The initial concern and confusion at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic closed ski resorts and encouraged people to stay indoors, or at the very least, recreate in areas close to home.

In one of the more publicized moves, San Juan County closed its public lands to outsiders, saying a shelter-in-place order banned unnecessary travel to the county, which included backcountry skiing.

But eventually, as COVID-19 became a more normalized part of everyday life, people once again started to travel. And by Memorial Day weekend, the floodgates opened in the region.

With normal activities curtailed because of the pandemic, such as traveling abroad or going to sporting events, people around the country instead looked at their road maps and circled Southwest Colorado.

It was a year of incredible – and unsustainable, some land managers said – use of public lands across the region.

People unfamiliar with best practices in the backcountry were regularly seen driving ATVs off marked roads into fragile alpine tundra, leaving feces near campsites, trashing local trails, camping in off-limits areas, hiking off trails and damaging vegetation – the list goes on.

As a result, several popular areas faced increased use and associated impacts, followed by mitigation efforts: The Ice Lakes Trail will require a permit; Bakers Bridge was closed to the public; Smelter Mountain now has increased security and closure measures; and most recently, the Rico Hot Springs is off-limits to out-of-towners.

The sheer number of visitors last summer has public land agencies searching for better ways to manage crowds in 2021, especially because those agencies expect another chaotic season.

“Because we’ve seen fewer numbers (of visitors) in the past, it’s a big game of catch up right now, trying to deal with it,” Jed Botsford, recreational staff officer for the Forest Service’s Columbine Ranger District, said last fall. “That joy of visiting public land is definitely out there now.”

jromeo@durangoherald.com