[jmr4400 offline]

I was actually looking foward to riding Waldo Canyon area this year but so much for that. Cheyenne Canyon area is still untouched but closed probably for a while. Palmer Park and some Black Forest areas are closed as well. Nowhere to ride for local folks and with this smoke who wants to anyway! Looks like I may need to head east for the summer.

[jeff]

Crazy... and very sad indeed. We drove through COS on Saturday and could see the flames from across town. So hot and dry in Colorado this month, hopefully the entire state gets some rain soon!

[maddslacker offline]

Yeah, we need rain for sure!

[mtbgreg1 offline]

My wife and I have been praying for you Colorado folks... I hope everyone on here is safe!

[bulfers offline]

Yep. I am in the same boat. Had a four day weekend coming up and was planning on checking out Rampart Resivor but looks like it is going to be a while before that trail is open again and probably years before it is back to normal.

Feel pretty lucky though as I live on the opposite side of town as the fire.

Anyone got any recomendations for some good trails within range of daytrip from Colorado Springs?

[maddslacker offline]

Come on up to Denver. We have lots of trails on the west side of town.

[skibum offline]

As a minimum, I know we've lost the following trails:
Waldo Canyon
Williams Canyon
Rampart Reservoir
Blodgett Open Space

Most of the other closed trails are in no immediated danger from this fire--it's just a preventive measure to keep people out who might inadvertently start a new fire.

This is just one of at least 9 major wildfires currently raging in Colorado, all of which are claiming singletrack if not homes and other structures. They don't expect full containment on most of them until mid to late July. Temps are expected to stay at or near records as far out as the weather report goes--with dry, windy conditions and no precip.

Nobody wants to ride the few trails left open with record heat and thick, lung-burning smoke. Highway 24, the quickest way to higher, cooler elevations, is closed for the forseable future.

Alarge chunk of the Mountain Shadows neighborhood went up in smoke and there are currenly 32K people displaced by mandatory evac notices. It's gonna' be a rough summer for a lot of folks.

[grandlakejames offline]

Anyone got any recomendations for some good trails within range of daytrip from Colorado Springs?

Come up to Grand County, we are only 3 hours away and you can get away from the heat and the smoke. Winter Park has the downhill resort trails and plenty of cross-country trails.

[Funrover offline]

For those in COS who may have been evacuated. if you need a place to stay I have an extra room and a camper in Conifer. By all means it's yours to use.

[bonkedagain offline]

Anyone got any recomendations for some good trails within range of daytrip from Colorado Springs?

For a day trip I would go to Salida or Summit County. With highway 24 closed that makes it a bit longer for each, but they are still not too far.

[bonkedagain offline]

As a minimum, I know we've lost the following trails:
Waldo Canyon
Williams Canyon
Rampart Reservoir
Blodgett Open Space

It will be interesting to see what the agencies decide to do with these areas. Waldo was so popular that something will have to be done up there to give people a similar experience. Many of those trails were poorly designed and required constant maintenance, and with the vegetation now gone the erosion problems will go up exponentially. Maybe this will be an opportunity to get more sustainable trails put in to replace them.

It may be time to go visit the folks in Los Alamos to learn from their experiences after having multiple burns blow thru their trails. Surely they have figured out how to keep the trails from falling apart when the tree cover has burned off.

The trail builders in the area will be even busier than ever!

[JSatch offline]

My wife and I have been praying for you Colorado folks... I hope everyone on here is safe!

+1!

[trouttrunnell offline]

Thanks so much for all the kind words and concern for us here in COS! It has been a scary week to say the least. What I just can't wrap my head around are the people out there who are intentionally setting fires as this monster consumes everything in its path. We had one fire set in Cheyenne Canyon and two on Gold Camp Rd in the last few days, along with double digit numbers set up near Woodland Park and Divide. WTF! I hope some homeowner or biker/hiker catches them in the act and knocks the #%$@ out of them! Anyway, thanks again for all your thoughts and prayers!

[bonkedagain offline]

Mayor Bach: 346 homes lost. Wow...

[mtbgreg1 offline]

Mayor Bach: 346 homes lost. Wow...

Insurance companies are going to be paying out a lot of money. But of course, money can't replace some of the many keepsakes and heirlooms that were undoubtedly lost.