| Big changes coming to popular fourteener trail head |
| Thursday, May 27, 2010 09:43 |
|
By R. SCOTT RAPPOLD, The Gazette
R. SCOTT RAPPOLD South Colony Road, a rugged four-wheel-drive road in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains that provides access to four fourteeners, will be closed halfway up Oct. 13. For good. The U.S. Forest Service has built 15 campsites along the road, 2.5 miles from the valley floor, where gates will be pulled shut, and that's where people climbing Crestone Peak, Crestone Needle, Humboldt Peak and Kit Carson Peak - at least the most popular routes up them - will have to park. You can check out the agency's formal notice here. South Colony Road is rough but passable up to the closure point, and beyond there, it has a reputation as one of the roughest in Colorado. In places, it's more of a rock pile than a road. Those with backpacks will be able to walk up 3 miles and camp at the current trail head, or for a prettier experience, walk another mile and camp around Colony Lakes. The Forest Service next summer will remove about half of the current back-country sites in the basin. Officials say heavy use has caused ecological damage to the area. A fee system could be installed next summer. There will be no facilities - water, restrooms, trash service - at any of the sites. Despite the impending closure, officials haven't seen much of an increase this summer in people visiting the area. "No more than usual," said Carl Bauer, a recreation manager with the Forest Service. "There's probably been an increase in local visitors, coming up from the valley, that have been coming up for a last trip to drive up there." So, four-wheel-drivers, see it now. Tags: |
