot program that would assign specific trail days to hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders — and the majority of people who responded to a public feedback survey opposed it.
Of the 7,522 people who responded to the county's public feedback survey, about 70% either "opposed" or "strongly opposed" the idea. More than 4,500 respondents said they either "rarely" or "never" had a negative interaction with a cyclist.
WATCH: Hear more about the survey and what Boulder County Commissioner Levy told Denver7 about the findings in the video below.
Commissioner Claire Levy spearheaded the alternating trail use pilot program and says she initiated the conversation with the support of the other county commissioners.
"A lot of people were telling me, and I experienced this myself, that particularly at Heil (Valley) Ranch — which is really, really popular for mountain biking — that they don't feel comfortable hiking there anymore," Levy said.
When asked why the program is necessary given the low rate of reported conflicts between hikers and bikers, Levy pushed back on the framing.
"This is why I say conflict isn't the right word, because there may be no conflict at all," Levy said."... It's the incompatibility. It's the feeling that you know you're going to be overtaken, you're going to be surprised."
Trail users in the area say the proposal is unnecessary.
"I don't mind having the bikes on the trail," one hiker told Denver7.
"They'll let me know they're there — and my experience has been very positive," the hiker added.
Others warned the plan could make things worse, not better.
"If you close trails to bikes on certain days, that does nothing more than concentrate more use on those other days. It creates problems, it doesn't solve any problems," one survey respondent said.
Business owners in Lyons have also raised concerns that restricting trail access could hurt visitor spending. Levy acknowledged the worry and indicated the county would not pursue alternating use at both open space parcels near the town simultaneously.
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"There are two major open space parcels that are near Lyons: Hall Ranch and Heil Valley Ranch — you know, we're not going to do both," Levy said.
Levy also cautioned against reading too much into the survey results.
"This is not a scientific survey. It is not representative in any way of actual broad public sentiment. The hikers generally aren't organized the way the bikers are," Levy said.
For now, she said the pilot program remains in its earliest stages.
"We kicked off a process," Levy said.
County commissioners and park staff have a work session scheduled for June 30 where they will present public feedback data and potentially decide next steps.
Alternate-use trails in neighboring Jefferson County
Jefferson County, just south of Boulder County, has gone through a similar process before.
In 2010, Jeffco Parks and Open Space started alternating-use days at Centennial Cone Park, which encompasses more than 16 miles of trails. The alternating schedule — split by even- and odd-numbered dates — are only in place on weekends. The trails are reserved for hikers and equestrians on odd-numbered weekend days and only open to bicyclists on even-numbered weekend days.
This schedule runs February through November, when the park is open to the public.
Conflicts between hikers and mountain bikers occurred at a much higher rate at Apex Park, which is closer to the city, said Matt Robbins, community connection division director of Jeffco Parks and Open Space.
Robbins told Denver7 that the “speed differential” between mountain bikers and hikers on Apex’s Enchanted Forest and Magic Mountain Trail, combined with blind corners, created dangerous situations.
“The riders will say — going down the gut — they're hitting really high speeds, and then we would have hikers and families or seniors or whoever, you know, dog walkers, walking right up the hill,” he said. “It was constantly a challenge.”
In 2018, the department began looking at implementing alternate-use trails, and it held public meetings in 2019 and 2020.
Today, Apex has designated-use and directional-use trails for the trails along its southern edge. Bicyclists can only use those trails — which includes Enchanted Forest, Magic Mountain, Poco Calle, Rocker, Paydirt, and Smelter — on even calendar days. On those days, both Enchanted Forest and Magic Mountain are only open to downhill riding.
All of the trails listed above are hiker- and equestrian-only on odd calendar days.
The rest of the park is open to all users.
Over a year, it all evens out, Robbins said.
“It's striking that balance and making it equitable. And so, you know, we went to the alternating days because we felt that that was the best,” he said.
That is especially true given that the trails within Apex were already multi-use, meaning the public had to adjust to a change.
“You don't want to favor one side or the other, because they all had access to it at one point,” Robbins said of bicyclists and hikers.
Initially, both types of trail users felt like they were losing something, he said. But still, they listened to Jeffco Parks and Open Space’s reasoning.
“I don't want to suggest to anyone that it was a slam dunk, you know?” he said. “But what they also acknowledged was the days when they had it, the hikers could feel safe, and the bikers could feel safe on their days. And they could go as fast as they wanted. I think it really won itself over and people understood it, and appreciated it.”
With some time now passed since that was put into place, Robbins called the alternating use days at Apex “a win for the Front Range.”
“I think it's been a win for everyone, it's been a safer environment, and we've had very little conflict,” he said.
