Winter closures for trails around Durango go into effect Thursday and remain in place until April 15 to protect wildlife winter range on public lands.
Closure areas include:
Big Canyon and Sale Barn trailheads off U.S. Highway 160, closed to all public use.South Rim trail, including portions of Sidewinder and Cowboy trails on Bureau of Land Management land, accessed from Carbon Junction trail or Crites Connection.Grandview BLM trails, accessed from Three Springs.BLM lands above the lower loop trail near Animas City Mountain, accessed from the 32nd Street trailhead.All upper trails in the Twin Buttes Wildlife Area.Bodo State Wildlife Area, except the Smelter Mountain Trail that is open daily from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.Perrins State Wildlife Area, accessed east of County Road 208. Dogs are not allowed, and it is an extended closure area through July 31.Each year, the BLM closes areas to human activity to allow deer and elk to access “critical foraging habitat … to conserve energy and survive the winter,” the agency said in a news release.
“When animals flee due to disturbances caused by people, calories are used that are needed to survive through the rest of the winter,” the announcement said. “Pregnant deer and elk are particularly sensitive to disturbances, and stand a better chance of survival when the habitat is free of interactions with humans and pets.”
The closure period ends in April, when wildlife typically return to the high country for the summer.
“Temporarily giving up beloved outdoor space is especially hard when the weather is nice during the winter months but is necessary for our wildlife,” Connie Clementson, BLM Tres Rios Field Manager, said in a prepared statement.
All closure areas are marked.
Despite the closures, The Durango Herald through a Freedom of Information Act request found in July that the BLM ticketed 19 trespassers in closed wildlife areas around Durango in the 2015-16 season.
Most people claimed they didn’t know about the closure, missed warning signs, mistakenly wandered into the area, or outright didn’t think the closure “really mattered” because of nice weather.
The BLM worked with local, state and federal partners to identify areas where trail use can continue. The following areas remain open for hiking, biking, snowshoeing and skiing:
Horse Gulch area including the Meadow, Stacy’s, Mikes, Telegraph, Crites and Sugar trails, accessed from the east end of Third Street.Lower Twin Buttes trails, accessed off of U.S. Highway 160 in west Durango.The Skyline Trail including all of the Raider Ridge Trail to Medicine, Down and Out and Snake Charmer trails, accessed at Jenkins Ranch Road trailhead, northeast of Fort Lewis College.All of Dalla Mountain Park, accessed at Junction Creek Road.Overend Mountain Park, accessed at Leyden Street and Hidden Valley Circle.Trails accessed near Fort Lewis College include Lions Den, Chapman Flow and Jump Line.The Rim, Squawker, Talker and Shocker trails, access from the Powerline Trail.The Colorado Trail, accessed at Junction Creek.The Carbon Junction Trail is open from Colorado Highway 3 to Crites Connection.Crites Connection is open to Telegraph Trail.A 1.5-mile trail loop on the lower portion of the Animas City Mountain, accessed from the Birket and 32nd Street trailheads or Dalla Mountain Park.The BLM works in partnership with the city of Durango and Colorado Parks and Wildlife on the trail closures.
