Trail Trax: Welcome to hiking and biking season, Waterton Canyon closure

Welcome to hiking and biking season around metro Denver and the Front Range. The trails are revealing themselves after winter snows and the sound of crunching gravel beneath hiking boots or bike tires can be heard all around.

As the snows melt and the trails become more accessible, it's time to start our spring and summer series known as Trail Trax.

From the Poudre Canyon up north to Turkey Creek Canyon down south, we'll be delivering news about recreational trails, mountain biking, and hiking-events and topics. It will include tidbits around outdoor recreation along the Front Range and further into surrounding mountain towns like Breckenridge, Winter Park and Bailey.

Some trail systems around metro Denver and the Front Range offer year-round access. Places low in elevation like Green Mountain, Marshall Mesa, North Table Mountain and Rabbit Mountain Open Space can be explored any day of the year, but not all systems in the foothills are ready to hike or bike until April or May.

However, it appears winter snows have concluded (hopefully) and the melt, is, ON.

Checking out two popular trail systems southwest of Denver this last weekend was enough confirmation to prove the previous point. Waterton Canyon's parking lot was full by 10 a.m., Saturday (including a pond in the parking lot) and the West Trailhead at Mount Falcon Park had cars lined down the road two dozen deep by 12:30 p.m.

But as most Front Rangers know, this is pretty typical for a weekend day, especially when the weather is nice. Yet signs of spring were in the air and along the trails.

With several dozen trail systems around Denver and in the Front Range foothills and mountains, each one has something of interest. Hiking and biking these trails can be exciting, rewarding, challenging and even frustrating — but worth every footprint left and pedal mashed while exploring them.

Each week we'll be looking at a different trail system, talking about what it has to offer for hikers or bikers. Along with the trail system segments, Gorp Report and Spoke N'ews will round out other information about hiking and biking in Trail Trax.

Gorp Report:

• Waterton Canyon, a popular Colorado Trail starting-off point for hikers and mountain bikers, will have its gates closed on weekdays (May 8-12, 15-19), due to Denver Water's annual dust mitigation project, Denver Water announced last week. Both the parking lot at the canyon's entrance and canyon itself will not be accessible during the time periods. The canyon will be open weekends for recreation.

“By taking the time to reduce the dust early in the season, we’ll be able to provide a better experience for hikers, bikers and runners throughout the rest of the summer,” Brandon Ransom, manager of recreation for Denver Water, said.

Waterton Canyon sees more than 100,000 visitors every year, but as an operational piece of Denver Water's system it must be kept clean, hence closures from time to time.

Hikers and bikers looking to access the Colorado Trail should look for alternative starting points during the closure days.

• As spring begins, clean-up projects on trail systems do too. The Front Range Trails Conservancy has multiple trail maintenance projects scheduled in the month of May. Mount Falcon near Morrison is slated up first, with two trail maintenance days: 5:30 p.m. Thursday May 11, and 9 a.m. Saturday, May 13 to work on Turkey Trot.

Turkey Trot is a 1.7-mile hike-only trail in the Mount Falcon Park system. It starts at the Morrison Trailhead parking lot and ascends 802 feet in elevation. It can be linked to Castle Trail as a loop hike or done as an out-and-back hike.

Spoke N'ews:

• The Boulder Valley Velodrome will be resurrected under an ambitious plan to restore the 250-meter cycling track as a training ground for competitive cyclists and a hub for family-friendly community events, a press release from Boulder Valley Velodrome announced last month. 

The iconic, red-walled Velodrome has been closed to the public for more than three years and is now under contract to be purchased by BVV Holdings LLC and will be operated by the Team Colorado Cycling nonprofit.

“The list of needed repairs is long and expensive, but we are passionate about meeting the demand that exists for a cycling track of this caliber and its potential as a hub for family-friendly activities like ride-in movies, concerts, festivals and food trucks,” Todd Stevenson of Team Colorado Cycling said in the release. “Our first step is to tap into community support to help pay for needed repairs with the goal of re-opening full-time with weekly racing and other events starting early this summer.”

Crews are already working to repair and restore the plywood track and operators hope to have fresh coats of paint applied in time for the track's re-opening.

Hindered by the historic Boulder County floods of 2013, a tornado-level wind event in 2015, and then the COVID-19 outbreak, the velodrome on the outskirts of Erie has been shuttered and closed to the public since October 2019.

“Natural disasters and the pandemic delivered a one-two punch that made it next-to-impossible for this facility to meet its potential as a magnet for cyclists and a hub for community activity, but we think the time is right to resurrect this as a world-class cycling track,” Cari Higgins, a member of the group purchasing the Velodrome from its original owners, said.

“The passion for cycling in Colorado is among the best in the country, if not the world,” added Makala Jaramillo, an emerging star from Colorado on the junior cycling circuit with Team USA and Sonic Boom Racing. “By restoring the Boulder Valley Velodrome we can bring new people to the sport and develop the next generation of cycling legends from the United States.”

Operators have planned a public open house at the track from 2-5 p.m., Saturday in Erie.

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